Cigarette smokers shouldn't be demonized. It's their life and body and nobody else's business, so they can do whatever they want, amirite?

Actually public smoking is more hazardous to the surrounding public than the smoker themselves.... Haven't you ever heard of second hand smoking? http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/CancerCauses/TobaccoCancer/secondhand-smoke http://www1.umn.edu/perio/tobacco/secondhandsmoke.html

by Anonymous 14 years ago

lolz yeah second hand smoke is worse from you /sarcasm/

by Anonymous 14 years ago

EVEN if it wasn't more hazardous and it was just a little hazardous, smokers have no right to poison the air... not even a little

by Anonymous 14 years ago

And you have no right to demonize people for their personal decisions.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Haha are you serious? I don't care what they do with their body, but poisoning the air effects ME. I personally don't care if they stabbed themselves a hundred times... in private, because I don't wanna see that shit. I don't care that they smoke, I care that they smoke around a non smoker

by Anonymous 14 years ago

No where in the post does it say "around you" just them smoking in general.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yeah, but this post makes it seem like smoking doesn't effect you unless the cig is in your mouth.... That's why I replied to op.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yes, but I'm not a whiny brat about it. If I don't like it, I move to another area. Simple. Oh, and I'm not a smoker, before anyone says anything.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

It's not being a whiny brat.... Your fucking health is at risk.... My friends and I had a usual spot that we always hung out at, then it became illegal to smoke in some areas on campus and our usual spot became a smoking spot.... Besides sometimes you just can't avoid it....

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yeah, you are a whiny brat about it, your health isn't at risk unless you're dating a smoker or for some reason stand 2 inches away from them when they are smoking. Just get another spot, it's not like you've bought that spot, so find another place to rest your ass. Name one single time you can't avoid it, one!

by Anonymous 14 years ago

That's like saying, hey if a guy wants to shoot a loaded gun with his eyes closed, let him do it. If you don't want to get shot, then learn to dodge bullets or get out of his way....

by Anonymous 14 years ago

No, because bullets are capable of instantly kill someone and it's more than a million times more dangerous. You have to spend a LOT of time, really CLOSE to someone who's smoking to even get a TINY little bit of chance of developing cancer one year earlier than you actually would. It's nowhere near the same thing.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

So you would choose to die a long, slow, and painful death over a one hit wonder? Okay then, but you forget one thing, what if the bullet only wounds you? You're certainly not going to die from a shot to the tip of your finger.... Read the two articles I sent you, before continuing this argument. Plz and thnk u

by Anonymous 14 years ago

You have to be close to them to even be close to being in danger of dying... So if you aren't with them, you won't die a long, slow, and painful death.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Okay, I'll give you an example. My father smoked in the house, and I had severe ear infections for years. I still have ear problems, and I couldn't just "walk away" at the age of three. There's also the story about the woman who contracted lung cancer, and later died, after working in the smoking section of a restaurant for years. Apparently, she never smoked in her life: http://www.smoke-free.ca/heathercrowe/ Also: http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/Canada/20060522/crowe_obit_060522/

by Anonymous 14 years ago

she worked there for YEARS in a small confined ROOM

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I got severe asthma from second hand smoke. I was on high doses of medication and couldnt play sports for years because my lung capacity was ruined. Smoking hurts other people.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

As long as they're not blowing it in my face, I don't really care. Live and let live... or get cancer... w/e. Then again, I oppose all laws designed to do nothing but protect a person from their own decisions (seatbelt laws, helmet laws, etc). Not because I don't agree those things should be used, in the cases of my examples, but because it harms no one except potentially myself if I choose not to wear my seatbelt, and I don't think it's right to fine someone for that. It's freaking extortion. The government is supposed to exist to protect our liberties, not take them from us as they see fit like concerned parents. Adults should be free to make their own choices, for good or ill, until they infringe on someone elses personal liberties, yes?

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Well said, couldn't agree more.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

So if the person happens to be a kid, who doesn't want to wear a seatbelt or a helmet while riding bikes, then he shouldn't be forced to do it? Because when he dies, his/her parents are just going to go lulz and forget about their dead child....

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Parents "own" their child until he or she is 18 years old. The parent doesn't have to start the car if the kid doesn't put on his or her seatbelt, so it should be up to the parent, not society.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

No, he said that the person should be in charge of their own self.... Last time I checked there isn't a child who is his own parent, also what about riding their bike? If the parent isn't watching and the kid goes out with out a helmet, then falls and cracks his head then bleeds to death on the side of the street, then don't you think someone who sees him should be able to stop him and require him to put on a helmet?

by Anonymous 14 years ago

That's not what I said, read again. If the PARENT sees the kid riding a bike without a helmet, nothing stops the PARENT from taking away his or her bike for example, there are a lot of ways to solve this... making it a law won't make any difference because if the kid wants to he or she will take off the helmet anyway, fascism just doesn't work... Speaking about not answering questions, you never answered my "Name one single time you can't avoid it, one!"

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yes, the kid can take it off, but if it's illegal to ride bikes without a helmet, then when other people (meaning not his parents) see him, then they can tell him/her to put it on.Okay in my situation, I have a short lunch break and I go to the same spot to eat each day, now there are a lot of smokers where I eat, but that's the only area with benches so I really can't move anywhere else. Because if I go too far looking for a place to sit, then by the time I get there, then my lunch break would be over. Also if you work with a smoker and your work isn't indoors type. Then you can't really avoid it, because the only places where smoking is absolutely prohibited is indoors....

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Are you telling me that there is only one spot which has benches remotely close in the entire campus and you and your friends have occupied that spot, so no one else gets to sit there? Build your own fucking bench, tell the campus to get more benches or just stand up if you're in such a hurry. If you're working outdoors with someone who smokes and your job isn't to constantly hug this person, then you should be more than fine. The wind will lead the smoke away pretty quickly and the damages done to your health will be extremely low unless as I said before, stand next to the person the entire time he or she smokes. And if for some reason your body does get damaged during the time you're working, you can talk to your boss and he or she will make sure you don't have to work with a smoker. You can avoid it.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

No we aren't taking up all the seats, it's just one area where we work, that there are lots of benchs. Meaning the whole area is covered in smoke. Also the wind might blow it on your face. Also what did I say about reading the article and this argument?Here I'll help you out a little, •An estimated 46,000 deaths each year from heart disease in non-smokers who live with smokers

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Okay, so move some of the benches away from that area then... explore young one. I read the article, that's 46,000 of 300,000,000 Americans. That's 0,0153333333% of all the Americans every year. Okay, so a very few non-smokers are dating smokers and comes in contact with smoke regularly and doesn't try to avoid it, so they die when they're 78 instead of 80 years old, I don't think this is a big problem, and if they thought it was a big problem, they wouldn't be dating a smoker.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

You can't move benches.... These things are nailed to the ground and weigh a ton each.... Anyways, what about children, whose parents smoke? Should they move out of their parents house at the age of 4 month? It's not always being okay with it, sometimes it's just not knowing, i.e. YOU

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Blowing smoke in the face of a child who's 4 months old should be illegal, yes, but I was actually talking about situations where you, not anyone else, only you can't avoid getting smoke into your lungs, sure, someone might kidnap you and blow smoke down your throat but I'm not talking about those extreme situations.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

You don't need to have someone breathing down your throat to be effected by it... if the only chilling area near your work and classes is a smoking area, then it's going to be used during the times that you are there, because well other people are there too (unless you're a vampire and work and go to classes in the middle of the night... which isn't even an option). And it's usually not just ONE person, it's a whole group of people, the whole area is full of smokers. If this happens everyday (except weekends, because I don't work or go to classes then), until I left the campus and then at work, I think it might have some negative effects on my health.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

46,000 is 46,000 too many.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

at least outside there is wind and the smoke usually wisps away from you

by Anonymous 14 years ago

"Adults should be free to make their own choices" key word being: adults.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

(KickAss) You dipshit, I'm talking about adults, OBVIOUSLY. But did you know the fine for not wearing a seatbelt is generally more than the one for not having a child restrained properly? Because it happens more often, and they make more money off it. I hope you're being deliberately dense for the purpose of trolling, instead of really being that stupid.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

How are you going to call me a troll, then call me dipshit...? Still though what about adults who are mentally unstable? There are always exceptions to these rules, so the only way to have it is to make it universal. I am being difficult, but not to troll, but to see if you have a good reason for saying what you say

by Anonymous 14 years ago

So sorry I didn't state adults specifically in the previous post; I seem to make the mistake of thinking people can infer some things with common sense on this site all to often. You have to say everything in "___ for Dummies" mode, or people just get so confused.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

It happens to the best of us. Now you know to be more specific next time

by Anonymous 14 years ago

People who are mentally handicapped enough to not be trusted to make their own decisions fall under the same legal category as children; responsibility of the guardian. Got anything else?

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Being mentally unstable isn't always the same as being mentally handicapped, it can include depression, feelings of suicide, insomnia, or eating disorders. So the person may not be in the correct state of mind when doing (or not doing) what they should have done (or be doing)

by Anonymous 14 years ago

My point is, I don't oppose laws requiring an adult to secure a child; failure to do so endangers the child(or legal child, just to cover all the bases), not the person making the decision. I oppose only laws that directly affect no one but the person themselves, which I thought I stated pretty clearly to begin with, but apparently there are people in the world even more pendantic than I. ;-P

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Pedantic*

by Anonymous 14 years ago

If someone is unstable to the point of suicide, I think worrying about whether they're wearing their seatbelt is a little silly, and doesn't really make any sense here, anyway. You could just as easily make the same argument for someone who's simply in a hurry and forgets... I mean, seriously? Our essential disagreement is that you seem to think the exceptions warrant the rules, when I do not. You can't convince me that because a metaphorical handful of distracted people, regardless of the reason, might not be in their right mind and need to be pulled over and reminded to put them on(which is the only reason I can figure that you even said that), that it should cost me $125 every time I get pulled over for not wearing one. Max speed limit, in town where I live, is 35, and seatbelts are damned uncomfortable to me(they rub my neck, I guess because I'm short), so I don't always wear them for running errands. It's highly unlikely I'd be seriously injured at those...

by Anonymous 14 years ago

... speeds, and dammit it should be my own decision whether or not to risk it. I always wear it on the highway, but if someone doesn't want to, it's their own stupid fault. If they end up road pizza, it's just survival of the fittest in action. Stupid people are supposed to kill themselves off, you know; if we didn't coddle them so much, maybe we'd have less of them, and this world would be a better place.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Ha, okay. Can't really argue that

by Anonymous 14 years ago

You're annoying.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Yes, noticed it too late, can't edit; alas. Way to nail the point home, though =P

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Ha

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I don't care. Cigarette smoke smells like burnt ass. Get the hell away from me with it.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Kinda like abortion.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

It may be your life, but it's my air.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

I completely disagree with this because of my own experience. My siblings and my cousins have been surrounded by smokers our whole lives and my little baby cousins stay in rooms with two men chain smoking the whole day, it disgusts me and I move them when I can. But when I'm not there, they're going through it and taking in the smoke, I can only hope and pray they won't be damaged by it severly.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

to the people saying it can only harm you if you're right next to smoker, that's crap. When I was younger, my parents would smoke in their bedroom, which was all the way on the other side of the house. But just from it lingering through the house, I developed a horrible cough for over a year. That was when I was maybe four. They smoke outside now, but I still have breathing problems and ear infections from it, and I'm almost 17, and I have never smoked myself a day in my life. My grandfather died of lung cancer from smoking. My mother has had throat surgery, and my dads just got all around messed up lungs. Whether you are inches from the smoke, the one inhaling it, or all the way on the other side of a room, you can still breathe it in.

by Anonymous 14 years ago

Meanwhile, the person who is demonizing smokers second hand smoke is standing next to a city bus with smoke billowing out the back, in a city where you can no longer even see the skyline. Plus, after driving around the block, in their own car, they have put more dangerous pollutants in the air than the guy who has smoked a carton of cigarettes. Don't believe it? Go into your garage, close the doors and start your car up for 15 minutes.

by Anonymous 8 years ago