Nowadays there are non smoking areas and non smoking buildings(most of them).
I think this is good.
How dangerous IS second hand smoke?
Ihate having to stand outside in the cold in the winter to get away from smoke in a bus shelter.
Should smoking be disallowed every public place? Would this deny them their rights?
Is second hand smoke as dangerous to the by-stander as smoking is to the smoker? I don’t know. I think there is sufficient evidence to suggest that it’s not very healthy for either person in question.
More importantly this should be a question of courtesy and respect. Some people (ex: asthmatics) are adversely affected by second hand smoke. Other people simply don’t enjoy the odour permiating the air they breath or the clothes they wear.
If you smoke, have the common courtesy to do so in a well ventilated and out of the way place. No one has forced you start smoking, no one is forcing you to continue doing it and no one is forcing you to quit. Please do not force non-smokers to inhale smoke simply because you happen to enjoy it or have simply grown accustomed to having a cig with a drink at the bar or immediately following a meal at the restaurant table. It’s discourteous to inflict your bad habits on other people.
who da’ man?
vanilla wrote:
In California, it pretty much already is. There’s no smoking at all (not even a non-smoking section is allowed) in restaurants, airports, offices, and just about every other kind of publically-accessible building.
Yes, it would. And it does. Believe me, the smokers here in California hate having to stand outside in the cold in winter to get their fix, just as much as you hate standing outside to get away from smoke in whatever-State-you-live-in.
Is smoking a right? Hmmm… not sure about that.
Also, I suspect that smokers in the northeast find standing outside for smoke in the winter to be much more disagreeable than smokers standing out in a California winter. Though I suppose it’s all in what you are used to.
I smoke and…
I think you second-hand smokers should be paying half! 
Ok - ok - I’m going back to MPSIMS.
Since I go to Pierce (the ass-end of the United States, let me assure you, and the Ashtray of the San Fernando Valley), I’m pretty much used to second-hand by now. In fact, I think my bodily chemistry has mutated to thrive on it. The most notable sign of this was during our rehearsals for Fiddler On The Roof, I’d occasionally say to my boss, Ty, “Let’s go have a cigarrette.” I don’t smoke. What I mean is, “Let’s go outside so’s you can smoke and we can talk without disturbing our mentally deranged and quite scary director, Gene.”
I couldn’t of said it better! I am sick and tired of smokers complaining they are being discriminated against, we aren’t against you, we are against your stinking habit.
The right to what? Unwillingly fill my lungs with toxins. There are a couple ideas I would support:
-
Resturaunts should be forced to make better smoking/non arrangements.
Either:
A. Better ventalation in smoking sections
B. Something in between smoking sections and non (for example, a wall, ok so that’s maybe the only example.) -
"Smoking rooms"
*Although they are kind of costy for businesses, I would be appriciative of it. * -
Make 'em go outside in the -50 degree weather
Figurativly that is, although you shouldn’t be out at Shari’s if it’s -50 outside.
But of course, I would be alot happier if they did this themselves rather than having us do it for them.
I truly believe the dangers of second hand smoke have been totaly blown out of proportion.
I understand non-smokers disliking it but I dislike aftershave and perfumes - the smell of some actually turn my stomach - should I request that a restaurant or bar owner have a “non-scent” section? I think not.
I don’t have a problem with seperate smoking and non-smoking sections in restaurants. I do have a problem with the government mandating that proprietors of private business ban a certain segment of the population. I mean really - who ever went into a bar to get healthy?
Even if shs was as dangerous as the statists say it is (it isn’t), as long as smoking is legal, smokers should be afforded the same ‘rights’ as everyone else.
In Kookiefornia, business owners have NO say in their own smoking policies. Even if the proprietor, the staff and 100% of a bar’s business (for instance) smokes, that businessman doesn’t have the right to allow smoking in his establishment. That isn’t right.
How dangerous IS second hand smoke?
Nowheres near as bad as ‘they’ make out.
Should smoking be disallowed every public place? Would this deny them their rights?
Yes and yes.
Archer wrote:
Hate the sin but love the sinner, eh?
Look, 2nd hand smoke KILLS. OK? So, you have no more right to smoke where we might inhale your poison, than you do to stand on your backporch, in the city, and fire a gun up in the air, over & over. Sure, you probably won’t kill someone, but you might, and you can’t be taking the chance of killing some innocent, just because you like the smell of cordite. Nor can you operate your own incinerator, nor your own nuclear power plant.
So whenever I happen to smoke around others (which is exceedingly rare), there’s a risk that they’re going to suddenly keel over and die? There is really no risk of killing someone with exposure to second hand smoke. It does have an effect on a person’s health, and should not be allowed except where a person can be considered to have consented to the possibility of there being second hand smoke present.
Daniel, Daniel, Daniel. You’ve made a pretty strong assertion there. Why don’t you tell us what you are basing it on?
Even if one were to have a “right” to smoke, it would be superceded by other people’s right to not be exposed to smoke. Second hand smoke is… probably deadly. I don’t mind the smell of tobacco smoke, but I’m only exposed to it for less than a minute each day (and want to keep it that way).
Anything can be dangerous in large amounts, especially if said thing contains tar. I recall a former teacher of mine saying how she used to work as a waitress in a bar. The bar was very poorly ventilated (basement level); the tobacco smoke accumulated to very high levels. So high, in fact, that when she was working there, she got nasty bruises around her ribs from coughing so much, and some respiratory problems. Then again, that’s a very extreme example (like how the alcohol vapor produced by the yeast in bread dough accumulates to noteworthy levels in bakeries).
By the way, anyone who blows smoke in my face is asking for a severe ass-kicking.
Aye, I’m sick and tired of my sweaty co worker as well and I hate the smell coming out of my boss’s mouth, but I can’t really force them to use a different deodorant or make a dentist’s appointment, can I?
Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t think that smoking should be allowed in public places, but when said smoker is standing outside in the open air, you can’t really ask much more of that person can you?
(No, I don’t smoke, I’m just playing devil’s advocate here. Although I do agree with what I said).
please provide cite for sweatiness…deoderant…perfume… as a known carcinogen
Please provide cite for second hand smoke as a known carcinogen.
Cecil did two columns on this as I remember, and while it seems like shs should cause cancer, it seems like the jury is still out. I wouldn’t be too surprised if I saw some news story about perfumes being carcinogens.
PeeQueue