Do the anti smoker zealots worry you?

Question

The anti smoker crusade seems to rely mainly on politicians who have nothing better to do who want to draw the nutter vote.

By nutter vote I refer to those semi-or-wholly deranged people who zealously persecute smokers wherever they can find them, assail them on the street, spit on them (it happened right in front of me!) and believe in the often outlandish conclusions of any and all "major studies" about secondary smoke.

My question is twofold :

1 - Who ARE those people?

2 - Once smoking is eradicated, who are "they" going to set those monsters upon next?

I'd really like to see the results of any and all "major studies" pertaining to this disquieting segment of society.

p.s: I don't smoke.

Answer 1

the morality police strike again! their only valid point is the second hand smoke issue, which as you note, may be 'overblown' (sorry)

the same argument could be made for smoking pot or going to a house of ill repute

Answer 2

Funny you should ask, because I want to know, too!!!! I've been smoking on and off for the past 7 years. I'd smoke, quit for a year and a half, start again, same old story. I know one time I'll get it right. However, I feel the same way. All of a sudden, all these people are treating tobacco like it's CRACK. I'm sorry but I don't need people telling me that smoking is bad for me, and that I'm not allowed to do it where I want, when it never seemed to be an issue just until about a few years ago. This whole thing started up shortly after I quit the first time around, and I have NO idea what is going on. What I really can't understand, are all the waitresses and bardenders who are all of a sudden complaining about second hand smoke, therefore contributing to the no smoking bans in all restaraunts and bars, when they KNEW it was there BEFORE they even applied for the position. If they didn't like the second hand smoke, then why'd they even bother to try and work there in the first place? I'm sorry this really wasn't an answer, but I was just blowing off some steam b/c I felt like the only one til now who was wondering who all these crazies are and what started the whole thing.

Answer 3

I was a heavy smoker for 10 years and gave it up when I was pregnant. I haven't had a ciggie for 10 years now even though my hubby still smokes. It was awful giving up but I don't regret it. I don't mind people smoking around me but if I do occasionally ask someone not to light up, I resent the accusation when a smoker says "Oh! You're an ex-smoker!" That's ridiculous!!!! Am I not allowed to breathe clean air??? I'm glad the new smoking ban is coming into force. Good luck with your quitting. It's hard but such an achievement. You'll never regret it.

Answer 4

They sound like the local thugs if they're assaulting smokers.

Having said that, I don't have any sympathy for smokers being forced to smoke outside. I am asthmatic and my life used to be a misery because of people smoking in pubs and restaurants. I didn't choose to have asthma but the smokers chose to smoke. It is much better now that they can't smoke indoors. I don't believe they should have a rough time out on the street though. Maybe they should make a better effort to give up.

Answer 5

Well I gave up smoking about 6 months ago and yeah there are those out there who used to really annoy me. I was having a puff on a bench outside a tennis court one day (Open air courts and stuff) and one of the silly ***** doubles players asked Would you mind putting out that cigarette I can smell it from here and I replied - well you have a good sense of smell but sorry No Can Do - it is a legal habit you know and where would we all be without the huge taxes on smokes plus I am not indoors. That shut her up.


My reason for giving up was based quite heavily on price.

Opinion Editorial

By Linda Gorman

Representative Diana DeGette recently introduced a bill in Congress to raise the legal age for cigarette smoking from 18 to 21. This will protect Our Children from the horrors of cigarette smoking. Ms. DeGette and her colleagues consider 18 year olds mature enough to drive, work, vote, go to war, marry, fornicate, and have abortions. Heaven forbid that they should be allowed to smoke.

It is time for reasonable people to part company with the anti-smoking zealots. What was once a sensible effort to make people aware of the dangers of cigarette smoking has mutated into a regulatory jihad threatening the very rule of law. In California, people with live-in help may not smoke in their own homes. In Colorado, Sen. Dorothy Rupert wants police to ticket and fine any adult seen smoking in a car with children in it. In Florida, Governor Chiles simply suspended the doctrine of equal protection. He decreed that tobacco companies, unlike other companies facing liability claims, can neither dispute the claim that their product caused the harm in question nor argue that consumers should be responsible for their own decisions.
Oh here are some web sites that go on re this subject.



Answer to Question 1. They are Out there!!!!!! You could compare them with those religious types who shove their ideas down your throat (pardon the pun).

Answer to Question 2. Those who eat Big Macs!!!!

Answer 6

I started smoking in my teens...that was before anyone knew it was harmful, in any way, to ones health. You could smoke at work, at the doctor's office, even in your hospital room.

Special Interest Groups lobby politicians to stop (or start) certain things.

I'm certain that they will go after another group next--look at how much we read about people complaining about the overweight.

I'll tell you one thing...as much as government would like us to think they don't want us to smoke...smoking is not going to stop any time soon. The tobacco industry is Big Business--and is sleeping with Big Brother--who can't afford to lose all those tax dollars that the tobacco industry brings in (just like it can't afford to lose the tax money from the alcohol and pharmaceutical industries).

Answer 7

Militant protesters are always a drag. They get so worked up it can distract from their actual point. Smoke is not just irritating, it is actuall harmful to other folks breathing in the vicinity and that is well-known by now. There are plenty of addictions that are not accepted to indulge in in public. And it is different since if impacts the other people around you - if it was acceptable for your co-worker to shoot-up drugs at work, would it be OK if he shot you up a little "by accident" each time against your will? Would you like having little needle marks in you? Most non smokers are tired of being expected to "deal with" the side effects of someone else's addiction - poor air quality, irritated air passages, horrible smells on their clothing, ash burns on their clothes. It is like the difference between the person who drinks at home and the one who drinks and drives - the one who drinks and drives makes people want to restrict access to alcohol. People who smoke in their own home on their own time are fine - but smoking in other people's space is not longer acceptable due to the health impact, but is was never a delight to be around a smoker, was it? It was just tolerated. That is over now, but some smokers want to hang on to the lost days when smoking was OK anywhere but an elevator. If smokers stay clear of others and clean up the ashes and butts so they do not make a mess, no one cares, but if they want other people to handle their mess and breathe their stink and choke on their smoke - they are just obnoxious. The addiction is theirs, the holiday where everyone acted like it was not a problem is now over. Smoke in private all you want. Smoke away from people if you handle your trash and your ash, but non-smokers do not need to allow this nasty habit in their space any more. It is a filthy little habit, smokers know this, but the pretending is hard to get over and the temptation to feel like a martyr now is overwhelming for some, I am sure.

Answer 8

I am a non-smoker and I am so glad that smoking is banned in indoor public place. The smell of cigarette smoke makes me nauseaus.

I'm not anti-smoking (if you want to shorten up your life sentence than go right ahead) but I do feel as though smokers should be more considerate of those who do not smoke.

Answer 9

Isn't that the truth? I know...what is wrong with these people? You cannot tell me that all of the antismokers always eat healthy, they exercise, and they don't drink...there is just no way that these folks do everything right in their life either..
Here in Delaware, our governor is wholeheartedly against smoking...her husband passed away from lung cancer because he smoked...so you can imagine what kind of mission she is on...lol lol
She is taxing tobacco products outrageously...and, I personally, think that this is discrimination...why doesn't she tax something that EVERYONE uses...like, I know, TOILET PAPER?
Right?
I totally agree

Answer 10

They not only worry me, they scare the hell out of me! The anti-smoking nazis (Hitler was a rabid anti-tobacco kook, and a vegetarian to boot!) will probably go after fat people or meat eaters next. It's already happening to some extent, and PETA and the anti-fast food freaks are conclusive proof of that!