Smokin' in the boys room!

[MikePA]

Obviously, nothing I post will convince you, even a post from the World Health Organization, a scientifc study, not a politically motivated message at the PM web site which contains no links to scientific study, just non-specific statements about what 'public health officials' (not scientists) conclude.

Have a good day, Robert.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

What were all those links on the right hand side of the PM page that if you click on bring up all sorts of studies from differnt organizations about the health risks associated with second hand smoke. Again, I would be assuming but it would appear that Philip Morris used information from these pages to post that "politically motivated message".

Your own article has no facts associated with it. It is a health reporters article for a news company. And we all know that the media reports things the way they really are.

So who can we believe, the media, the government or the tobacco company?

 

[Sigarms]

A little bit of history. Kentucky was the 2nd largest tobacco producing state in the nation until just recently. We have the highest number of smokers per capita in the country. For years, Kentucky's tobacco tax was the 2nd lowest. (2nd to N Carolina, by the way, the LARGEST tobacco producer) Tobacco was the states #1 cash crop since that statistic was first recorded.

I live in Yadkin county N.C. Go by numerous tabacco fields and barns everyday to and from work. Seems that everyone on my rural street was employed by RJ Reynolds at some point in time (although I'm in a different county, I'm only about twenty minutes outside of Winston Salem the name tells it all).

You should see the ruckus going on down here. Funny enough, Yadkin county is becoming a big wine producer with numerous wineries (sp?), however, this was a dry county!

The newest uproar with everyone is that they are banning smoking and chewing tabacco on school property in the county.

Kind of ironic that people who are for smoking are against drinking alcohol, and that kids should be able to chew tabacco during school functions.

 

[motepoc]

If we are concerned with the health of all people, then there is a lot of things we need to do to save the world. One of the worst problems we have that affects the whole world is car exhaust. In order to cure this we must do away with all cars, ????? don't tractors run on gas too!!!!gone also. Now that we have that solved where to next. Industry, lots of pollution comes from them, gone too. Wait, if we shut down all industry, where will people work? Who cares? They're healthier. Maybe we can use them to pull all the farm equipment, so that we can have food. And maybe some would be willing to pull carriages and coaches so some of us could ride to where we want to go.

Both sides of this argument can present evidence to support their view, if you look in the right places, and does that mean it's right. So, it seems that we have to live with what the majority wants, whether we like it or not, whether it's right or wrong, and whether it's good for us or not. If you don't like what is going on, and you are on the minority side of the fence, get busy and change the minds of enough people to become the majority.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

Some people like cocaine but it is illegal and is harmful. Cigarettes are a legal drug that have no positive effect on people or the world.

Comparing smoking which is a choice to removing all the idustrial aspects of the world is a little bit of a stretch. But even so, there are numerous laws to clean up the enviroment so this would be just another one.

 

[Bandybear]

Well, my eyes hurt if I am near second hand smoke for any amount of time so it does cause a problem for me.

So now we are discrediting all the doctors who agree this smoke is not good for people? Can anyone name one doctor who will agree with Mike in that second hand smoke is good for you? Please post a link to the source also.

While this source does not provide evidence on tthe benefits of second-hand smoke, it does provide some insight in to the benefits of smoking.

Nicotine Benefits

While most of the studies done by "public health officials" draw their conclusions about the effects of second-hand smoke by inference, could it not be inferred that then these benefits would occur

My faith in "public health officials was greatly diminished when they were trying to link gun ownership to public health problems. They were recommending that pediatricians grill children, without their parents present, as to whether there were guns in the residence. That led me to believe they were more agenda driven than actually concerned about real health issues.

 

[Egon]

Easiest way to settle this is to go ask the "Marlboro Man"!!

Course one could play in piles of white asbestos too as only the blue stuff is hazardous to your health!

Being an ex smoker those who indulge have my sympathy as it is an addiction that is hard to overcome and allowances should be made for those addicted.

 

[Robert_in_NY]

There are benefits to a lot of things but do the pros outweigh the cons? How many times do we see a new drug put on the market to help "cure" something only to find out that yeah, it helps with that but it causes this, this and this

My biggest problem with second hand smoke is because of my daughter. She will be 3 in August and I like to take her places and in New York I can take her to a lot of places now without having to have her in smoke filled areas. They have linked second hand smoke to cause a number of serious problems in young children.

So I don't care if people choose to smoke, just don't choose for me to smoke by doing so near me or my daughter. These laws are so everyone has that choice without being displaced. Smoking at restaurants is annoying, it is no different then loud talkers and people who's cell phones constantly are ringing. These things affect more then just one or two other peoples enjoyment but smoking has the added health risk associated with it.

 

[browns40]

A topic like smoking/smoker's rights can't help but boil down to opinion in the end...

I am a smoker, and while I go to bars only 3 or 4 times a year now, it is just plain STRANGE to have to go outside to smoke (so much for "smokin & drinkin").

It's an issue of rights in my opinion: rights of the business owners in this case. If I wish to operate a business that allows smoking, then that does not prevent my potential patrons from exercising their right to either frequent, or not frequent my establishment based on this situation... this right was always theirs, and always will continue to be... the government has taken away my right to offer potential patrons a dining/social situation I once had available for people to choose to partake in.

The government, through efforts to "protect" their constituents, is gradually eliminating rights of free choice the American people always had--it is happening slowly, one or two at a time, but it is happening... my opinion is that smaller government, more localized government, provides a more appropriate framework to represent the desires of their constituents... in the US now, this is the exception: localities may stiffen laws, make them more restrictive, but seldom less.

Smokers are footing the bill for the bulk of State welfare (health anyway) program expansion through overtaxation now; the argument being that smokers are "overtaxing" the welfare programs through their health-related issues caused by smoking... this is in a way true, but when one considers smog & vehicle emissions, airborne "pollutants" caused from construction, mining & farming, and the fact that the majority of health related problems in this country are not originating from people's lungs, but that band of fat about a foot down from there, you begin to see there is a group becoming disenfranchised by virtue of their smaller numbers, and knowledge that yes, their smoking is not good for them... easy targets.

Can YOU imagine this?: "fat tax", alcoholic tax", "diabetic tax", "cancer tax"... those would all be wrong, yes?

Sorry to digress... my opinion is that we are killing our country through actions like this, spending money on enforcement & regulation of things people should be allowed to make choices themselves on... more & more we throw away freedoms.

My .02... smoke 'em if you got 'em

 

[Bird]

It's been quite a few years since the newspapers published a very small article (they didn't want to give it too much publicity) on a study that was done that concluded smokers are your best workers. And yep, the guy who did the study was disappointed in the results since he was a non-smoker. His conclusion was that "smokers are addictive personalities so they must get addicted to work". But it's another reason I don't believe all the nonsense the medical profession has put out. I had many employees (up to 153 at a time) working for me for many years. I had both police officers and non-sworn (civilian) personnel, and, while there are exceptions to every rule, the smokers were generally the ones who showed up for work every day and did their job. It was the non-smokers who called in sick, kept their sick leave used up, and were frequently interested only in their paycheck.

Personally, I had so much sick leave accumulated that I could have taken off 2 or 3 days a month for years and still retired with the maximum accumulation.