This is one of my soap boxes.

I hear you loud and clear, beautiful. Seems the nicotine nazis just won't be happy until a smoker like me comes unglued and starts shooting people.

My argument may seem sophmoric, but is Canada pedophile free? Rapist or drunk driver free? Illegal drug free? You know... REAL problems??!!

And the same is happening to the U.S. as well.

And the taxes we smokers pay... Where do you think our goverments are going to get that lost revenue if we all quit?

Everyone. Smoker or not will have to chip in on that one.

"It's not a war on drugs, it's a war on personal freedoms". -Bill Hicks

warning me to stop smoking may be hazardous (sp?)to your health,

I agree about going too far. I didnt have any trouble with the way it was smoking or non smoking. I have always smoked outside never in the house, but when i dine i rather non smoking i dont care for it while I dine. I never ever smelled a smoker while dinning out. As it was there were already non smoking bars, so if ya wanted a non smoking bar they were not hard to find to make it mandatory, shows how govt can go to far, they are to be a mediator for the people and not a dictatorship

I am a former smoker.

Quitting was the hardest thing I have ever done in my life but it was a PERSONAL decision and what was right for ME.

I would never tell another person they couldn't smoke around me because most of my friends still are smoking anyhow.

BTW; after I quit smoking I gained 40 pounds so if you need a reason to smoke....there it is!!


I still miss my Salems...

Im with you guys!!! Here the teachers seem to pound it into the kids heads that they need to go to their parents and explain to them that smoking WILL kill them and that they are going to DIE and that they do not want their parent to die.....
I was so ticked the first(of so many) times they put that into my kids' heads'! How dare they! My son was always a worry wart and for quite a while it really affected him thinking I was gonna drop dead at any time!!!
I could rant and rave about some much more about it but it ticks me off so bad!!

Well, it’s only a matter of time before they ban smoking on the sidewalk too. That’s what’s happened here with our new ‘progressive’ smoking laws . . . we have to be up to 30 ft from any doorway or window.

We could always become radicals in the fight against obesity? Some of those people sweat more, and tend to have more gas . . . . banish them to their homes, I say!! Not funny, but how far will this nonsense go?


It hasn’t been carried far enough as far as some people and our governments are concerned. Just wait . . .

... assuming that smoking does kill, Sally. Why are the Japanese and many other countries with very smoking per capita rates living longer then Americans and Canadians? Why don’t they have anywhere near the lung cancer rates we do?


I hate rules too, Sandy, especially stupid ones. This lady, who is a major anti-smoker, has been hassling me in the park for the last 3 yrs. This year she approached everyone that was smoking (even from other communities) to tell them that smoking had been banned in our community’s parks, so they all slithered 2 blocks away to have their fags all weekend during the tournament. She was lying, it is not banned in any parks YET.

I had it out with her the other night and said “it’s not banned, but do you know what is against the law? . . . harassment”. I also said “drinking in the park is illegal too”, as she is an alcoholic who brings her booze in her coffee mug to the park. I can tell you, I don’t like breathing her air either!

She hates me now, BTW.


I guess you are gonna have to find a way to release that pent up stress from not smoking . . . so I'll be sure to wear a badge that says “I would smoke if I could”.

I'm hoping the pedophiles and rapists are in jail . . . but certainly those who aren’t, aren’t leaving a trail of smoke behind them anyway. Gotta love those sneaky bad habits.

The funny part about this whole law is that our premier, who is driving this “smoke-free BC” mandate, got caught drunk driving in Hawaii a couple of years ago. Lucky for him that his dirty habits are not so obvious . . .

I don't involve myself in other people's business, and I just don't want them to in mine.


I think I'll wear that badge around you too then, Frank.

Most non-smokers don’t care that much about smoking, it is only a radical few that are pushing this . . . well, them and the government. The non-smoking movement is worth a lot of money to the Lung and Heart Associations, pharma companies (selling useless quit smoking drugs), and governments (at least while they can charge so much for taxes).


Oh, oh . . . better not start harping on the obese people until I see what happens to me when I am forced to quit. I'll stick with harassing the drinkers for now.

I quit smoking about 19 years ago when I was pregnant with my first child.

I dont crave it anymore but still enjoy the smell of a "fresh" cig.

I really think in this day they'd be able to invent ventillation systems
that would allow smoking sections or smoking rooms in buildings that
would allow smokers to smoke so that would elliminate that burst of
smoke you get when you walk out of a building

just my two cents.......

Smokers have become second class citizens. Parents pull their children away and we receive those looks that kill. My own nephews pronounce to me that I am bad and educate me on the sins of cigarettes.

I've spoken about this before Cherie, but an update locally. We have the typical $1 tax for the Feds (I think its $1). We have a State tax now of $3. The City of Anchorage liked it so much that they imposed a $2 tax. This is PER PACK. My Cig's are over $8 American Dollars here in Alaska.

I have never had an illness due to smoking. I have health care and don't need State or Federal aid. The Taxes were SUPPOSED to go to education of raising a non-smoking society locally. HUMPFH!!! Haven't seen a dime spent that way. Instead it pays for local roads and projects.

Therefore I OWN THE ROAD and everybody better get out of my way

We have to smoke 50 feet from any public building. No smoking in ALL public places including bars and restaurants. (Local bars here have build outdoor smoking houses to keep people out of the cold).

I get ID'ed every time I buy. I look older than 19 I assure you. This is harrassment. One lady ID's me every day....its a power trip she has. I want to slap her every time...for heavens sake, MY BIRTHDATE HAS NOT CHANGED since yesterday!!

I have a love hate relationship with smoking. I hate the smell, I hate the addiction....but I ENJOY smoking. I like to do it.

There are no freedoms for smokers and if this kind of treatment were perpetuated on ANY other group....it would end up in the Supreme Court. I have more rights on gun ownership and possession than than I do as a smoker.

I may quit someday, but being forced out of the market justs "PEAS" () me off...and like a defiant child....I refuse to be bullied

I quit smoking 23 or so years ago, not that I was much of one to begin with, only had an occasional one and it was to mess with my now late husband who was a non-smoker. If I didn't want him "bothering" me, I lit one up, he couldn't stand the smell of smoke and it worked, kept him in another room and away from me. He was the victim of a drunk driver and died a few days after his 35th birthday.

If the smell from someone smoking bothers me, I don't say anything, I leave. I don't have to sit there and let someone blow smoke on me. My present hubby quit on Nov. 14, 2006 and it probably saved his life. and he'd go outside and smoke not wanting to bother me with it in the house....but he'd chain smoke when we were in the van going someplace...makes no sense!

When we brought the dogs home from the vet, from getting them fixed, was the last time he smoked, he went to a hypnosis seminar and for him, it worked! It was the same evening of the day the pups came home....the dogs can't stand to be around smokers....they make it real obvious!

The justification for people’s right to not have to be exposed to smoke is never-ending. Do you remember how it got started though?

68% of the population in the US smoked in the early 1960’s. When our governments (in EVERY country) started this “war against smoking”, they said it was because it was costing the health care system a lot of money. That is certainly untrue now, because of the amount of taxes that are collected from smokers. In the meantime, the number of people smoking has been reduced to about 25% - 30%. We are definitely the minority now.

The next argument used against smoking was the dangers of second hand smoke, especially for our “children of the world”. I don’t believe most of that, but I am still respectful of the perception and don’t smoke in indoor areas where children frequent. I smoke in my own car with my own children occasionally, but unless I am going a long distance, I don’t smoke with other people’s children in there. I have never had a parent say that their child could not take a trip or holiday with me because I smoke though.

The recent argument, now that we are all smoking outside or in our personal confined spaces (where non-smokers do not have to frequent), is ridiculous and prejudiced. This is no longer about “health issues”, as clearly people can not be DAMAGED or HARMED by smoking that occurs in wide open air in such places as a park or beach. The complaint now is that people don’t like the smell.

There are plenty of smells I don’t like, or am allergic to, but I don’t wave my hand in front of my face, nor would I have ever endorsed a law that persecutes people for smelling offensive or because of my personal allergies to their smell. Where is this level of intolerance leading to? Are we going to start banishing people to their homes because of bad breath, body odor, ethnic food smells oozing from their pours, perfumes, fabric softeners, etc? Shall we start being as rude and condescending to less then perfect non-smoking “stinkers” as we are to smokers?

Now that the gears are in full motion to banish smoking virtually everywhere, and it is deemed socially unacceptable in most environments . . . the government and health associations are changing their focus. The talk now is starting to focus more on the number one health cost in the US which is OBESITY . . .

While MOST people with an obesity problem do not have it because of genetics or a thyroid problem (some do, but not the majority), MOST people with a smoking habit do so because they are addicted. Addictive predisposition is also genetic.

Smokers have been prejudiced for a long time, including often paying double the healthcare premiums. We also pay for our health care costs, as well as the cost of many non-smokers, due to amount that is paid on taxes for cigarettes. We ARE paying for the right to smoke. Obese people are not currently paying for their right to be unhealthy.

People have to eat, but not to the point of "unfit obesity”. They can control their behavior just as easily as smokers can control theirs. Even if they do have a genetic problem, there are ways to stay reasonably fit and healthy, by exercising, etc. Look at those people on The Biggest Loser. Some of them are still over 200 lbs by the end of the show (obese, by most standards) . . . but they are fit and can hike up a mountain or climb a retaining wall. Fitness, not fatness, is the issue . . . and anyone can choose to be that way, except maybe those who are disabled, like yourself.

I am disabled too (not from cigarettes, from MS), and I can’t walk 2 blocks to have a cigarette every time I want one OUTSIDE, where it is causing no harm to anyone. I pay higher insurance premiums, and am shunned from society for my lifestyle choice. What about when we start making the obese people walk 2 blocks to eat their french fries and burgers, because that is “repulsive” behavior and an unhealthy example for our kids? Most of them have no excuse for their habits either.

Obese people cost our health care system more money, so should they be paying double premiums. They also cost employers more money to have on staff, because they are usually unhealthy in other ways too (lacking vitamins, sick/hurt more often, etc.). Quite often, due to their weight, they are more prone to accidents and they are not as physically capable as fit people. Is it fair to discriminate against them because of that?

Be careful what you wish for, and welcome to our world, obese, perfumed, laundry-sheet users . . . etc!

None of us are perfect, so why not let people be? The war on smoking/non-smoking is two-sided, and there will be a fight by smokers to retain the rights they pay for. That is where I'm headed, I assure you. I am a very tolerant person of others, so long as they are tolerant of my imperfections too. If I am forced out of wide open air space to smoke, or have to quit because of the laws, I will start getting in other people’s faces about their unhealthy, offensive, and/or “bad example” behaviour.

And, rest assured, once the government is done with smokers, they will be moving onto obesity.

Cherie

thing that bothers me the most are these sin taxes,(for all booze and smoke purchases) that are applied in Illinois, that do not only go for booze rehab or cancer treatment, they go for the roads for the schools to help balance a budget, that to me is taxation without representation, this is discriminative against those who drink or smoke, if these monies are being used for the good of all then all should pay a part of it so then raise the food tax we all must eat this way everyone pulls their share of the taxes instead of a select group, that is the thing that bugs me the most here in Ill, its an unjust tax, used for common good yet only select person pay it, didnt we throw some tea in a harbor years ago because of this and the paper tax?