Oh, Ike, Ike . . . I guess I will have to wait to marry you till you’re on life support, then I can unhook you and inherit the vast Ukelele fortune . . .
There are people who are allergic to cigarette smoke, like myself, who feel the effects of second-hand smoke quickly and harshly…ie increased cigarette smoke-tasting phlegm (oh yay), migraine, and eventual vomiting-especially in closed up spaces like cars.
I certainly don’t think I have the right to tell people whether or not they can smoke in their own home. I can even understand WHY they smoke as I do have my own bad habits (although I can’t think of one that affects another person). I do, however, think I have a right to chime in on what they do in public since it directly affects other people.
We’d probably get hit by a bus during our honeymoon. That’s how it is on this bitch of an earth.
Hope I’ll have time for one last quick Camel straight whilst I’m flying through the air.
Uke
Well we seem to have conflicting statistics here on actual death rates and its important to note that just because a disease has been associated with smoking does not mean that all deaths were caused by smoking. Assuming the World Health Organization’s statistics are correct, only 12.2% of all lung cancer deaths are smoking related (14/114). When saying that smokers die an average of seven years earlier than non-smokers do, the CDC is not necessarily examining the effects of smoking specifically, just the difference in life spans of the demographics. Smokers generally make less money than non-smokers do and poor people do not live as long as relatively richer people. In the example given comparing the increased rates of lung cancer from 1960 to 1990 increased by 400% while smoking decreased showing an inverse relationship between lung cancer deaths and smoking.
“The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie.”
–Joseph A. Schempeter
ThreeMae, lung cancer scarcely existed before WWI, when cigarettes first became popular (as opposed to cigars, pipes and chawin’ tebaccy). Why are you so intent on “proving” that cigarettes really aren’t that harmful, when even the tobacco companies are now admitting that it is both addictive and potentially deadly?
I also second Topolino–my mother is severely asthmatic due to second-hand smoke, and she can die if exposed to a smoker. As far as smoking “in your own home,” I have a downstairs neighbor who does just that–and as a result, she also smokes in MY home, which now smells like an ashtray!
I sympathize with people like those above who are trying to quit, or those who honestly try to keep away from non-smokers, or those I am engaged to be married to, like Ike. But why should I have to put up with having poison blown into my face by a drug addict?
I must be blessed… I actually tried smoking and never liked it!
In my late teens, I smoked for 2-3 years, trying to be cool. I hated it! I could never get beyond the coughing and gasping stage.
In my late 20’s I tried to smoke a pipe-never liked it!
The last thing was cigars-I tried all the top brands-I remember feeling very ill after smoking a cohiba.
I guess I’m lucky-I tried for years to be a smoker, but never ever got to like the damned weed!
Call me lucky!
I remember you talking about that before! I thought to myself, “What would I do in this situation?” That’s really a horrible situation. If it made me sick enough, and I could get nowhere with the smoker or landlords, I’d probably be hiring a lawyer…or cooking chitlins and doing whatever I could to make sure the odor wafted downstairs (that is, if I could handle the smell. If I’m angry enough tho, I think I could).
So is second hand smoke always that bad? Seems to me there are degrees, but I’m no expert. Setting aside those people who are legitimately allergic and experience immediate reactions, how likely is it that occasional exposure to cigarette smoke is going to really do anything to your lungs? Granted, if you live with a smoker, or have a job (bartending, waiting tables, etc.) that forces you to be around it all the time you have a legitimate complaint.
I thought I’ve read that a smoker who stops smoking can pretty much count on most of their lung tissue healing within a certain amount of smoke-free time. I would guess this is only true of people who don’t actually have lung cancer. Given that, I have a hard time believing that occasional exposure to smoke such as one would get going out to dinner, or having a drink at a smoky bar, really causes much long-term damage.
Eissclam- you sound an awful lot like my brother-in-law. You wouldn’t happen to be in Connecticut, eh? 
I know that smoking is supposed to be addictive, but the first time (and only) that I tried it I got so sick that I threw up. I threw the pack away in disgust, wondering how ANYONE could pay money to do it! Unfortunately, my sister wasn’t as lucky. She still smokes, and quit during her pregnancy only when she was hospitalized for pre-term labor (for two months). I have to wonder how her smoking affected her twin girls.
Stoidela, good luck on quitting. My husband quit 15 years ago and he says he still craves it now and then, but once he gets a whiff of someone’s second hand smoke it cures him of the urge.
Prairie Rose
If you’re not part of the solution you’re just scumming up the bottom of the beaker.
Flora wrote:
It’s not dangerous. 
I’m not flying fast, just orbiting low.
Ahh… common ground. Come sit by me, sweetie, because we’re both in the same boat.
threemae wrote:
Are you sure it isn’t “lung cancer has a 1.14 WHO health risk rating for second-hand smokers?”
I’m not flying fast, just orbiting low.
Prairie Rose:
No I’m not from CT, though I’ll be flying there next week. I did do some time in Iowa though . . . and even dated a Nebraska farm girl.
As for your sister’s kids, the most likely effect of smoking during pregnancy is low birth weight, which I hope they have gotten over by now. There is some research demonstrating cognitive deficits in children who smoke, but I am not up on that literature.
Interestingly, its more likely the carbon monoxide (CO) in the cigarette smoke that does the damage to the fetus, rather than the nicotine. The CO is passed to the baby’s blood from the mother’s. CO of course, binds extremely well to hemoglobin, especially fetal hemoglobin – thus is the fetus partially asphyxiated before birth. There’s hope though – most pregnant women at least cut down their cigarette intake, and even a small reduction can make some difference. Moreover, we’re actively engaged in research to determine the safety of nicotine patch or bupropion (Zyban) in pregnant women. This type of research is necessarily slow, though.
The safety of the mother and the fetus are the top priority.
If there are any pregnant smokers out there – please talk to your health care professional about ways to help you quit.
Eissclam
threemae:
I am still eager to review your source documentation for the relative risk numbers you’ve been citing (mentioning WHO in your posts isn’t sufficient). As I said, CDC states that the risks of lung cancer are 12-22 times greater for smokers, depending on if the smoker is a woman or a man (I provided a link where you can access those numbers). I find it difficult to believe that the CDC and WHO are in such disagreement.
Being a little anal retentive, I went to the WHO homepage. There I found info on their tobacco initiative, which anyone can access at:
http://www.who.int/toh/
Reviewing the WHO’s Health Consequences of Tobacco, I note that:
“In populations where cigarette smoking has been common for several decades, about 90% of lung cancer, 15-20% of other cancers, 75% of chronic bronchitis and emphysema, and 25% of deaths from cardiovascualr disease at ages 35-69 years are attributable to tobacco. Tobacco-related cancer constitutes 16% of the annual incidence of cancer cases – and 30% of cancer deaths – in developed countries, while the corresponding figure in developing countries is 10%.”
Again, I am eager to review threemae’s sources, as these figures give me cause to believe that the WHO, like the CDC, considers smoking a major threat to lung health.
On that page you will also find a 1998 press release concerning passive smoking which notes that in a recent study “there was an estimated 16% increased risk of lung cancer among non-smoking spouses of smokers. For workplace exposure the estimated increase in risk was 17%. However, due to the small sample size, neither risk was statistically significant.”
I don’t post these figures to anger or annoy smokers (or anyone else, for that matter). I welcome a dialogue with anyone interested in tobacco use from whatever perspective. I would hope that any such dialogue will contain figures that are accompanied by a readily accessible source.
No, Topolino, there’s nothing I can do about my living situation. If that woman is not going to give up smoking for her new baby (she smoked through her pregnancy, too), she’s sure not going to give it up for me! I just use fans and air conditioning and open the windows. And when I move–which may be soon!–I will have it written into my lease that no smokers are to live below me (I may just have to get a ground-floor apt.).
Tracer, consider yourself as having been given a ladylike Bronx Cheer!
Athena, I don’t think that sitting near a smoker at dinner for an hour is going to significantly increase my chances of heart disease or cancer. But it will make my eyes sting, my clothes and hair stink, it will give me a sore throat . . . Why should I have to put up with that? If they were sitting there quietly taking heroin or cocaine and not bothering anyone, I wouldn’t mind!
this is the pit right???
well, as the daughter of a pack-a-day,dying at age 50 of LUNG CANCER mother, I can safely say…
IF YOU SMOKE AND YOU CAN READ, YOU ARE REALLY FUCKING STUPID, AND YOU NEED A REALLY HARD KICK IN THE HEAD!
Mothers who smoke while pregnant should be charged for abuse…they sure as hell would be if they held a pillow over babys face and cut off the air!
Parents who smoke around the kids should loose custody…It is abuse pure and simple.
I dont give a hairy fuck how good it makes you morons feel, it hurts children and other bystanders.It is a filthy habbit, get a damn patch before you all die.
so there.
I dated this girl in college who was the woman of my dreams. Smart, funny, beautiful, great in bed,…and we dated for seven months, but she smoked and from day one I begged her to quit. Finally I told her that it was either the cigs or me. She told me to fuck off and the rest is history.
I just couldn’t look past the fact that the woman who I cared a great deal about would do that to herself. I thought it was a self-esteem, self-value issue, but after reading these posts, (and the fact that I’m older and more laid back) I think she was just addicted to smoking like so many others. Damn, I fucked up, she was a catch.
yeah, I bet she woulda aged well too, and buring her after a long bout with cancer would have been a real treat…stick with your memories man, they are DEFINATELY better that the reality of what her smoking would have done to your lives…kids…home…all of it.
First of all I would like to apologize profusely for giving incorrect statistics, yes the statistics were for second hand smoke and they were 1.16-1.17, not 1.14 however the risk for whole milk drinkers was 2.4 not 1.4. I finally looked the statistics up this morning on the Cato Institute website and here is the link. http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/regv21n4/lies.pdf[url/] Regardless of whether you doubt the statistics, I still suggest the article, it is extremely interesting.
“The first thing a man will do for his ideals is lie.”
–Joseph A. Schempeter