So says the Surgeon General. From that link (bolding mine):
I put this in the Pit because it’s going to end up here, no doubt.
I found out about the report from this article in the Austin American-Statesman (requires free registration). From that article:
I find that in these matters the full account is preferable to incompentent yammerings from the fourth estate.
Make that incompetent yammerings … there’s only one R in yammer, right?
cerberus: The first link I provided is from the HHS. I’d say they’re not incomptent nor are they the fourth estate.
Who’s said that?
Well, they’re certainly not the fourth estate…
d’Oh! I missed the first link.
The page is rather complete. I like the 50 or so years of SG reports on smoking.
I also like the phrase Involuntary Smoking: that’s exactly what it is.
I think it’s generally smokers responding to whiny bitches who can’t walk past a smoker in any setting, anywhere in the world, without acting like they just met the Boston Strangler. cough hack dirty look
The smokers, forced from the building to smoke outside, in the rain, snow and bitter cold, are made pariahs because people who are allowed in the building have to walk past them, sucking in their deadly second hand smoke for 3 seconds. Now, smoking opponents will drive smokers further into the underground because second hand smoke isn’t just smelly anymore, it’s dangerous! Look for a new round of laws that make smoking the most difficult legal activity to partake in this side of shooting a firearm.
Well, I’m going to add my usual smoking-related complaint here… smokers at bus stops. Yes, I understand that for some people with a serious smoking problem, taking a long trip on a smoke-free intercity bus is enough of a stretch that they want to get a puff in first, but… I do get upset when people smoke right there at the stop, or in the line-up waiting for the bus. It forces non-smokers to decide whether to breathe their fumes or back away, thus effectively giving up our place in line. This may sound harsh, but deep down I feel that if anyone should have to give up their place, it should be the smokers.
I’ve gotten that in a fucking smoking area in a beer garden in a pub.
I’m outside, smoking where I should be and still this fucking cunt moaned at me. Generally I’m what you call a conscientious smoker but some people just need to fuck right off.
As to the OP. I always thought that 2nd hand smoke wasn’t great so it’s no surprise
.
Well, here’s the message from the NonSmoking Public…
Ready?
If we have to share the air with you, then we do not want to breathe your fucking exhaust fumes
Got it?
It’s analogous to you not wanting us to sprinkle our shit onto your food and drink, not even a tiny little bit, say the tiny amount of shit equivalent to three seconds’ worth of breathing your respiratory shit/exhaust. Oh, and our sprinkle/shit? We added a few carcinogens and other and sundry poisons, just really small doses, don’t trouble your pretty little head about it. Just shut the fuck up and eat our shit, the shit we sprinkle in your food. 'Cos, see? We’re more important than you!
It’s just like that, yes?
There’s second hand smoke; but no second hand cheeseburger; no second hand heroin…
If you must indulge/suffer your self-destructive activity, then do it with your own fucking air.
Having said that, part of the problem are the rocket scientists that decide to put the smoking areas near the entrances/exits, hence placing the exhaust clouds in the path of everyone entering or leaving the building.
Then again, I can hold my breath for a loooooong time now.
Meh. Fuck off.
Meh. Don’t take a last, long drag right before you get on the bus, toss that butt on the ground as if the world is your ashtray(and don’t even try to convince me most smokers don’t do this-I have yet to see a bus stop smoker who doesn’t), then exhale that crap out on the tightly packed passengers. You don’t do this? Fine and dandy, but you know damn well that you are the rare exception.
No you. Way over there. Far away from people who do not want to breathe your nasty poisonous exhalations. Maybe I’ll just give you a blast of bug spray from this little aerosol can every time you blow your smoke on me. Fair enough?
Is it legal to shoot a firearm at someone who is not an immediate threat to you? Why should it be legal for you to poison the air I breathe?
At this point, I don’t really give a damn what some report says. Everyone has an opinion, just like everyone has an asshole. You don’t want to smell mys smoke? Then stay the hell away. It’s a big world out there. I’m sure you can find someplace else to be, other than right next to me. If I was there first, you can move your ass away.
Well, that’s a start. Would you then agree that if you were not “there first,” you would not light up? Would you also agree that anyone’s opinion is as valid as peer reviewed medical research?
If you’re going to keep it legal to buy tobacco, then the rules around using it should at least be reasonable. It’s an addictive drug, we’ve known this forever, so demanding that people stop using it for 12 hours when they’re not in their homes is ridiculous. We’ve already made it illegal to smoke in most public enclosed spaces, the only place left is the open air. You make it illegal to smoke in the open air, then we’re talking the 12 hour law, which is not a workable solution.
I really don’t care whether you like smelling my smoke or not. I do move away from non-smokers when I smoke, but I’m not going to run away and hide in a corner just to keep you smoke free.
If you are going to die by inhaling my smoke, then by that thinking… I’ll be dead first.
At one time, the answer would have been yes to not lighting up. But anymore, I’m not so sure. Attitude has everything to do with it. If they ask politely, fine. If they are assholes, I light up. As for valid opinions, hell no. Everyone has a right to an opinion. I have the right to ignore their opinion. Besides, there have been cases where “valid medical research” or “valid scientific reserch” was later discovered to be skewed to reach a foregone conclusion, or totally false, or was contradicted by some other “valid research”. It’s simple. I won’t smoke near you, if you are polite, or if I know already that you object. If you are a jerk about it, then you can “smell what the Rock is cooking”. A little courtesy goes a long way.
I support the smoking bans. I bend over backwards to be conscientious. I go outside to smoke unless I’ve sought permission from those around me. I stay away from non-smokers. I take my butts home with me, in my pocket if needs be.
Help me to help you stay away from my smoke, but don’t fucking bitch if you happen to be exposed from dozens of metres away, for half a second, diluted by the vastness of the atmosphere. So “there is no risk-free exposure”. I’d imagine the same is true of any other airborne pollution, and especially car exhausts.
Yeah, some smokers are inconsiderate bastards, but then again some non-smokers are whining little drama queens.