Posted on 03/02/2017 8:56:01 PM PST by TBP
Isn’t that the truth. I’m a smoker and all the friends I’ve lost in the past ten years, younger than I am, were non-smokers.
For the last 20 years, once every other year, I teach a college class and at the end of the semester, I meet the students at a bar.
Twenty years ago, at least half the students would smoke while drinking, now maybe one or two in 20 students will smoke.
While I disagree with smoking bans, I vehemently detest the connecting vaporizers and ‘e-cigs’ into the same ban. There’s never been any reputable study that shows the slightest negative health effects to the user, and the lone study that claims second hand effects comes from the same source that set off the second hand smoke witch hunt.
It is absolutely inane that something that ‘looks’ like smoking is being banned simply for that ‘feature.’ Worse, these products are pulling people off of cigarettes faster than all other methods combined. And as these devices are banned, users are returning to cigarettes in increasing numbers.
Enough is enough. Had the anti-smokers held back their attacks, cigarettes could nearly have been a thing of the past. But medical solutions give campaign contributions and lobbyist dollars, and these inexpensive and far more importantly, dramatically more effective solution. Add in tobacco companies who write out those checks just as fast to politicians, and whoopie, new bans with absolutely no foundation in any health arena (see the Surgeon General’s report... which had a rather hard time not calling e-cigs healthy.)
Well, you’ll be so happy to know that it’s entirely up to you to decide what other citizens can or can’t allow, on their own property. Schmuck. It’s not about your tender sensibilities, it’s about natural, God given rights to control your own property, versus the heavy hand of government. If you don’t like their business practices, don’t patronize them.
“You smoke in the next booth over from my family and me while I’m eating my tacos and enchilada, and I will come over and forcibly show you why I don’t want you doing that.”
Ok hitler.
I would never begrudge anyone for smoking if that’s what they really want to do and spend their money on. Who am I to be their mommy anyway. I was the most militant pro-smoking guy in the country when we started getting pressured to have smoking stopped in all indoor places in California in the late 90’s. When it finally went into effect I would only go to bars that still allowed it. Over time the smoking police caught up with all of them until none allowed it anymore within the city limits. You could still find them out in the rural areas and still can as far as I know.
Now, after having quit 16 years ago, I still respect the right of anyone to smoke in their own personal indoor spaces but not any public indoor places. A smoker has the option of stepping outside for a smoke and can usually take their drink with them if it’s a bar but a non smoker does not have the ability to go to that same bar and not smoke if smoking was still allowed there. Funny thing is when I moved away from CA it was so great to be able to smoke in bars again but just one year later I was coughing so much I simply had no choice; I had to quit smoking.
I mean no disrespect to anyone who smokes but to many of us, maybe ex-smokers more than never-smokers, the smell is truly terrible.
I really wish cigarettes and cigars had never been invented. I could have bought a new car every year with what I spent on tobacco for the last 5 years I smoked (2 packs a day). I gave myself a raise of well over $200 a month back then which would be like $400 now I guess. I see people I know who are so broke they can hardly pay attention but they always manage to find a way to pay for more smokes. I’ve been there. When budgeting the priorities were, smokes, beer, some food of some kind, and gas; in that order. By eliminating the first two; I had more than enough for the other two and could take a lady out for a nice dinner once in a while.
A lot of women would never quit because they were worried, and rightfully so, that they would gain some weight. It takes a lot of weight to equal the same damage smoking does and if they stay active enough; even that can be mitigated. Anyway; that’s my story FWIW. YMMV. JMHO. I saw in the news the other day that doctors in the UK are now declining to operate on people who smoke. Too many possible complications from smoking in particular but also tobacco products in general. Doctors probably decline surgery for many who smoke all over the world; we just don’t really hear about it much.
The reason the war on smoking about was when Bill Clinton and his band of crooks occupied the White House. The Democrats did a study of industries and manufacturers. Which political Party they contributed to, how much they contributed, and if they contributed to each Party, how much did they contribute to each Party. They learned that the Cigarette Manufacturers contributed heavily to the Republican Party and and very little to the Democrat Party. War was declared on smoking, using the tried and true methods of the Democrat Party, lies, lies, lies, and more lies.
Well, if you eat some smelly enchilada in the next booth while I'm trying to enjoy my cigarette, I'm going to have something to say about it.
I used to smoke a lot, quit 20 years ago. I can’t stand the smell of indoor smoke. That said, when you say “public” spaces and “a bar” in the same sentence you have it wrong. The bar is a private business and SHOULD be able to set the rules they want. Of course that all went to heck when they passed the civil rights bill, when government started dictating who you must let in. And now it is who you CAN’T let in (people smoking).
When they passed this law I thought it was stupid, some restaurants could have made a killing by banning smoking and advertised as smoke free, family friendly, etc. If they got rid of the law I bet most places would stay smoke free as most folks (including me) would prefer that. But - those that offered smoking would do well I bet.
“Life can be a crapshoot.”
I’d prefer to see gambling banned too! (Well, at least the government sponsored lotteries).
I smoked for 20 years. I quit cold turkey 6 years ago after an illness. Hubby still smokes...outside. I have no issue with having a beer at a smoking bar. People are generally respectful where I live and ask if it bothers you. I always consent because it’s a dog bar too and they put up with my mutts.
I never want to have to quit anything like tobacco ever again. My doctor told me that it was harder to break than opioid addiction. So God bless anyone still struggling with it. I certainly don’t want to be a reason for them to climb on a high horse and defend an ever vanishing public smoking establishment.
LAX has a few outdoor smoking areas, past security out near the far end of the gates. They had a few benches, ashtrays, some plants and open air. A few years ago they decided to keep those locked... can't go out there anymore... simply because the anti-smokers couldn't handle the trauma of looking through the plate glass windows and seeing people smoking outside.
I don’t want my hair and clothes to smell like cigarette even if they said it was healthy, which of course it’s not. Why do the faces of long time smokers always look like old catchers mitts? And why do their teeth fall out from gum disease?
70% of the US population smoked up until the early 1970s.
You may have heard of US Presidents Franklin Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan and Britain Prime Minister Winston Churchill? The US military kept our soldiers in smokes through two World Wars!
Talk about low education, study history.
BTW, I am not a smoker, but I'm not a freaking jerk either who believes it anyone's right to deny other people of their freedoms.
It definitely is harder to quit smoking than quitting opioids. Been there done that on both counts. Doctor prescribed of course. I found the entire habit of smoking to be as hard to quit as weaning off the nicotine. It’s almost ritualistic to always make sure I had my smokes, a back up pack, and a lighter that wouldn’t run out while I was out of the house. Then there’s the whole process of organizing my space with the ashtray and going through the motions of lighting one up. Heck, just thinking about it and typing this out, gave me a twinge of wanting a smoke even though there’s no way I would go there now.
I never could quit cold turkey. I managed to quit many times for months at a time using several different methods; one even involved a timer which beeped to tell me when I could smoke one. When I got down to 2 or 3 per day I quit the rest of the way but it was still hell for a few days. The very last time I used chew so I only had to quit the habit of lighting up. That was hard all by itself. Not a lot of chew; just enough to take care of the nicotine withdrawal but not enough to need to spit all the time. After a year of that I was able to quit the chew with the help of nico lozenges, gum, and the patch losing the gum first, then the patch, then finally the lozenges (which I used in the same spot I would park the chew) which I cut back on a little per day until I got down to 2 or 3 then quit once again the rest of the way going through hell and back. Physically the chew is harder to quit because the nicotine gets up to a certain level once a pinch is parked between the gums and cheek and stays there whereas smoking looks more like a heartbeat on a monitor. It goes way up when we smoke then gradually goes down until we crave another and can find the time to smoke one then it starts back up again over and over all day like that. I would smoke 5 cigs with coffee in the morning checking my email and what not before I did anything else just to get my nicotine level up to where I wanted/needed it.
Someone mentioned bars being a privately owned entity and while that is true; they are open to the public. The laws are different in each state but here in AZ the private clubs like the VFW, Eagles, Legion, Elks, etc. can still allow smoking. I only know of one in which the members voted to ban it and that was an Elks in a generally well to do area. Bars being open to the public are under the same laws that a library or restaurant would be. Most owners were happy to comply with the no-smoking laws because it meant more money in their pocket for less maintenance and cleaning plus the time and effort involved in doing it. Pool tables stopped being burned as well as wooden bar tops and carpeting. No more cig butts in the urinals and on and on like that. Just a couple of buckets of sand and a kitty litter type scooper outside to contend with once or twice a week depending on the number of smokers who frequented the place.
I only watched a few minutes of that video but don’t understand what getting jacked up for open carry has to do with smoking.
Did I miss something? I have to admit the entire concept of needing a permit to own a gun is alien to me. Why would someone need a permit for something so clearly enumerated in our Bill of Rights? Rhetorical question. I know this is a back east thing they do in some states but I still don’t see how it can stand the test of being against our basic 2A rights.
Maybe one day that will be corrected. I sure hope so. I carry concealed a lot but also see a lot of people open carrying here in AZ all the time. It’s no big deal. An armed society is a polite society. :)
I just asked that the post be pulled, as I posted to the wrong thread.
That's where he lost me. You can't avoid GMO foods because the corrupt FDA refuses to require that they be labeled.
On the smoking issue, I'm of two minds. In the past, I hyped up the passive smoking scare for all it was worth, and I fear for an ulterior motive: because I find tobacco smoke one of the most revolting stenches in the modern world, and I want the entire public realm to be smoke free. What people do in private - yes, their business.
I sympathize. For years, the only place I encountered smoke was on airline flights. And on arriving home, I would take off my outer garments on the doorstep, and stuff them into a plastic bag. Otherwise, the stench that had infiltrated them would spread to the furniture, the wardrobe, the bedclothes, ...
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