wow, so many thoughts and comments made, i wsh i could knock out a response to all of them but instead i will just post my thoughts on smoking.
ok, first off it isn't just non-smokers that get annoyed when a smoker is smoking close by, i have a friend who smokes and she does not like it at all when i am smoking close to her........sometimes we are on the same together taking turns to go on the internet etc she pushes me off the chair when i accidently blow smoke in her direction!
i dont really care too much about where i smoke, as someone posted earlier in this thread about passive smoke affecting your health being so low then i would smoke in a hospital if it was aloud. but if i get the impression someone does not want me lighting a 'smoke' then i will move away from them and go elsewhere to smoke or smoke later on.
i used to work in a place where they had a smoking room and that place stunk like crazy the walls were yellow and it was almost like a little 'hell' room, it had a ventilation system in it though and i dont know what it was about the room, maybe it was the humming noise or the smell i like so much about smoking that i liked about it. sometimes i would go sleep in there! LOL!
since it is a fact that passive smoking is a very low risk of affecting your health then what the hell are you moaning about, i mean other than the smell you dont like and someone blowing smoke in your face, why should you care about others that smoke? sure they are losing out and are slowly dying, but so is everyone else.
to be able to smoke you usually have to be over 16, well in england anyway, sometimes higher in different countries, everyone who is old enough to smoke knows the risks involved and are grown up enough to make their own decision, it's the under-age smokers you want to give a $hit about, as not always they are responsible for taking the habit up, peer pressure etc.
it is either one or the other, illegal or not illegal which is it to be? ban it altogether or dont? someone has to make a decision, and not make up new rules about where you can smoke etc etc that is unfair. i allow you the right to smoke, but dont smoke here, go somewhere else...........i got to another place and i find out i am not allowed to smoke their, etc etc etc.
i personally think the world should ban smoking, even though it is a bad habit and even though i love to smoke, when you give up smoking or if you dont smoke, the world is a much nicer place to be, more pleasant, food tastes better and the smell goes away from all your clothes and furniture etc.
when the world (read governments and politicians etc) sorts out it's priorites and realises that smoking is not number one then it would be easier for everyone.
i think they should sort out the things that need sorting out before banning smoking etc etc.
you waste your time trying to get people to stop smoking, who cause the problem in the first place, when you could be doing something more effective, something like raising some kind of charity donation appeal to help starving people in 3rd world countries, i think that is more important than b!tching about smokers.
it's all about what society let's you to do and it is all screwed up.
can we smoke? = yes you can
it's accepted that we can smoke, if we dont like it, then we have a choise, we dont have to smoke, if someone else wants to though let them.
can we smoke? no you cannot, it's against the law.
ok then we cant smoke, no choice in the matter.
you gotta have rules in life or everyone would make their own, but you cant make rules FOR rules can you?
it's also down to how people react to rules, one person would say 'no smoking? fine i will give it up' another person would say 'no smoking? that's not fair! you can do this to me'
if people just stopped making cigarettes then people would have no choice about it and would HAVE to give up, if the goverment made this decision it would be a great idea. sure it would p!ss millions of people off, but it would also be saving those very same lives from cancer and prevent them from killing themselves quicker than they already are. people would soon come to realise it is the right decision.
i do however intend on giving up smoking, as it does affect my health, running to the bus stop wears me out, before i started smoking i could run for days. however i will give up when I want to and not because people want me to stop because they dont like it, while i have the choice i choose to smoke, i love the taste and it gives me something to do while the next map is loading in my game of counter-strike, or when i am downloading an mp3 on my cruddy 56k modem.....why wont BT understand i NEED cable!!!!
oh yeah and one last thing, that guy who said he would sue tobacconist companys or whatever and said he would burn loads of dollar bills, he be polluting the air and enviroment as much as one cigarette probably 2 in fact and if he waves that burning dollar in front of me i will sue his ass, oh the irony!
i will also b1tch-slap him, just for the record