So let's talk about smoking...

[Phenakist]

If smoking is ever remade to be allowed public again, I want the right to hit them in the face for knocking a few hours off my life.

That could have sent the wrong message, I have absolutely no problems with smoking, I mean if people want to spend money to kill themselves in the long run good for them, so long as I don't have to be affected by it it's all good.

 

[WeedWorm]

I hate these bloody laws. The government shouldnt be able to tell me where Im allowed to smoke, it should be up to the person who owns the property.

 

[Redd]

Yes it is right, becaus emost of us don't want your filthy second hand smoke in our air.

Wow. Thanks to your incredible post, I am now deeply ashamed I ever made this topic, and will at once write a supporting letter to the Danish Liberal party, commending them on such a great law. Sir, I stand aghast at your incredible debating skills. I am your humble fan.

I lol'd

I bet you did. It's always nice to see someone who can laugh at themselves.

If smoking is ever remade to be allowed public again, I want the right to hit them in the face for knocking a few hours off my life.

That could have sent the wrong message, I have absolutely no problems with smoking, I mean if people want to spend money to kill themselves in the long run good for them, so long as I don't have to be affected by it it's all good.

And after you assault someone for smoking and get taken to jail, you will be missed, by someone, I'm sure.

And before you can say anything, blowing smoke in someones face is not illegal. For all you know it was an accident.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

If someone chooses to smoke, so be it. It is your right to do what you want with your life. I feel that as long as that person knows all of the effects that can/will come from whatever it is they're doing, and still choose to do so, then its fine by me.

There is talk of banning smoking from parks here in New York City. I personally think that is infringing on rights of smokers all over the place. Its bad for you, we get it, but so is all the pollution in the air in the city. You don't see them banning people from driving cars, do you?

As for pubs/restaurants/other public places of the sort, I feel that they should ban smoking. In an enclosed space like a bar or restaurant, I don't need to inhale all of the smoke. But a park? I could care less, because its circulating in the environment anyway and is no longer as concentrated...And I can stay away from you =P

All in all...smoke if you want to, it really isn't the governments say, more of the owner's of the establishments. And since nobody owns outside...too damn bad.

 

[TheSunshineHobo]

I will say this, smoking kills. The government doesn't want you to kill yourself, or anyone else. Off topic, the name of this thread made me think of "Lets Talk About Sex" by Salt n' Pepper.

 

[Mcupobob]

http://www.bigvidpro.com/?v=kTHGEKspWebjjh4R_d7MPA
I'm with penn and teller on this one.

also why ban smoking in bars your not doing anything healthy there anyways.

 

[Starke]

I smoke, but I only go through about 1 - 3 packs a year so I kinda don't care about smoking bans, but the thing that does drive me up the wall is a recent law that got passed in the US that limited the nicotine content, effectively banning my brand.

 

[quiet_samurai]

Until something actually becomes illegal people need to quit bitching about, and trying to ban something that gives quite a few people a small measure of happiness.

And that whole "pulluting up my air" argument is bullshit. Who the fuck said it was your air?

 

[T5seconds]

Second hand smoke is a problem which is a legit reason this is here but I agree that the government shouldn?t allow it it?s another step forward socialism and I am aggenst that I think that the owner of the bar should in fact be the only one able to change whether smoking is allowed in there establishment

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Yes it is right, becaus emost of us don't want your filthy second hand smoke in our air.

Most of us don't want your annoying second hand bitching in our ears either, but you don't see the smokers complaining about it...

 

[Mr.Pandah]

Until something actually becomes illegal people need to quit bitching about, and trying to ban something that gives quite a few people a small measure of happiness.

And that whole "pulluting up my air" argument is bullshit. Who the fuck said it was your air?

Your logic confuses me. So if something is on the fringe of being made illegal, we shouldn't complain about it until its out of our hands, and is illegal? Make sense out of that.

Alright, give me your cigs, they're illegal now.

 

[Mr.Pandah]

OMG TEXT WALLS!!!I waisted my time I can't sit down and read all this.

Thanks for the input.

 

[sizzle949]

I'm of the opinion that if I own a business like a bar or a restaurant, then the government should have no right telling me that I'm not allowed to have people smoke in my establishment. If non-smokers don't want to have to inhale the smoke, then don't come into my business, and I'll just serve the smokers.

 

[Iskenator67]

I smoke too. In Illinois, they passed a law forbidding smoking in public establishments and within 15 feet from the door. Now there trying to forbid smoking in your car. It doesn't really apply to me because I only smoke the occasional cigar around my house but it's still pathetic.

 

[StercusCaput]

inb4: "Use the searchbutton!" I did, and the last two subjects wasn't really on the angle I'm going for.

So let's talk about smoking. I smoke. It's a recent habit of mine, but I love it. Friends of mine are either on the "cool, we can smoke together", "Damnit, it is my personal quest to make you stop" or "Don't care".

My government is with the second category of people.

Quite some time ago, a law was passed here in Denmark that made it illegal for people to smoke in establishments(we're talking pubs, discos, restaurents) that are larger than 40 square meters. Quite interesting, it was the liberal party here in Denmark, that spearheaded the law.
Right now, there are talks of expanding on the law, making it illegal to smoke in any public setting.
The reasoning is of course the smoking is bad for you. Noone can deny that. The long term medical dangers are there.
And the law has many supporters. The interesting thing is that being for or against the law, is not really a question of what kind of person you are political, whether you vote liberal or socialist, it's rather a question of smokers and non-smokers.

But I wonder...

Is it really right for a government to decide whether we smoke or not? I opposed this law when it was first proposed, and that was at a time when I wasn't smoking myself.
I believe that, if a man has opened his own establishment, it's for him to decide whether people smoke or not. Why should it be a government issue?

The frigthening thing here, in my oppinion, is the support non-smokers give it. Non-smokers have an option of going or not going to any establishment, and if they care enough about people smoking there, then they could go somewhere else. In fact, if it was so important to non-smokers to be in a smoke-free environment, I imagine the problem would have solved itself - there would have been plenty of smoke-free bars and pubs. But there wasn't. To me, it seems more like a matter of convenience, where people are like "Oh, well, it's nicer that poeple don't smoke, so yeah, of course I'm for a law, and oh, something about it being dangerous and stuff, passive smoking, blah blah."
In my oppinion, if you didn't care enough for it before, that it meant more to you being in "the right disco" than having a smoke-free night out, then you shouldn't start wabing your arms about and complain about the dangers of passive smoking.
When people start supporting governmental control out of convenience, something's wrong.

tl;dr: Should governments decide whether we smoke in private establishments? Should it be anyone's business except for yourself, whether you are destroying your body?

Should governments decide whether we smoke in private establishments: No nonsmokers can choose not to visit an establishment that caters to smokers

Public places: Yes they should ban it in public places where nonsmokers have no choice in the matter.

 

[Housebroken Lunatic]

Yes it is right, becaus emost of us don't want your filthy second hand smoke in our air.

Most of us don't want your annoying second hand bitching in our ears either, but you don't see the smokers complaining about it...

First hand bitching, but it isn't killing you.

Neither is second hand smoke. There is no scientific proof correlating second hand smoke with death, especially not since there are so many other toxins in the air created by industrial waste and exhaust fumes from vehicles that affects people pretty much constantly during the day, while second hand smoke only really play a minor part a few times per week (if the non smoker is actually going near places where people smoke that is).

Second hand bitching on the other hand can be quite lethal as it tend to make people pretty violent some times, and making them discharge second hand bullets towards the people subjecting the world to their second hand bitching.

You have an immune system and if you're not confined to an iron lung you'll be fine, regardless of whether you are subjected to a little second hand smoke. And if that really annoys you then well, there's always gasmasks...

 

[Deleted]

I want to walk on my hands all day. But if the government suddenly made a law against it I wouldn't ***** about it. Plenty of people would though.

Its the same here, its not like you need to satisfy your smoking urges that second, wait till you get home or in your car.

 

[hobo_welf]

The second hand smoke gig is bullshit. If you go to a bar, expect smoke, if you go to a smoking allowed establishment, expect smoke.

If you don't want to breath it, don't go.

Similar to, if you don't want to deal with the idiots in the Escapist community, stop coming to the site. You choose to breathe my smoke the same as I choose to breathe my smoke.

Again, if you don't want to breathe a smokers secondhand, gtfo. We don't like it when nonsmokers complain about it anyway. You won't be missed, I promise.

 

[Mobung]

I don't feel that there's any problem with the government deciding to ban smoking in private establishments. If the government can ban asbestos in buildings, I don't see why they shouldn't be able to ban smoking too. They're both health hazards to everyone in the facility.

 

[EvilGamer89]

I myself smoke. My standing on this is that owners should be able to choose to let you smoke there or not, have signs outside the building that states weather or not it is a smoking establishment and you non-smokers can go bugger off to a non-smoking place if it bothers you so much. remember IT IS A CHOICE TO STAY BY SMOKERS. You can leave on your own free will. We are not forcing you to stay in the building where the owner has decided to allow us to smoke.