Don't you think there are enough inconsiderate *******s out there who don't like smoking? YOU DON'T HAVE A CHOICE over those who smoke. If you don't like it, too damn bad. Go somewhere else and read, or sip coffee or what ever. I'm sick of people dissing us smokers cuz they don't like it. TOO DAMN BAD! get the hell over your selves, i mean c'mon, the world IS big enough for all of us, pick somewhere else to post ur annoying little comments about smoking. U have your opinion, and i have myn. There are plenty of coffee shops around to have one where you DON'T have to inhale the smoke, GO THERE! get over the fact that you think you can change smoker's minds. Some you may, but not this one.

It's sad to see today's teenagers, so full of individuality and 'be yourself' personna, c'mon, this is as original as it's gonna get.

I have no problem with people having their own opinion about the smoking of others. But there is no reason for them to push their beliefs onto those who don't think the same way. I smoke, and that was my choice in thr first place. Wether your 13 or 18 you have a choice to make. Smoke or not. Don't let others tell you how to make your own choices. Your mom and dad love you, and they do know what's best for you. But if in the end you still decide to do something you're not old enough to do, you better have the right kind of friends, and be prepared to get it x2 from the 'rents. Trust in your own judgement, but if it's the wrong choice in the end, don't worry about it, you'll have another chance sometime to redeem yourself for that bad choice you made. If no one else likes the choice you've made too bad for them. If you do smoke, maybe that's a hint that you shouldn't because of the way it potray's your image. Trust me, if your best friend's mom catches you smokin around her kid, say goodbye to them now cuz you'll probably never see them again. To parent's it's a signal to them that they weren't raised the right way, and that they don't want their kids around that kind of stuff, wether it's the truth or not. Make the right choice, but beware the conesquences.

I live in California where no one can smoke ANYWHERE anymore.

IT IS GREAT! People can't smoke at the beaches, in restaurants, bars, near public buildings... etc. At Disneyland, smokers are only allowed to smoke in certain areas! The happiest place on Earth, definitely!

People who take pride in their smoking are not second class citizens, but are rather ignorant. You're addiction is going to eventually kill you... slowly and painfully.

Granted you KNOW this, but how smart does that make you? If you are saying YOU know it... and it's on the box, then you're just saying your stupid. Right? I mean, who wants to die a slow, painful death?

Tobacco companies are paying out their ***** for all the people they've killed through their tobacco settlements, but it still isn't enough.

In Canada, they put pictures of really disgusting biological destructions on cigarette cartons (i.e., mouth cancer, black lungs, etc.). I think this is great. Unfortunately, though, Philip Morris, et al is heading to the third world countries where people are less educated to use them to pay for their 4th house, and 2nd lamborghini.

Yes, people! It's my air too. And if you think it's still okay to smoke at home, well that pisses me off too. Because when you are old and dying from heart disease and throat cancer, it's my hard earned money that will be going to your Medicare bills to keep you on a ventilator for 3 months... to die your slow and painful death.
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i dont care about smokers. if they all die, too bad. if they dont, the same. its indiferent. i think there are more important issues.

-arianhorn

smoking is terrific for babies, the enviornemnt, peace, and individual happiness.

Smoking at all is just a horrible crime to so many people. Sure, "GirlExMachina" isn't ashamed and takes full responsibility of the injustice that she's doing to her very own body, but the fact is that she's not just harming herself. Maybe she doesn't smoke around asthmatics and children, but this in no way means that they are unaffected. She's doing her part to contaminate the air, thus contributing to the massive amount of second hand smoke cases. I applaud that there are less places for people to smoke in public places! Hopefully this will encourage those who do partake in this deadly hobby to stop because it's inconvenient for all.

And for these reasons, every smoker is a "rude smoker".

Basically, I think that it's a horrible mistake for anyone to smoke, because all it does is cause more harm then good. There are many better ways to handle stress than killing yourself and others around you.

Tobacco companies are to be targeted because they are a huge contributer to the problem. If their advertising works even once, then they most likely have a life-long customer. However, their advertising is not the only thing to be blamed. Also they are doing horrible tests on animals. (see peta.org for more info, specifically "A Rat's Life" in the PETA kids section) Paying for tobacco and tobacco related products only encourages all that these people do. I encourage GirlExMachina and all other smokers to think about all of this carefully.

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smoking relaxes me"

you still didn't answer why you started...if it wasn't to fit in, was it because of stress? I mean, I guess if I was in the situation where I needed something to do about the stress, cigarettes are better than drugs...

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I initially started smoking out of idle curiousity.

"I'm ok with banning smoking in most public places but I think things have gone way too far in banning it in places like bars and coffee shoppes"

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So you think that banning it in like a restaurant or libraries is appropriate but not in bars and coffee shops...? I am assuming you live in California because there aren't laws against smoking in most of the east coast states.

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Hell no I don't live in California, that's the most fascist state of them all. I live in FL and smoking has been banned in some bars and in my favorite coffee shop. I think that at least some public places should still allow smoking, its a fair comprimise. places like bars and coffee shops are the logical choice since smoking is more part of the culture in such places, and its a bit silly to be legislating health restrictions at a bar where people go to drink...drinking is also hazardous to other people and one's personal health.

Oh my god, thank you so much. I had no idea that smoking kills people, and that you can get cancer and other related diseases. That's going to make me stop right now.

Note the sarcasm.

I'm sick of self-righteous people repeating the same bull**** over and over again. I know smoking is bad, I know that it can kill me, I know I can get diseases, etc. etc.

It's already on the pack.

Trust me, smoking at my age and where I lived/went to school wasn't to fit in. I started out stealing alchohol when I was cleaning up after parties and I liked that but I didn't get it very often and not en masse so I started stealing her cigarettes instead and liked it, then I started buying my own with lunch money once I was in high school, get old enough and you don't even have to pay for them, it's easy to bum.

~Kitty

"smoking relaxes me"

you still didn't answer why you started...if it wasn't to fit in, was it because of stress? I mean, I guess if I was in the situation where I needed something to do about the stress, cigarettes are better than drugs...

"I'm ok with banning smoking in most public places but I think things have gone way too far in banning it in places like bars and coffee shoppes"

So you think that banning it in like a restaurant or libraries is appropriate but not in bars and coffee shops...? I am assuming you live in California because there aren't laws against smoking in most of the east coast states. But that still doesn't add up...ok. Second hand smoking kills right? If someone had viral pnumonia (i know I can't spell ok!?), you wouldn't want them eating next to you coughing everywhere would you? You could say that people that don't like second hand smoke could just NOT GO to places that permit smoking, but what about the people that work there? There was a waitress on the east coast that worked in a diner who never lit a single cigarette, but she still got lung cancer from cigarette fumes. I don't think that that is fair.

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"I have been a smoker since age 17, and am not ashamed of it. I know full well the risks I am taking, and I choose to take them of my own free will."

See...I don't understand. Like it smells gross, tastes gross, you get ash everywhere ... do you do it because it "looks cool"? I don't mean to be offensive but I really don't understand why people do it

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I never started smoking because it I think it would make me 'look cool'...in fact, when I first started I didn't do it in public at all, but in the privacy of my own home. That being said, I can't say that I think smoking is 'uncool', it does have a certain iconic and cultural value. I loved how in some parts of europe you can light up just about anywhere, even the airport, and smokers and non smokers can manage to co-exist withuot infringing on each others rights and comfort.

I can't deny that I don't think James Dean looks great with a cigarette between his lips, but that doesn't mean the reason I smoke is for image.

As for it supposedly 'smalls/tastes gross', that is all a matter of subjective taste. I personally do not think it smells or tastes gross. I like the taste of tobacco, smoking relaxes me and I love lighting up after a good meal or a great lovemaking session. I also do a lot of my creative thinking when I smoke.

Im kind of irked at the extreme fad towards anti-smoking in this country to the point where we smokers are portrayed as hapless fools who smoke just to 'look cool', and that we supposedly aren't aware how bad for our health it is, and that people should not be held responsible for their own choices but point the finger at tobacco companies. I'm no fan of big coorporations but im also not a fan or the trend towards not holding people responsible for thier own actions, the overkill with the anti-smoking propoganda and treating us like second class citizens.


As for the issue of second hand smoke, of course it has negative effects on people, and I'm ok with banning smoking in most public places but I think things have gone way too far in banning it in places like bars and coffee shoppes, where smoking is traditionally part of the culture and to be expected. Many workplaces have also completely banned seperate areas where people can take cigarette breaks, which is ridiculous and unfair.

I make up little songs as I walk along smokers. Like:

"Second hand kills, and you'll die too.",
"Your smoking poo.",
or if my parents or older brother orders a drink, "Uh, he/she ordered a Zima, not emphazima." or,
"The more you smoke the more you kill/die."

Just letting the some of the smokers know how I feel.

I don't smoke. This is a free country, but here's the debate, Do smokers have a right to impede this by smoking in public places? Or do non-smokers have a right to impede this by saying they can't? To those smokers who keep it to themselves, I wholeheartedly thank you. But some smokers don't care what they cause in thier family, friends or strangers.


This debate really is age old.

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Every time you light a cigarette, you shorten your life 7 to 11 minutes.

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If this was true all my grandparents, both of my parents, and my brother would be dead. Unless maybe they were supposed to live until they're 160.

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See...I don't understand. Like it smells gross, tastes gross, you get ash everywhere ... do you do it because it "looks cool"? I don't mean to be offensive but I really don't understand why people do it.

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I'm not the person you were referring to, but I am a smoker. The taste isn't so bad for me, I just don't like the aftertaste, and cloves taste yummy as do flavored cigars, (never had a flavored cig). I don't have the smell on me at all, not my hair or clothes, and a little lotion on the hands takes care of that.

I don't get ash everywhere, if you do get ash all over yourself it's not just cuz you are smoking it is also because you don't have the brains to think "hmm...I'm getting ash on myself, perhaps I should flick the ash somewhere else."

It calms me down, it keeps my hands and mouth busy, and it is all around relaxing, and I see no good reason not to do it, (see my previous post on why the consequences don't particularly bug me), so ta-da. And I don't know if you can tell because you can't hear my tone, but I'm not being snippy, promise.

~Kitty

"I have been a smoker since age 17, and am not ashamed of it. I know full well the risks I am taking, and I choose to take them of my own free will."

See...I don't understand. Like it smells gross, tastes gross, you get ash everywhere ... do you do it because it "looks cool"? I don't mean to be offensive but I really don't understand why people do it.

yes well when you find out your boyfriend just cheated on you, sitting on the beach smoking cigars with your friend seems worth those few minuets lost at your end.

Ugh, I hate that 'truth' website and their annoying commercials. They insult most reasonable peole's intelligence considering the cat has been out of the bag that smoking is bad for your health for quite some time now.

I have been a smoker since age 17, and am not ashamed of it. I know full well the risks I am taking, and I choose to take them of my own free will. I don't like how expecting people to take personal responsibility for their own actions has taken a backseat to blaming tobbaco companies, advertisng, and everything else except the simple fact that the only person to blame is yourself if you choose to engage in risk behavior and can't handle the consequences.

I think its ridiculous that smoking has been banned even in bars and coffee shops. I personally miss the smoking sections in resteraunts, too...i think its fine as long as the resteraunt is large and well ventilated. I am not a rude smoker who lights up around little kids or people with asthma, i just think that lately smokers have been treated like second class citizens. I can deal with the smoking bans in most public places, but bars and coffee shops is going too far.

did you ever hear of Barb Tarbox? She is a women who smoked for around 20 yrs then was diagnosed with deadly lung cancer. Realising that she was going to die she started to visit junior highs around Alberta and Canada, she was a very motivational anti-smoking presenter. She died last year on May 18, leaving her 10 year old daughter and husband. That alone is some of the amazing and real smoking stories.

To learn more about Barb go to the following website.
http://tobacco.aadac.com/media_campaigns/barb_tarbox/

I always try to be polite about my smoking, I smoke in a little corner on campus with my friends where it won't bother anyone and I always put my butts in the sand things so I don't litter, and I figure I'm only cutting out the diaper years and I'm not much of a health nut and don't care about growing old that much so as long as I don't harm anyone else through my smoking, I'm gonna smoke.

~Kitty