Everyone has it WRONG.

We should all be ENCOURAGIING smoking, as long as it's not someone we know or being done in out presence.

Smoking has been proven GOOD for the economy - and I'm not kidding:

" .. the negative financial effects of smoking (such as increased health care costs) are more than offset by positive effects (such as excise tax and VAT collected on tobacco products).

"Public finance saved .. from reduced health-care costs, savings on pensions and housing costs for the elderly -- all related to the early mortality of smokers.

"Among the positive effects, excise tax, VAT and health care cost savings due to early mortality are the most important."

http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/reports/philipmorris/pmczechstudy.pdf

... which is why I encourage everyone I don't know, as well as everyone I don't like .. to smoke.

JDR,

Sadly, you're probably right. And just think of all the cool products we can plug into our vehicle cigarette lighters!

The losers who smoke, should continue to smoke. They will Kill off the surplus population, while filling the taxman's coffers. And whoever the wise-arse was who said last week, it was only a "bad habit" is the loser of the week.

James D. Rockefeller and DemonDeacon, have either of you ever seen a smoker you know suffer from a smoking-related illness? I have, and it breaks my heart.

A few years ago, my father had a heart attack. He had to have a quadruple bypass and spent six weeks in the hospital. He fortunately beat the 50/50 odds he was given to survive the surgery. Later he got stents, unfortunately the ones that the FDA now has reservations about. He stopped smoking, but now he chews his tobacco.

A friend was diagnosed this month with cancer of the jaw. The cancer can't be completely excised because the tumor wraps around the jugular vein. He will have to undergo both radiation and chemotherapy. He has a 20% chance of dying the first year. If he lives,he will be permanently disfigured. He will also have problems hearing, speaking, and eating for the rest of his life. He is 34.

I'm sorry I can't be so flippant as the two of you about "losers" dying off and saving the rest of us money.

The same can be said for many diabetics and those who die of heart disease because of the bad food choices they make.

Point is, we're all going to die of something. And regardless of what that something is, there's a good chance that it's gonna suck.

Eat healthy, don't smoke, get lost of fresh air and exercise, and you will die anyway...it just might be more pleasant...

Had a neighbor who refused to quit smoking because she said she would hate to be hit by a bus while wanting a cigarette. To each his own.

BeadBaby:

My mother smoked from an early age - 30 years - until the mid 70's when she quit. Frankly, she is the main reason I do not smoke, growing up and listening to her HACK every morning.

20 years after she quit, she developed lung cancer and in about 8 months, was dead.

At her funeral, many many people came forth and talked about how much she had positively influenced their lives (she'd been a school teacher) - we should all hope for such affect.

I'm entitled to my opinion, having earned the cynicism.
You don't smoke? Great!
You do? Until we befriend, I don't care.

People Quit Everyday and they don't go to the Betty Ford Center to do it.

If you smoke, you are a loser!

No comparison to food choices, Nit. What other product has a warning that basically says, "Don't use this"!

James, I'm sorry you had to see your mother suffer like that. Of course, you are entitled to your opinion. It sounds like you are still angry at your mother for doing something that killed her. I wonder if you are afraid to care about others who smoke.

DemonDeacon, you too are entitled to your opinion. However, I am entitled to the opinion that you sound sanctimonious and arrogant when you call smokers "losers." To me, it seems like you are just as intolerant of smokers as jew4jesus is of homosexuals. Yes, I recognize that smokers made a choice to smoke whereas homosexuals did not. But most people who smoke start as teenagers because it's "cool," or their friends do it, or because their parents don't want them too. Then they're hooked. Did you NEVER do something stupid as a teenager? Are you that much better than everyone else? No? Then come down off your high horse and constructively encourage smokers to quit instead of insulting them. Remember, on average, it takes four tries before a smoker can quit. Hearing people like you minimize the difficulty makes them feel hopeless about quitting.

Angry at my mom for smoking? Heck no.

Afraid to care for others who smoke? Heck no .. as long as I know who they are - I care for those I don't know, but not in specific terms.

As examples:

If someone chooses to smoke, so be it; I'm for non-intervention as long as it's their personal choice and that choice does not negatively impact me personally or society in general.

I'm opposed to restricting smoking in bars and restaurants and individual stores. Let the market segregate smoking shoppers.

I'm in favor of restricting smoking in public buildings including malls.

Most my positions are like that. Individual freedom as long as it doesn't mess with others' Individual freedoms.

As long as they are not smoking around me, I really don't care. I even let my friends smoke around me - I don't like the stink and it makes me a bit nautious (spelling), but as a friend I put up with some of their bad habits, although all have heard more than once the Phillip Morris study cited above.

"Smokers have the power within them to quit"--
Theoretically, that's true. My friends who have given up smoking 50 times a year, almost to a person, would like to strangle the person who introduced them to the "weed" (cigarette). Choice(which is what they made) is a behavior that got them somewhere--but sometimes when you get to the somewhere(the destiny about which you knew very little ), it is a real bear for any one to easily crawl out of the den.

James, the word is "nauseous." I don't like cigarette smoke either. No one smokes in my house. When my house was actually clean enough to have company over, the smokers went outside or into the garage.

As for businesses, I think many of them disallow smoking because it's bad for business and because they are afraid of passive-smoking lawsuits. When I say bad for business, I don't just mean non-smokers won't spend money there, but cigarettes make clothes stink, they can start fires, and businesses don't want cigarette butts on the floors.

I do agree that smokers should be allowed to smoke if nobody else is affected. But what about smoking parents, like your mother or both of my parents? Asthma is more common in children of smokers than children of non-smokers, for example. I believe that smoking is already a factor in child custody cases. It won't surprise me if smoking around children is defined as child abuse in ten years.

Actually the correct usage is "Makes me nauseated" Nauseous means causing nausea. He is a nauseous person...he makes me sick. I am nauseous...I make you sick. I am nauseated...I am sick.

Carol, according to the following from the Merriam-Webster Dictionary Online, it means both.

nauseous
One entry found for nauseous.

Main Entry: nau·seous
Pronunciation: 'no-sh&s, 'no-zE-&s
Function: adjective
1 : causing nausea or disgust : NAUSEATING
2 : affected with nausea or disgust
- nau·seous·ly adverb
- nau·seous·ness noun
usage Those who insist that nauseous can properly be used only in sense 1 and that in sense 2 it is an error for nauseated are mistaken. Current evidence shows these facts: nauseous is most frequently used to mean physically affected with nausea, usually after a linking verb such as feel or become; figurative use is quite a bit less frequent. Use of nauseous in sense 1 is much more often figurative than literal, and this use appears to be losing ground to nauseating. Nauseated is used more widely than nauseous in sense 2.

The ideal smoking section would be one that is enclosed with absolutely NO ventilation. If someone is too poor to buy cigarettes, they can just breathe in the second hand smoke. The section would be glass enclosed so we could all witness the coughing and wheezing until the smoke obstructed the view. Have one of those "fly fans" that blows the smoke back in the den of death each time a smoker leaves the pod. This would be the perfect place for Health Class field trips to show children how "stupid" adults, who know the risks, still smoke and how stupid it makes them look, how awful it makes them smell, and how "weak" they are at overcoming their addiction. Instead of a fish tank, filled with tropical fishes of all colors and hues, we could sit and watch the "tank of idiots" who will wheeze, sneeze, cough and gurgle through dinner. And the finale---upon eating that last morsel of the meal, they "HAVE" to fire up a butt just like a lab rat pressing the button for more cocaine!

I have no trouble with smokers as long as they NEVER throw a cigarette out the window of a car, and don't smoke around me or the ones I love. No, have at it! Smoke yourself to death for all I care, just don't play "victim" by saying "I tried to quit, but I couldn't". Just admit you are stupid, and that you don't care enough about your family to quit.

DemonDeacon, why do you feel so strongly that smokers are "losers" and "idiots"? Your disdain is so strong that it seems irrational to me. I hate tobacco smoke probably as much as you do. Unlike you, however, I take into account how truly difficult it is to stop smoking.

Have you ever fought an addiction before, DD? Alcohol? Drugs? Caffeine? Food? Gambling? Shopping? Sex?

I am a binge eater. Believe me, saying "no" to chocolate cake when I crave it is really tough. A naturally thin person doesn't understand what the big deal is. "Just eat salad instead, and don't eat so much," they'll say. Sometimes I'm strong and can resist or eat only one slice. Sometimes I'm not and I'll eat half a cake or half a dozen doughnuts. It's hard to choose the healthy alternative. Please don't minimize the struggle.

Do you suffer from mental illness? I've suffered from depression my whole life; I can remember major depressive episodes going back to age five and I'm dysthymic to boot. "Snap out of it and don't be unhappy; lots of people are worse off than you are," my parents and teachers would tell me. I just felt guilty because I couldn't be the happy child and teenager they wanted. Believe me, I tried. I couldn't do it.

When someone is genuinely trying to change but is experiencing difficulty, hearing other people say that you are weak and stupid really undermines the will. "I'm so terrible, I'm weak, I can't change, it's hopeless" becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Ms. Kernodle has the right idea: be supportive, show how small changes can add up, and encourage the smoker to keep trying even though it's extremely difficult. Telling a smoker that he or she is weak and stupid only helps perpetuate the habit.

Beadbaby,
Part of my mantra is along the lines of a Jonathan Swift satirical rant. I feel sorry for the poor blokes who smoked before the surgeon general's report in the 1960's. They had no idea how bad smoking was for them. Contrast that with the folks today who have heard since birth how bad smoking is and how it is addictive. If they start smoking and then give excuses as to why they can't quit, they are losers! I could name you plenty of people I have known who quit and had a tough time doing it. Today they would not touch a cigarette if you placed it in their hands! Why? Because they know it is not good for them. To compare cigarettes to food is the most ridiculous thing you could come up with. There is no comparison.
I've known people who have utilized all sorts of reasons to quit:
love
for their children
expensive addiction
unable to do it at work
spouse with COPD

For example, if you cared about your spouse or children, that should be incentive enough to quit...they are definitely going to be supportive. Of course, if you are just a self centered person who really doesn't give a sh_t, then keep on smoking as it fits your personality.
Just don't give me the old "victim" speech about how hard it is to quit when people have done it and done it permanently. For all the Pro Lifers out there, I say put the ad back on TV that showed the fetus with a cigarette in its mouth that was pulled because it was too "offensive" for the times. Get real. If a woman smokes, her baby is smoking too! If that is the socio economic background you come from, then whoop dee doo! Enjoy your Marlboros and fill your home with smoke. Just stay away from me and don't throw your butts out the window. Use the ashtray and let your car smell as bad as you do. Whatever you do, don't cry "victim" when you should have known better than to start smoking.

DemonDeacon, why do you say that the comparison of my binging/dieting is "the most ridiculous comparison [I] could come up with"? Admittedly, I've never smoked, so I don't know first hand exactly how difficult it is to stop smoking. But I know how difficult it is for me to resist potato chips or cookies when I crave them, and those aren't even physically addicting the way nicotine is!

It still sounds to me that you enjoy feeling "smarter" than people who smoke. So be it. I'm not going to change your mind. But I wonder if you know exactly how mean-spirited that attitude seems to other people. I still say you sound just as condescending and condemning of smokers as neocon and jew4jesus are of homosexuals. You even use some of the same arguments. Maybe you aren't as tolerant as you want to think you are.

Beadbaby,

I would say each person has their own weaknesses and challenges. Dieting to one person may be tougher than quitting smoking to another. At least with quitting smoking, you can stop altogether. With dieting, it's not like you can just stop eating.

We both know that you can leave the word "Maybe" off that last sentence.

Beadbaby,

Just a little friendly advice: To save yourself from frustration, aggravation, anger, indignation and being just simply pissed off, accept what you cannot change. I understand your initial response to what you perceive as obnoxious, wrong or uncaring. However, in this forum, each person is free to express themselves, no matter how objectionable it may be to us. Thus, in order to enjoy your participation, try to remember we live in a very imperfect world.

Although I did dabble in smoking in my late 20's, I never developed the habit (thank God). After having part of my right lung removed when I was in my early thirties, I became a warrior with a mission. I would refuse to spend my money with any company that allowed their employees to smoke while at work. I would check out any motel room BEFORE I signed in. If it smelled of smoke, I requested another room. I disallowed smoking in my home and my car. I rarely ate out because they did not offer non-smoking.

Today, I dispise the smell of tobacco. It causes either a migraine, irritable bowel, asthma attack or all three. I do all I can do to avoid the stench. Even so, I agree that eating and smoking are not comparable. Eating is essential for health, smoking is not.

You are right that most of us have our demons and that it is easier to give in rather than fight them. We also have our intense likes and dislikes. While I feel empathy for those addicted to tobacco, I feel they have abused the privilege of smoking with little regard for anyone else's comfort for far too long. (When I was in the hospital, lying in bed with chest tubes, friends came to visit. They did not hesitate to light up.)

What is happening now is a backlash for the inconsiderate behavior of smokers for years. The tables are turned, so to speak. Although I would not intentionally be rude to a smoker, I definitely think too much of my own health to allow people (? friends) to indulge themselves in my presence. I have no intention of paying the price for their choices.

Yvonne, I agree with a lot of what you say about smoking. Both parents and my babysitter smoked when I was a child. I hated cigarette smoke then and I hate it now.

However, as far as the comparison between smoking and eating is concerned, of course people must eat and smoking is unnecessary. But when I get a craving for chocolate cake, a carrot simply won't do. Nobody says that chocolate cake is necessary for life. Sure, I've got to eat, but it doesn't have to be (and really shouldn't be) cake. I still think the comparison is apt.

I guess what really gets me is the "I'm better than you" attitude that DD is showing on this issue. It puzzles me because on many other issues he shows a degree of tolerance and understanding. Oh, well, far be it from me to pound my head on that brick wall any longer. This is just his blind spot.

Beadbaby,
I feel the same way about people who walk their dogs and let them CRAP in my yard, then keep walking! They are right down there with the cigarette smokers who, rather than use their ashtrays and stink up their autos, throw the butts out the window! Smokers of today show NO, I mean absolutely NO concern for anyone else. When was the last time you saw a smoker with an ashtray full of butts???? Eisenhower was probably President! No, today they just toss them out at every junction or highway crossing. Take a look at the curb if you think I am making this up! Goes right to the dog crappers--do my rights end when a smoker walks up? Is my yard the appropriate spot for someone to take their dog to so it can defecate and go back in their home? Well sister, I'm not alone here. If the mentality of the smoker was slightly elevated, I might not be so intolerant, but I am fed up with seeing butts thrown out of the car window by some loser who can't quit, but doesn't want their own car to smell like a burned out trailer.

I'll agree with you that many smokers are inconsiderate of the rights of others. But, as you yourself point out, so are many non-smokers. By all means, stand up for your rights. I don't advocate being a doormat. Just don't forget that even smoking litterbugs are people too and deserve kindness and understanding.

You are so fond of saying that thousands of people quit smoking every day, and they don't need the Betty Ford Clinic to do so. Millions continue to smoke every day. Maybe they do need a Betty Ford Clinic to stop. Think on that.