Nanny state 1, smokers’ rights 0

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  1

  jred

  09/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Nanny state 1, smokers' rights 0

  Yeah, but what about murder rates? Ok, I'm only slightly joking.
  
  As a smoker, I don't have a problem with not smoking indoors at some places. I can choose not to go to those places. I worry about how much farther they are going to push it. Already they've banned smoking on any hospital property (as opposed to 50 ft around the doors, etc). I've heard of banning smoking in public parks. Most concerning to me is the rumors I've heard of making it illegal for me to smoke in my car, or in my home.
  
  I'm all for the rights of non-smokers, and I will always respect someone's wish to not smoke around them. Smokers have rights, too, and I worry about the slippery slope we've started on...
  

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  2

  TunerGeek

  09/23/09 | Report as spam

  Smoke, if you must...

  but your "right" to do so ends where my nose begins. That means if I come to your home to tune your piano, I may very well leave before I get in the door if I can't stand the stink. And just because we may be outdoors does not mean it does not irritate my smelling glands. I can smell cigarette smoke from the car ahead of me at the stop light, not to mention NEXT to me at the stop light. And it is very irritating. Physically. Literally. Very, very irritating. So go do it at home, but shower, shampoo, and put on clean clothes before you go to work. And brush your filthy stinky teeth. There is absolutely no upside to smoking. Quit now, before you wind up like my friend Lois who has about 2-3 more weeks of life after being diagnosed with advanced lung cancer just last month. And for crying out loud, if you have children, DO NOT smoke around them and make them sick and potentially addicted.

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  3

  gkm3722@...

  09/23/09 | Report as spam

  gkm3722@sbcglobal.net

  Why did you not get statistics from California? The smoking ban there in bars is over a decade old. I lived in San Jose when the state wide smoking ban in bars and I believe also in public places was implemented. Tough laws were enforced. Statistics from there should be even more impressive and cover a longer period. I now live in central Texas where the city of Austin is in the process of going through what California has already done. Social change in the United States no longer starts on the East Coast. Gay marriage may be the exception to that statement. The standing joke on the West Coast is that if you want to see what American will look like in 5 years look at California today. I am a life long non smoker.

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  4

  AtlantaTerry2

  09/23/09 | Report as spam

  since when was smoking a "Right"?

  Dana, my old friend:
  
  Smoking is no way a "Right", it is a nasty habit foisted upon the Europeans by Native Americans.
  
  Terry Thomas
  Atlanta

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  5

  A Gray

  09/23/09 | Report as spam

  Waht about obesity?

  Smoking is a big issue, I'll give you that, but obesity is a far greater issue. The idea that you can penalize a smoker while not penalizing a "over-eater" for their cost to the public health-care system is wrong. Tax the heck out of cigarettes and beer, but we should also place a heavy penalty on people who are over weight. If you're obese you should pay an additional 10% tax. If you're twice your ideal weight, you should pay 20% more in taxes. This should also go for public transportation, because to use up too much fuel to move your chucky behinds. I have to pay extra for heavy bags--you should have to pay extra for carrying on extra "saddle-bags." Power to the thin!

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  6

  itsme@...

  09/23/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Nanny state 1, smokers' rights 0

  Just think how many lives would be saved if we banned autos, motorcycles , airplanes, sports, knives, arrows, climbing, hiking, getting out of bed, staying in bed too long, eating excessively, not eating enough, anorexia. . .
  Just think how many die in hospitals and 'rest homes' - If we banned them just think how many lives would be saved.

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  A Gray

  09/23/09 | Report as spam

  Actaully doctors cuase a lot of expense

  If we just let people die when something happens to them that should really save us lots of money. I mean, saving a life is stealing from God. Therefore, doctors not only play God they actually are the anti-God. If you are a believer, going to a doctor should be considered a sin. Let God have you if he wants you. To do anything else is wicked and evil.

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  8

  DanaBlankenhorn

  09/23/09 | Report as spam

  A Gray

  Actually, figures indicate obesity is not as big an issue as smoking. You're right, it's a big issue. But more people die from smoking than from obesity.
  
  Many people who quit smoking say they gain weight. This is normal. Smoking reduces the sense of taste, and dulls the signal of hunger. In the 19th century these were called benefits. (Think of streets filled with horses and meat that wasn't refrigerated.)
  
  Doctors will accept the byproduct of weight gain and then go after that if they can get people to stop smoking. It remains the leading cause of early death.

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  9

  DanaBlankenhorn

  09/23/09 | Report as spam

  AtlantaTerry

  Keep taking those good pictures.
  
  I don't know whether smoking is a "right.' I think people assume it to be one because it has been part of our national scene since before we were a nation.

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  10

  andtoc

  09/24/09 | Report as spam

  RE: Nanny state 1, smokers' rights 0

  In my part of Australia people can no longer smoke in cars containing young children, and that's on top of what you have already mentioned

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  11

  DanaBlankenhorn

  09/25/09 | Report as spam

  AndToc

  And the reason for that is obvious. The kids are too young to smoke, yet with second-hand smoke they are in fact smoking, given ill health through no fault of their own, without their knowledge or consent.
  
  The issue here is not like obesity at all. Obese people don't make me fat. (Although if you've got a bunch of fat friends you may not notice your waistline as much...) Being around smokers can make you sick.
  
  I know this for a fact. On my recent trip to the Orient I had to deal with tons and tons and tons of second-hand smoke, It made me much like a smoker, both for ill and (in some ways) for good.
  
  Remember the "benefits" smokers receive. You're wired but relaxed. You can stay up without seeming to need sleep. Your hunger decreases. The smells around you aren't as bad. Bad food doesn't taste so bad.
  
  I felt all these things on my trip. But I also know I'll pay for it. I may not live as long as I might have otherwise, just from a three-week trip to China and Japan.