Do you get irritated by smokers complaining about their rights?

Question

Does anyone else get really irritated by smokers who constantly whinge on about their rights?

First they were complaining that they aren't allowed to smoke in public places and now they are moaning about how they can't smoke and drive....Can they seriously not go a couple of hours without a cigarette... how do these people get through a day at work?

Don't you wish they would realise that there are other people in the world and that their choices are having an impact on our health...

Do we not have a choice about whether we breathe in second hand smoke and whether we get in a car crash because someone was smoking and dropped ash on their leg...

I personally am pleased that the government are finally doing something about the smokers and giving people like me the chance to be healthy...

It's only the smokers who complain that I am talking about...

As for my choice not to be around smokers.. what about if I am at a bus stop and someone is smoking? Do I not have the right to go to a pub? Should I stay in my house constantly so I shouldn't be surrounded by smoke?

Crypt - the point isn't that they are taking away something which we know is a danger... people are free to harm themselves as much as they want... the point is they aren't just damaging their health, they are damaging that of others as well... if someone doesn't want to have an STD, then they shouldn't have unprotected sex... you can't avoid people smoking around you though (well, you can now with the ban and I think that's great)

As for them taking away a right that I care about... if something I am doing is damaging the health of others, then I will have to understand if that privalige is taken away from me!

sensible_man - No, I don't talk on my mobile phone and drive... people that do that are just as selfish and stupid as smokers who smoke whilst they drive...

worldneverchanges - As I said, I don't talk on my mobile phone as I drive and I don't eat junk food... I choose to live a healthy life and don't see why other peoples vices should ruin my health... as for evidence of second hand smoke having a negative effect on people, look up Roy Castle on wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Castle

Answer 1

I would like to be able to walk into a pub with a sword and just wave it around all over the place but NOOOOO, people complain that what I am doing is dangerous to THEIR health!! All I want to do is spin round in circles with my favourite sword, but somehow people say that this infringes on THEIR rights. How about my right to swing a deadly weapon around in a public place? If people don't want to be in a place where there are blades flying around, then those people should stay away from me!! By banning the swinging around of swords in public places, my personal choice has been taken away! How is that freedom?

The above is of course supposed to be making a comparison between the dangers of brandishing sharp objects and the dangers of second hand smoke, but I accept that this is a ridiculous and silly comparison to make. After all, thousands more people are killed by cigarette smoke than by swords every day.

Answer 2

Nope I don't get irritated.. I expect it.. Anytime you give people the right to do something and then try to take that right away, you know there is going to be hell to pay..I am not a smoker and never have been. I like to eat a meal in a resturant without smoke going down my throat from a person right near me. In defense of some smokers, they can be very curtious and not millitant. But I have to agree that driving while eating, drinking, smoking , talking on a cell phone or putting on makeup, is a hazzard. We make laws to try and protect others rights to health and safety. The government does permit many things that are still very dangerous to our health and we live with them each day unfortunately. . I feel smokers have rights too, but let me ask this.. If I enjoyed lighting up a stink weed at my dinner table at a resturant while eating, would I be allowed to do so? Or would everybody in the place be calling the manager to have me thrown out? But I enjoy this odor during and after my meals! (I think I hear lots of laughing). Why shouldn't my right to enjoy it be allowed even if nobody else likes it? There are just some hings that infringe on others and we can't do them where and when we please. When you're home, that's your castle..Do whatever you want. Oh.. and I was once taking off old nail polish on an airliner before we took off.. I never gave it a thought. The acetone is very strong as we know. A flight attendant came running over and told me I was not allowed to do this and the passengers were complaining..Of course I complied and felt very bad about it.. Ok. enough.. I could go on and on.. But bottom line is everybody has rights. But the majority rules and most people should have the sense God gave little acorns to know what is and is not acceptable or offensive to others. I think most do, but some people just don't care..

Answer 3

i'm a smoker and know and respect the fact that i have no rights and i take it on the chin. my lungs my premature death i try as much as i can to avoid my smoke getting into a non smokers lungs. smokers by nature are very selfish people, the addiction is greater than the self will to deny oneself a smoke. you have by all means the right not to breathe in second hand smoke but! if its a public place that allows smoking then you should be the one to move. as for drivers lighting up on the move thats a no no, pull over to the side and have a smoke. i was in an RTA a few years ago i was smashed through a car windscreen. as the victim i was treated like crap. if only the other person had been on the mobile or lighting up i would be a lot happier the case would have been settled 2 years ago. sadly not pulling the sun visor down when the sun is right in your face and smashing into a human at 40 miles an hour is classed as an accident not reckless driving.

Answer 4

Nope, I never get irritated by anyone complaining about their rights, or maybe we should take a few from you and see if you complain.

Look I don’t like smoking and think it a silly waste of money, but smoking is legal.

“First they were complaining that they aren't allowed to smoke in public places and now they are moaning about how they can't smoke and drive....Can they seriously not go a couple of hours without a cigarette... how do these people get through a day at work?”

I can understand banning smoking in publicly owned spaces, but in privately owned space, it should be up to the owner of the place to decide, or maybe you want to take their 5th amendment rights too? And yes I can make a good case the banning smoking in a privately own building violates the 5th amendment.

“Don't you wish they would realise that there are other people in the world and that their choices are having an impact on our health...”

I wish you would too. Do you get at least 6 hours of sleep and no more the 10? Did you know that if you don’t you could kill someone? It’s true; people who get less then 6 or more then 10 are more likely to cause an auto accident. There is many things you do that endanger someone health. Do you barbeque? That can cause cancer, both from the smoke and from eating the food. Do you drive a car? The pollution your car puts out causes cancer too. I could go on and on.

“I personally am pleased that the government are finally doing something about the smokers and giving people like me the chance to be healthy...”

Good I’m glad the government is doing something. Here I help the government make you even healthier. We need laws that state you must work out at least 1 hour a day, you must get at least 6 hours and not more then 10 hours of sleep, you must drink at least 64 oz of water per day you must…. You get the idea. Do be too happy when someone loses their “rights” yours might be next.

Answer 5

Umm It it is getting to the point that smokers can't smoke anywhere.


I think it is wrong to put restrictions on smoker the way they are. It's like me telling a person who loves chocolate that they can't eat it here or there....

People complain that smoke can harm them by second hand smoke.... OK well cars pollute the air and cause breathing problems so should they make it so we can't drive?

Aerosol hairspray harms the ozone, why not say we can't style our hair?

OK I can understand banning smoking in family Establishments. But banning it from a bar???? Drinking damages the body as much as smoking.

I feel that some control is needed but I also feel that rights are violated when you can't smoke in your own vehicle on the way home from work, where you could not smoke all day long.

If you want to be healthy, that is fine. Choose to go to a restaurant and sit in a non smoking section and don't have the dessert!

Don't want to be a smoker or around smokers, don't ride in a smokers car, get your own and don't talk on your cell phone while driving your own car or listen to the radio. Don't go to a bar, instead got to a health food place or better yet cook your own food at home, it's healthier anyway!!!!

Don't ***** because smokers speak up about their rights. You are speaking out about your rights.

Answer 6

I don't get irritated at all. I just choose not to hang around smokers. The whole idea of second-hand smoke is hogwash. There has been no proof of it causing anything other than some purported studies that anti-smoking groups have made. As far as smoking and driving is concerned, it is far less dangerous than yapping on the cellphone and driving. Yet you see almost everyone nowadys yapping and driving. If you really want to be healthy, stay at home and don't go out. How about all the pollution that the vehicles put out, the fast foods that you eat, etc.? There are a lots of items out there that are bad for you. Take a deep breath and relax.

Edit : As I mentioned anyone can write a paper on anything giving their point of view. I state again, there is no proof that second-hand smoke causes anything. How about exhaust fumes? If you are really concerned about your health maybe you should move to an island and stay there because there are a million items in our daily life that can ruin our health.

Answer 7

I think your question is very hypocritical because you are doing what you accuss smokers of doing we all have rights and if your standing by a bus stop your in the fresh air and at the end of the day I'm a smoker but I'm a respectful smoker I don't smoke in my own home because I respect the fact my children don't need to inhale my second hand smoke because you smoke doesn't make you ingnorant to non smokers and we all have the right to speak freely!

Answer 8

There is a world of difference between Roy Castle getting cancer from passive smoking and walking down the street next to a smoker.

Roy Castle played in smokey jazz clubs with little ventilation for many years. Not many people do this. Outside of a few streets in central London I can't think of many bus stops or streets with no ventilation!

I don't smoke inside but I do feel fed up that I cannot smoke in the open air where it does less damage than a car exhaust. If it is just the smell you dislike, well, I hate the smell of stale beer breath, cheap perfumed deoderant spray- all you Impulse users, spray it somewhere in private! YUK! and Avon perfume. We live in a busy society and all have things that get on others nerves - with some people, its existing!!

If you want to live somewhere where nothing gets up your nose, buy a little island somewhere and live on it - or is bird noise and poop too annoying too?

Answer 9

Oppression... at its basic level
the tax smokers pay on cigs is around 60 - 70%
a healthy life means people live longer !
people living longer means higher taxes to pay for basic health care needs Etc !
IE... homes for the elderly, hospitals, docters

but with less money cause smoking will be outlawed

banning smoking is a tool to blindside sociaty from real issues like, theft, rape, child sex offences, murder

what would you realy preffer a rappist off the street or a smoker .......

Big brother is getting away with this ... so whats next ?
the truth with the masses of mobile phones and mobile phone antennas that are about
you have more to fear from abnormal radiation levels then passive smoking

so I say let smokers smoke, and pay the tax for the priverlige
and take mobile phones out of public places and cars
there not band from hospitals for just being anoying

Answer 10

No. I have a problem with loud mouth none smokers who think we have no rights to smoke anywhere. As others posted you don't like cigarette smoke? Then why the hell you have to stand next to us? Walk right by us and have the balzz to swing your hand in the air. couldn't walk a few inches further away? Who the hell are you people to tell us what we can and cannot do. Lets get something straight. There is not one.. one documented case of someone getting cancer due to second hand smoke. The only bull chite argument you guys rely on but cannot provide any data. As long as smokers are no where near children or smoking in playgrounds let them be. And you idiots SHUT UP!