Cigarette smoke pollution

What are the rules on cigarette smoking like where you live? In the UK people can still smoke in cafes, pubs, bars, and other public places, although you now can’t smoke in official public buildings, or in any educational institution. But soon that is set to change – I think soon smoking will be banned in pubs and cafes. Needless to say, a lot of smokers are complaining about this.

I find it funny that I know a few people who have a really good attitude towards the environment and human rights, and yet insist on smoking even when it is annoying or upsetting other people in the same room. They seem to think that smoking is their “right”.

I think that some smokers seem to have some sort of cognitive dissonance – they agree that people have the right not to be poisoned, or forced to take in noxious chemicals, and yet they don’t see their own smoking as part of this.

I am a non-smoker, and I hate to breathe in cigarette smoke.

I really hate walking by all the buildings now in toronto and people are smoking every where… they can’t smoke inside so now our parks and entrances have become smoke heavens… argg

smoking is one of my pet peeves. I’m the worst(best) anti tobacco advocate because I am a born again breather(ex-smoker) and cancer survivor. We have strict laws in california-they even want to ban smoking in cars. There is no smoking in bars, or restaurants,or in any public building and you have to be 20 ft. away from the entrance of buildings. These laws really make the smokers out to be what they really are-self obsessed addicts who have no concern for anybody else’s well being- not even their own! They tried to pass a law to make it abuse/illegal to smoke in a car with children under the age of six. How sick does a society have to be to get to the point that the gov have to intercede on a child’s behalf for something that is our fundamental birthright-clean air!?
Many fail to see that the Native American Indians didn’t give us tobacco as a gift. It is a pesticide and NA people seen us as the great white pest. Only it didn’t work fast enough to prevent the demise of their country/people.

Thank you for your views!

It looks as though we have the same perspective.

It really annoys me when smokers try to make out that anyone who is against smoking is in some way a reactionary who is against human rights. They don’t seem to consider our right to breathe clean air.

Oh, I remember! I was one & I was just as obnoxious & oblivious as anybody is capable of being. Qutting is one of the most important steps I ever took to reclaim living. It takes about 3 seconds for tobacco smoke to completely null/dull any emotions. So it serves as very powerful coping mechanism that is effective, though very destructive. I prefer to feel-even if it isn’t all warm & fuzzy. I think the lack of infomation on these aspects of quitting(have to deal with yourself & how you feel-not always pretty!)is a hindrance to recovering. When I told myself I was going to quit I didn’t do it as a deprivation, I did it as an act of love & concern. As soon as we love ourselves enough to live today instead of trying not to live/die then we have conquered a secret to happiness.
I hope in 5 years it will be completely non-exisistent! I know, I’m just a dreamer! But I’m not the only one!

Sorry, I have to put my two cents in on this subject, and I am a smoker.
People seem to be so worried about second hand smoke coming from people that smoke. They fail to realize how much more important it is to worry about the smog and pollutants that are in the air already! All coming from from toxins belching out from coal fired plants and cars!
No one ever seems to see the bigger picture on that.

Yes. I am certainly well aware of the bigger picture. It’s all important. We can control smoker’s behaviors with laws & regulations just like we can the big corporations. My point is that it is a shame that we have to do this. People & corporations have to be accountable. We need ideals that uphold a personal responsibility(ability to respond) to these violations on air, earth, space=humanity. Instead of having to crack you on the head with laws & regulaions that tend to be a little too little/late by the time they are enacted.

Congratulations, Myrrmaid, on quitting successfully! I have lost both parents, an uncle, and a cousin to smoking. And it may have been a contributing factor in the deaths of an aunt and my grandfather.

My mom tried really hard to quit–but she just couldn’t. They say nicotine addiction is one of the toughest to break–I admire anyone who wins that battle!

Well…I feel compelled to join the fray here:

I am not a smoker. In school, they showed us a real lung that was healthy and one “smoked”.
One look at that sight and that was it for me forever….

A really odd thing is that my former neighbor was/is a cardiothoracic (heart/lung) surgeon.
He’s the guy who would operate on your chest and your lungs.
He’s a smoker!
He said he started smoking in medical school due to stress.
I think he’s trying to quit.
He can give you great detail about smoking’s effects and warn you against it…

My parents smoked and eventually quit. It seemed to be the “fashionable” thing to do.
My husband smokes but only outside. He is trying to quit.

I think good health is hot and hip and fashionable. I think healthy tuned bodies are great.

If you want to know what is really important in this world, spend time with terminally ill people…
I really can’t stand the smell that lingers on clothing or in the mouth or the butts on the ground especially when there is a garbage can within one foot or a car garbage. I particularly get annoyed when people driving in cars throw cigarette butts out the window!
Cigarette butts on the ground get chewed on by dogs that pass by and other creatures.

My father-in-law (now deceased) had emphysema but that didn’t kill him.

My grandfather smoked heavily and died at 97 or 98 (imagine how long he might have lived if he wasn’t smoking).

There’s sometimes an attitude of this-won’t-hurt-me-or-if-it-does-it’ll-be-in-50-years-and-at-least-I’ll-be-happy-or-maybe-die-young.

The truth: lung cancer kills and rather painfully (I know two who died of it).
I know one person with one lung removed who survived. He’s ok but frequently winded.

Emphysema just sucks. The struggle to breathe is enormous and the sound and sight to others is often unbearable.
Watching someone in that state is just horrendous. Wait tiill you get to the “death rattle” folks…

Go see “An Inconvenient Truth”.

I think many things can kill people but sometimes they are ok in small doses.
Perhaps First Nation peoples were/are more moderate about tobacco use.
I don’t know. I am not a First Nation person.

I invite any First Nation people to speak out here…

I really think that smokers’ sense of smell gets distrubed. I don’t think many smokers are aware of the scent.

The smell makes me sick.

My response to the smoker who mentioned the other pollutants in the air – yes, it’s true there are many many pollutants out there.
That doesn’t make it ok to add more…think about how many smokers there are in the world and how the winds blow….

Yes, you make really good points. Quitting smoking now is about the quality of the last days of your life. suffocating on your own damaged tissue/mucous is no kind of quality life. I was an in-home care provider for a terrific man who had emphysema. He was 88 years old, war vet and was so bad off he would be coughing & this horrible nicotine stained mucous bubble would grow out of his mouth. He was so frightened & I was so surprised. I had never seen anything like that in my life. It was devastating to see such a noble man who fought a war be whipped by something so limiting & self inflicted. Smoking dulls down all senses, including the sense of taste, feelings & emotions. It poisons the heart & destroys precious, life-giving tiissue. I can only imagine the disbelief that will be prevalent when future generations look back & wonder at this ignorant, self limiting addiction. The list of dangeous chemicals that are in manufactured tobacco & the way the companies’ manipulate the nicotine(drug) is diabolical.

Smoking shelters are always a good way to ward off the dangers of pollution and unwanted cigarette smoke. A huge array of smoking shelters is now available in the market. These are constructed with high quality materials
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