Cigarette smoking in public to me is no different than physical assault.....?

Question

they are attacking you with their poisonous smoke. I see no difference in a person smoking in public and a person punching you in the stomach. It is a way of atacking people while pretending they are not. The very act of smoking is also littering. Have you ever watched a person smoke in public? They are always flicking their dirty ashes and throwing their butts all over the place. Thank God the tide is turning against these lunatics. Las Vegas has tough new rules almost every where now. It has been stated that within two years smoking will not be allowed in casinos either. I am against govt. control on almost everything except in cases where people harm each other. Are there any groups I can join to further the cause of banning cigarettes in all public places?

mammabear and kiffen, you are both foolish. I have heard about polite smokers, but they are but a myth. You are so blind by your addiction-the smoke has rotted your sense of reason. Second hand smoke is not bad? You sir are wrong and an idiot even the tobacco companies the devils that they are admit that it is bad and causes cancer.

bluewra, drunk drivers should go to jail. The topic here is cigarettes. I cannot wait for the current smokers to die of cancer so the rest of us can breath clean air. Only about 23% of adults smoke cigarettes. You idiots are now outnumbered.

RKO, good answer except you are wrong. I like your attitude but California has had no smoking in all establishments for about ten years and it has not hurt one single business- bar or restaurant. I for one would not go to a bar because of the smoke. Think if the smokers stayed home and the none smokers went- since only 23% of adults smoke, business would boom. You are right about the revenue though. Govt is full of Shiiit. In Calif. they also have a 2.5 cent redemption value on bottles. But there is almost no place to turn them in. The govt keeps all the money it is a scam.

Mr. Wise, I have had two people recently die from cigarettes. My mother who smoked and my girlfriend who did not- she was a college professor who died from second hand smoke. Those other things you listed do not kill indiscriminatley cigarettes always do.

Answer 1

I agree with you. Second hand smoking is actually more damaging to you than the smoker. It's ridiculous how people are allowed to smoke in restaurants and public places.

Having a smoking section in a restaurant, is just like having a peeing corner in a pool. It spreads to everyone and it's disgusting.

I hope that there are laws passed that ban smoking from public places, especially were there are small infants.

Answer 2

Wimpy politicians have made the smoking ban the big issue these days, but all it demonstrates is the hypocrisy of our political process, at federal, state and local levels.
If smoking is so bad for you - and if so many people are against it - why not outlaw the manufacture, distribution and sale of cigarettes?
The sleazy politicians won't do that because they don't want to give up all that tax revenue generated by cigarette smokers and all the big money that comes from the tobacco industry lobbies.
So, they put the burden on the small business establishments (bars, restaurants, etc.) to discriminate against smokers (and risk bankruptcy) or to spend mountains of money trying to accommodate smokers and abide by insipid laws passed with little regard to the economic consequences of such action. If the American public truly wants to stop smoking, then force the government to ban the manufacture, distribution and sale of cigarettes (see how well it worked with Prohibition?).
Let the free enterprise sytem dictate where people are allowed to smoke. I don't smoke, but I've frequented bars for forty-five years where smokers abound. If I don't want to inhale all that filthy smoke, I'm free to stop patronizing those bars. But, the no-smoking lobbyists would rather take away a smoker's rights just so they can have the 'right' to enter a bar and not have to breath in all that second-hand smoke. It's all hypocritical hyperbole - just another 'issue' that gives the politicians an emotional hook on which to hang their hats so they don't have to address more important issues such as corrupt politics, graft, free trips from lobbyists, and all the other things that give politics such a stench. -RKO-

Answer 3

As an ex-smoker, I symapthize with your feeling. However, given the chance, most smokers would gladly go to a separate place to smoke in order to be polite to non-smokers. If a business plants an ashtray outside the front door, guess where people are going to smoke. Doubly so if its the middle of winter and people are cold.
The bigger problem with your approach is that it is a very slippery slope. We saw what happened during prohibition, next with the war on drugs. now cigarettes and transfats are being banned in NY. People are going to do what they want whether its legal or not. Don't waste taxpayer $$ on this trivial pursuit. no smoking in public buildings... fine. A business owner should be able to choose whether to have a smoking room in their establishment, but are not required... cool.
I say make the tobacco co's start a cancer treatment fund and pay for the healthcare of their smokers. And make designated smoking huts or give non-smokers those little SARS masks.

Answer 4

In my own opinion, i think smoking in public places should be illegal. Depending on the rule of a country, some fundamental right are giving to people; but there are always a note that you can not use your right to the detriment of others. So, if you must smoke, do not disturb others with it. There is even a campaign that tobacco company should stop production and the advert on cigarette warns that smoking is dangerous to health, so making it illegal will curb abuses.

Answer 5

Iam a non smoker, and have no problem if it is not in most public places, bars are o.k., anywhere else is fine, the thing that is much, much worse is traffic, to many irresponsible drivers, to fast and majority don't understand the laws, and they all threaten my life each day, the same as attemped murder. Traffic is a thousand times worse than smoking so why don't you address a real threat to society...

Answer 6

If you really want to do something make smoking illegal. If it's legal, a person has the right to use it. Once you've done that you can move on to alcohol, cell phones, bicycles, bath tubs, coffee, contact sports, hamburgers, bald heads, ear rings, etc., the list is endless. Once you've done that, then try to reverse it all. That's the catch, once you lose a right, you never get it back. I have known people who have died from physical assault, I know of none from 'ash-flipping' or even smoking for that matter.

Answer 7

Smoking outdoors in pubic (waiting for a bus connection, in front of your house, in a public parking lot, at a beach or picnic, etc.) is not going to harm anyone--except the smoker him/herself. The smoke blows away, and does not get into anyone else's lungs.

Smokers are paying for their own health care--it costs around 30 cents to make a pack of cigarettes (if that much), and all the rest is tax.

If we are outdoors smoking, we make a point of stepping away from anyone else--unless they, too, are smoking.

This is a violation of our rights! We are not blowing smoke into the faces of other people. You're in a lot more danger from aggressive drunks or drug users.

***Edit***

Three of my six children were born when you could still smoke in the waiting rooms of the doctor's offices--and in your hospital room. They are now in their late 20s through mid 30s, and there is nothing wrong with them. That is not to mention that my husband and I both smoked (as well as our relatives who visited) in our home, and the homes of others.

I only know of one person who died of lung cancer--my grandfather, who was a 3-pack a day smoker.

I only know of one person who died of emphazima--she was a non-smoker, and no one in her home smoked.

Answer 8

Yet another person impinging on the rights of people with addictions which were allowed to occur through the negligence of governments.

They make them legal to buy.... they are addictive put 2 and 2 together unless you are going to provide people who are addicted to cigarettes the same rights as those who aren't you are treating them differently to their detriment.

You should watch out for them low branches riding on your high horse.

Answer 9

I am right here with you on this subject, hunny! It offends me to no end when I have to walk through a huge cloud of smoke just to get into the library or a museum or a restaurant! I should not have to inhale smoke, when I am not a smoker! It's gross. I'll be glad when all public smoking is BANNED!

You can create your own group on yahoo and people can join and you can talk about this subject as much as you want.

Cheers and *hugs*

Answer 10

Wait until a drunk driver crashes into you head-on. Then you will feel like you have been physically assaulted asshead.