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What if the patient has been told there IS no chance to recover?

Sue,

I wasn't aware that any deaths have been contributed to smoking. Have they determined that smoking is the cause for cancer. Have the ruled out all the other problems we have with our air quality and chemicals and determined that smoking is the cause. What about the cases where people get cancer and haven't smoked or been around anybody that smokes. Case in point the recent celebrity that died from lung cancer. You could make the same case for any human inflicted cause for death. What about taking away cars in north carolina and making everyone walk. That would stop more deaths than anything else. Why don't they close the beaches and stop the sunbathing. People have a choice to live their lives how they chose. Take a little responsiblity and avoid those areas where people have been confined to smoke. I find most often that the non-smoker who complains always seems to come around areas that they know people are smoking and try to change the rules. Just find somewhere else to go or is it because you will often time be there by yourself.

Does anyone believe that Moses Cone's policy of banning smoking on their grounds will lead to a healthier population? Not me. Smokers who are confined there and the smokers who visit there will light up as soon as they leave.

What's a 'wellness coordinator'...? Fancy name for 'nanny'?

In general, with rare exception, smokers have always behaved as if it was a God-given right to light up whenever and wherever they chose to. Few consider the impact on others and could care less if they did think about it. This anti-smoking backlash has escalated to this point due to the attitudes displayed for decades by the majority of smokers.

While I do think adults who choose to smoke should have some alternatives, I am all for banning smoking in places open to the general public. Early on, homes had smoking rooms. It is true that men usually lit up in these rooms after a meal. But the point is, historically there is a presidence for smoking rooms.

As a nurse I cannot condone smoking for patients. If a person seeks medical treatment, they should be prepared to follow the treatment regime. Otherwise they should stay at home and do what they please a lot cheaper. Why go to the doctor or hospital if you are not going to do what you need to do to get well? No one can make you well. Without accepting some personal responsibility for making yourself healthier, you may as well stay home.

I enjoy a smoke-free environment. But I think I can have that without totally depriving smokers of their addiction. Smoking rooms separate and apart from the general public and entrances are an alternative, imho.

Tug, I know we had our differences last week but I'm with you 100% on this one. I also think it might have been awhile since the letter author visited an extended care facility; either that or she's got her head buried so far in the sand that she'll never see the light of day. I would say the majority of the people I've seen at Cone's facility will NEVER be able to return to their "real" homes. Many of them no longer even have a "real" home. These folks have already given up most everything they ever had in life, do we have to deprive them of one of the few things they can still enjoy?

Yellowdog wrote: "What if the patient has been told there IS no chance to recover? "

What if the people around that patient have breathing problems aggravated by smoke? The effects of smoking go beyond the smoker.

Yvonne: Good post and I agree. I see nothing wrong with providing smoking areas, however I wonder if there is a code that requires such areas to be upfitted with ventilation equipment and sprinkler systems. If such requirements exist, this would be a financial consideration for Moses Cone. Anyone know the local codes?

bunny,

I agree that people with medical conditions aggravated by other people's smoke should be protected from it. In general, I think that non-smokers should not have to breathe the smoke of smokers.

I don't know the exact terms of the ban (i.e. if there are areas where these folks can go to smoke without bothering others).

However, I do feel sorry for those in situations like the one Kel mentioned. I doubt that many who are in extended care actually do smoke, but it seems like some type of arrangments could be made to allow them to without intefering with others.

I know from experience that the facility my grandmother lived in had a smoking lobby that was completely separate from the non-smoking lobby.

Right-on Yvonne!

Yellowdog, the smoking ban will encompass the entire Cone campus. There will be no smoking whatsoever allowed anywhere on Cone's property. I don't know how many people in the extended care facility smoke but I've seen several in the outside courtyard and I know they are mad as hell about this and don't understand it at all; the facility is, after all, their home.

Kel,

I think it is unreasonable that they cannot find a place outside for these folks to smoke.

"I think it is unreasonable that they cannot find a place outside for these folks to smoke."

That's the absurdity of how far some of the anti-smoking zealots want to take their nanny-state mentality.

I sympathize with the smokers who live in the extended care facility. But this is not the nanny-state, it's a private healthcare facility making choices about the behavior allowed on its property.

Tug, you are kidding, right? Does anyone really dispute that tobacco is a cause (not the only cause) of cancer and other illnesses? Even tobacco companies don't argue that anymore.

This is from the website of Altria, the company formerly known as Philip (Marlboro) Morris: "There is an overwhelming medical and scientific consensus that cigarette smoking causes serious diseases, like lung cancer, emphysema, and heart disease, in smokers."

http://www.amren.com/mtnews/archives/2004/08/tv_ad_calls_pak.php

I can't check that site from here, 'cause it's branded "Racist and Hatred" by the firewall ... but I think it's about the desperate attempt Ol' Vernon used to get elected last time (he lost thank God). He claimed the guy shooting video's of Charlotte last year (?) was a Terrorist who crossed the border from Mexico - therefore tying himself to two "Hot Button" issues.

Now the guy MAY have had evil intentions - might have benn Osama's right hand man, but as I recall he was exported for not having proper documentation - not enough evidence to send him to Gitmo I recon' - but I never heard any credible or even bogus claim he slipped over the Mexican border.

To me - it was proof Ol' Vernon would say ANYTHING to get elected - which is a DANGEROUS albeit Typical Politician.

Go ahead and vote for him Hugh. I have no idea who's running against him, but he wouldn't get my vote if his opponet were Satin himself.

I agree that was a desperate move. Anything for attention, I guess. Honestly, the guy seems like a nut to me. The dilemma I have is whether it is better to have a nut in office or a completely sane crook.

Why do smoking folks always think it is a non-smokers responsibility to seek out non-smoking facilities? Most times it is impossible to tell if a place allows smoking...why not a sign outside that warns that people smoking coffin nails are inside?
I have the right to expect my clothes to smell the same when I leave a facility as when I arrive. Why do less than 20% people think their right to stink overrides my right to not stink? Oh, yes, you stink.
The same ones crying for a facility to change it's rules are the same ones who insist on making their own rules on this issue. After all, if you don't like the facilities rules, plea for a change to your attitude on the issue.
Smoke if you wish. It matters not to me as long as it does not affect me. Then it matters a great deal. Where do I send my cleaning bill which results from your smelly habit?
Too, don't bemoan the lack of Medicare or Medicade assistance when you helped put yourself in a condition that requires care facilities. The overall cost to society is the biggest reason non-smokers have a right to complain about the habits of society's minority.

Cutawad,

Something tells me your clothes are going to need cleaning (and probably stink) after wearing, regardless of whether you enter a place that allows smoking.