Does anyone have any sympathy for smokers?

Question

I smoke and somebody once said to me 'the problem with smokers is they dont die quick enough'. I was quite offended considering the chances are I will die a slow and painful death thanks to my addiction and lack of will power to give up.

Answer 1

I dont have sympathy for smokers but neither do i despise them.We all have our crutch in life,smoking happens to be yours.Whoever said that to you was out of order by why do you want sympathy when its your choice to smoke?

Answer 2

That statement was a bit harsh. But I don't have any sympathy no, what you do with your body is your problem, but what I strongly object to is that I get my space invaded by your drug habit and that's why I have no sympathy. Why should I have to breathe your dirty secondhand smoke.
Other drug users keep it to themselves and it doesn't effect me, so if they want to kill themselves fine that's their choice.
If a non smoker comments on any of this then most smokers object to my comments and strongly defend their habit.
You know what I hate most, going into a public ladies toilet and then finding someone has been sitting there smoking in that small space with no consideration for others using the toilet after them. Also in a lift etc.
My daughter and son in law gave up for a year, he started again and it wasn't long before my daughter was smoking again. I think about my 5 year old grand daughter, how selfish is it not to care about your own child's developing lungs??
It should be banned full stop. But of course the government won't do that, they would lose too much revenue!!

That ad on t.v where you see the smoke as black and not grey is really a good ad, they should bombard all chalnnels with it to drive the message home more.

Answer 3

I don't smoke. But my whole family does and I'm always quite dumbfounded by the 'high and mighty' lectures non-smokers and health junkies are oh so quick to throw out at a moments notice.

First of all smoking is popularised when you're young. You see actors and musicians smoking on tv, there's peer pressure in school and the product is readily available from you're 16. It's also very easyto get addicted so I can't see logic in berating ppl for takin it up out of curiousity, it happens and that's where the habit starts.

Now I know it's dangerous and foolish to smoke but the fact is once you're addicted it's very very hard to stop, most ppl that come down on smokers for wasting their lives away are usually people that have no experiance with addiction, or withdrawl or come downs so really aren't qualified to judge how easy it should be to quit smoking simply by being logical about the effects.

Then of course there's the health officers with the pretty concrete argument of Passive Smoking. The idea that a smoker's smoke can kill a non-smoker. You monster lol. OK that's very bad. And it's a great argument. However you must examine the basis of the argument, the idea that one person should forfeit their recreational liberty for the sake of another person's well being. So why stop at smoking? Surely if someone takes that stance then to avoid being a hypocrite you've gotta follow it through into all activities that affect others around you.

E.g. If smoking is outlawed based on evidence of pasive smoking, then shouldn't alcohol be outlawed based it's detrimental effects to the drinker, the rises in street violence at the weekends, domestic violence and traffic accidents?

Shouldn't all unhealthy foods be banned because of their harmful effect on health and childrens' health when their parents feed them such foods.

Then what about cars, aerosoles and other chemicals that are thinning the O-Zone and increasing skin cancer and wiping out whole species, should they be banned for the greater good.

Should the whole country be forced into mandtory daily excerise, told what to eat, how much and when, what to do, how much and when, where to go, how to travel, how to relax at the weekend?

You see the argument against smoking is fundamentally flawed becausethe main course of action is to ban smoking and outcast those that use cigarettes. And that's a fundamental hypocracy for the reasons I've mentioned.

I think smokers are being unfairly singled out and made into over inflated scapegoats for poor health.

Smoking is not a good thing. Smokers should be offered better help, less dangerous substitutes could be developed, more effective and affordable weening processes.

Not this bulls*it from shortsighted and ignorant people judging from the side lines.

Answer 4

Funny thing. I smoke about 15 a day, but I also hit the gym 2 hours a day 4 days a week and only allow myself junk food once a month. Yup everyone has a vice and I never smoke inside unless in a smoking section as I would NEVER force my second hand smoke on anyone else and even then I'll only sit in smoking if with a group of smokers. I wonder what would happen if I hung around the McDonald's drive through targeting anyone who came by more than once every other week shouting "I wish a painful death to fatty!"? I'm guessing it wouldn't go over well. Well, I destroy my lungs and it is taboo, you clog your arteries and it is normal. Such is life.

Answer 5

I am of neutral ground here.
I dont have any sympathy because at the end of the day no-one is forcing smokers to smoke. They could give up if they had will power and determination. No-one made them do it in the fist place. No-one twisted their arm behind their back and made them smoke their first cigarette.
On the other hand i do appreciate that it is an addiction and that it is not easy to just give up.
Even when faced with death some people find it hard to give up.. my mother included!
There are plenty of support group and free help though so people should take steps to make themselves better!

Answer 6

I have sympathy for smokers who have tried a lot to quit but can't and who are considerate and don't smoke around non-smokers. It's sad that they are slaves of an addiction they probably gained as a silly mistake a lot earlier in life and can't so easily get rid of.

I have absolutely no sympathy for inconsiderate smokers. They don't care who else they are killing with their smoke, so why should I give a damn about them? I also really can't feel sympathy for smokers who haven't even tried quitting or don't want to. If they can't be bothered to try to stop slowly killing themselves and others with their addiction I won't feel sorry for them but for the people who they kill with their dangerous habit.

Answer 7

Some people are OK. I smoke and I started when it seemed like every adult did. I was 13 (maybe 14 - a long time ago). I was a stupid kid and I only did it to join in with all my friends.

People are too quick to put the blame on smokers for everything. They sit there and moan about smoke and then go out climb into their 3 litre 4X4 and pump gallons of fumes into the air.

It doesn't make them wrong about cigarette smoke, just blind to their own nasty contribution.

I'll stop eventually, I hope. I tried and failed. The anti-smokers have no idea how hard it can be.

Answer 8

I don't have a huge amount of sympathy no, although I wouldn't wish death of any sort on you.
You had a choice about whether or not to have that first cigarette, and every subsequent one.
There is a lot of help out there for smokers to quit, along with lots of options as to how to do it, hypnotherapy, patches, etc. Smokers cost the health services huge amounts of time and resources, for what is in effect a self inflicted illness.

Answer 9

I do feel sorry for smokers. The world sends mixed messages to them. Give up smoking, but we need your tax revenue. Why does the EU subsidise tobacco farmers and then tell countries they can not advertise the product?
If 25% of the people smoke then allow 25% of bars and resteraunts to allow smokers in. This would give people a choice of places to go. Smokers do not get a choice in this matter and I thought we lived in a free society!

Answer 10

I do for the older smokers who were not aware of the health issues that comes along with smoking. Remember there wasn't always a surgeon generals warning on a pack of cigarettes. Plus, I think back in those days there probably weren't has many added chemicals in cigarettes as there are today. Cigarettes weren't has harmful back than. As far as the people who started smoking after they were armed with that information, no I don't feel sorry for them. They new the side effects of smoking but they chose to do it anyways.

Answer 11

I do sympathise. I stopped smoking 18 months ago and whenever anyone said that they had given up I used to feel slightly jealous. I feel that some, not all, smokers feel like this and although i lenjoyed smoking, i hated being a smoker, do you know what i mean.?
Anyhow i read "The easy way to stop smoking" by Allan Carr and stopped smoking as soon as i finished the book.