A (hopefully) mature discussion: Is it really okay to hate smokers?

[BaronVonBob]

It's probably already been mentioned, but I do find it funny how many talks I've had about smoking, and all the problems that walk hand in hand with it, but I've never once been given a speech about the dangers of alcohol. To be honest, I'd much rather someone be tarring up their lungs as opposed to drunkenly ramming their car into my face, but seeing as alcohol can be profitable and is seen as somewhat more social, it just seems to be turned a blind eye to.
Having said that, I do agree that smokers should consider that it can be dangerous to others, and not put themselves fully out to avoid bothering people, but show some consideration.
Other than that, everyone's got to die someday, smoking, drinking, drugs, none of it does any good, so choose what you want to kill you and stick with it. Also, watch Bill Hicks' opinions on this.

 

[AWOL]

Well I'm fairly certain that I'm the very first person in my family that doesnt smoke, so I have a lot of experience around smokers and their etiquette. Personally, I dont care what you do, smoke all you want, just keep it away from me.

All in all, no, I dont hate smokers. I do however think smokers are just plain stupid, and I'm not afraid to say that. Especially smokers around my generation (teens-mid 20s I guess)because there have been so many proven negative effects and so few positives, though I would argue that even those arent true. After all the cancer diagnosis, and all the deaths, there should be no reason at all for anyone to start smoking. Period.

 

[DefunctTheory]

Yes. Public smokers don't care about other people.

And they stink.

How dare you. How DARE you!

Yes. Public smokers don't care about other people.

And they stink.

Bullshit. I have never smoked where anyone else is, or can rightfully be, bothered by any cigarette I have smoked publicly.

Like this guy, I have never forced anyone to be near me while I smoke, and I ALWAYS ask if smoking is okay if I'm in a confined area.

I am insulted and offended, sir.

 

[FamoFunk]

I think it's ok the dislike smokers but not hate.

The only smokers I think it's ok to hate are the selfish snokers; those who will happily smoke around you knowning you do not and don't want to stink or and breathe in smoke, those who stand in public walk ways as you walk past blowing smoke into your face or path. Those ones really get to me.

If someone just does it in their own home and/or only in smoking areas I don't see why you should hate them, sometimes you don't even realise someone smokes until they tell you themselves.

 

[Layzor]

No, it is fine to hate smoking but not smokers.

 

[Harbinger_]

I don't think it's right to hate smokers but I'm honestly very biased as half my family as well as my friends and girlfriend smokes. Yes it is harmful for your health but so is driving a non-electric car.

 

[spartan231490]

I don't particularly hate smokers in general. I have way too many relatives who smoke to hate smokers in general. It's the people who inflict their habit on me that really piss me off. Like at college, every single door on campus smells like cigarette smoke easily 12 hours a day. The smoke is not just horrible for everyone on campus who has to enter that building, but what about the kids, like me, who have asthma, or maybe chronic bronchitis. I have to hold my breath when I approach a building because if I inhale any smoke, or much of the smell, it sends me into a coughing fit to match any chain-smokers, and my asthma is so mild it might as well not exist. Worse, people who smoke right next to the door are violating state law.
I also think that hating smokers is not so unjustified as you think. It is a choice, not a disease, yes it's addictive, but thousands quit every day. If you choose to smoke, I think you may deserve a little disrespect, maybe even hatred, because you choice negatively impacts the lives of all around you. Did you know, that even the left over smoke on your clothing, even if you smoked hours ago, can cause an asthma attack in someone with moderate to severe asthma? And for the rest of us, it's a very unpleasant smell. I for one, would rather have to sit next to someone with severe body oder, than someone who is a smoker.
Admittedly, many smokers didn't know the dangers of smoking when they started, and now they have trouble quitting, so they deserve a little slack. However, Smokers under 30 really have no excuse. They knew the habit was dangerous and disgusting when they started, and maybe some disrespect and hostility will push them towards making the healthy decision and quitting.

Also, a note on cigarettes "not being cool." This is true, but it isn't what's true that matters, it's the perception. And no matter how much our teachers say that smoking isn't cool, it's still a sign of maturity and coolness for kids in school. You can deny that all you want, but I have 2 sisters, a brother, and 7 cousins; out of 2 sisters, a brother, and 9 cousins; who started smoking because of peer pressure to fit-in and be cool. Of them, only my brother quit, the rest aren't motivated enough to move past their addiction.

tl;dr I don't hate smokers, cuz my whole family smokes or did smoke. I still think it might be appropriate to be disrespectful to smokers, and to hate those smokers who force me to hold my breath just to get to class, especially considering the fact that at it's a college campus, several people with asthma probably have to walk through that cloud each day for the same reason.

 

[Veldel]

I cant say I really like smokers or being around someone when they smoke even to the point where I had my mother smoke outside and wouldnt let her smoke inside due to my dislike for it.


Smoking makes me ill and I cant stand being around it in high school I got in trouble quite a bit due to sneaking in the School staff bathrooms becouse the students one had a constent and very strong smell of smoke and the floor was covered in spit.

 

[zehydra]

it's not right to hate anybody, but it's okay to hate what they do.

So I could not hate people that smoke, but I will hate their smoking.

 

[Zac Smith]

Do I hate smokers...no not at all, my parents smoke, and about 75% of my friends smoke.
Do I hate the idea of smoking...Yes, smells bad, smokers cough, costs a lot etc.

What people do is entirely up to them, if someone enjoys eating a lot and becomes overweight, I'm not going to hate on them because of that, but I would express my concern about their health. But you try giving the "Smoking is bad for you" speech to a smoker.

Ultimately, don't drag or pressure me into it (which is the belief me, and smoking and non-smoking friends agree on) and everything is ok.

 

[RuralGamer]

I don't hate smokers although I do hate the act of smoking; I've made it clear to my friends that smoke that I despise the habit (having seen first-hand the possible long-term consequences of smoking), although I've also made it clear that its their choice and although I would like them to try and quit, its up to them in the end; when they go out for a smoke, I'll go with them, but deliberately stand upwind. My family are all anti-smoking; my father and his father both smoked and consequently both have had their health suffer as a result; my grandfather is worse off because he smoked most of his life; the fact he is also has hereditary diabetes hasn't helped. Both have given up smoking and both regret ever smoking in the first place.
A friend at uni gave up a year and a half ago and its been a pretty hard struggle for him; he still smokes on occasion, but has given up regular smoking. Every now and again when he has bad cravings, my friends and I will buy him a drink. Another friend is using a nicotine inhaler at the moment and hasn't used a cigarette in months. Both of them regret the decision to smoke in the first place.
My eldest sister has told me she'll disown me if I start (her actual words were something along the lines that she'd kill me but...); she smokes and hates it, but because of the particularly stressful line of work she does, she's found it really hard to try and quit.

Bottom line - I've met a lot of ex-smokers and smokers who strongly advise against ever doing it. I also feel its a gross waste of money and the pros of smoking are far outweighed by the cons; my family already has plenty of hereditary health problems and I don't want to add to them.

Ok to hate smokers? I don't know; some smokers are nice people who, although I feel are damaging their health unnecessarily, I don't have a problem with. Others are really selfish and smoke in bus shelters when its raining or skive off from lectures or work to smoke; I dislike them for being selfish, not because they smoke.

 

[Sovereignty]

-Snip-

People like to have things they can point fingers at and disapprove of. Once something is labeled as "Bad". You not only get the majority of sheep to shake their heads at people who do it. But you get zealots who believe the only way to erase the habit is to thrust blind prejudice upon people who carry out said habit.

I have smoked before. I don't approve of it. But it is a stress reliever, and it doesn't change your state of mind. They've got no concise proof saying second hand smoke is actually deadly, and while they may be poisoning themselves slowly, so is anyone who drinks or does drugs.

I think smokers are just people who have a little habit that is normal but disgusting. Though that's their prerogative (I prefer having white teeth, and not letting my breath and clothes smell like ash.) But what upsets me is there is more of a stigma on smokers then on people who do weed or drink alcohol.

I mean at least that person puffing on their cigarette wont get into a car, run a red light, and hit someone crossing the street. Seriously society should point the finger at those two. Especially because they're socially acceptable and growing in use regularly whereas smoking is declining.

 

[Kargathia]

"Disliking smoking near you" can have quite varied reasons. There's health, there's the dislike of the smell, and there's the dislike of being forced to smell anything abnormal.

If somebody lights up a cigarette, and I'm standing downwind: I'll move. If somebody lights up a joint, which is almost the same thing, then I won't, as I don't mind.
And neither is appreciated while I'm eating. I want to taste my food, not whatever fume floats by.

Besides: in a country where indoor smoking is banned in all public areas it's much more fun to laugh at everyone addicted enough to ignore any snow and rain, just to get their fix.

 

[Bluelaughter]

Most smokers I don't mind. I am glad that most smokers are making the majority of the effort to be polite and not smoke where it affects other people. Only the smokers who don't make enough of an effort are problems. It is sort of a grey area where the line should be drawn. It is an inconvenience to avoid smokers, but there is also an inconvenience to smokers who probably just want to relax with a cigarette and not be bothered too much either.

With regards to vs drinking alcohol, most people drinking alcohol don't impose on other people. Drunken drivers impose on people; again there's the distinction. I think the social acceptability of drinking and driving has gone way down in the past 30 years.

 

[6037084]

unless they blow smoke into your face or do something equally disrespectful you shouldn't hate smokers, it's their body and their choice and if you don't like it go cry in a corner, i don't like fat people either but I don't hate them for just being fat

 

[Lexodus]

It's okay to hate anyone you want to. Acting on that hate is a whole other matter.

 

[MrAkuma201]

I'm a smoker and if you want hate us smokers. We smell of smoke and kissing us is like liking an ashtray. All I'm saying is that most smokers don't give a dam about other people. I smoke and I only smoke if its OK with the people I hang out with. If some one in the group dose not like me smoking I don't smoke next to or near them I'm not a prick.

 

[Nephus]

Well, really, let's be honest here. There was only one meta study done by the EPA on secondhand smoke. It has been thoroughly debunked, shown to cherry pick data, gain data through questionable means, etc. etc. making it completely useless in any factual sense. It is the only banner which people who hate smoking can fly though, as tattered and pointless as it is, so we get force fed this study in public schools as if it were truth. This is key. Young people are developing their likes/dislikes/prejudices at this key point in their growth into adults. Rather than give them ambiguous fact, they paint smokers as selfish people who are going to end up killing you for their own vice. What's not to hate?

That, in a word, is propaganda.

Now, there are increased health risks from smoking, but that's at high concentration levels in an enclosed system. Once it hits a volume of air at large it disperses to the point where sitting next to a campfire is actually worse for you. Funny, the same people who go on and on about their allergies or hating smoke seem to absolutely LOVE campfires. Doesn't do a thing to them, even though in practice, it's actually worse for them. Subtle how having a skewed view of reality forced upon you actually alters your own reality isn't it?

Also, if you take a look at harmful actions in general, smokers are the most polite about it. I've never once heard anyone proclaim "I'm going to be racist and spout a bunch of nonsense that is fueled by illogical hate. Mind if I do it here? No? Ok, I'll step outside then where I won't bother anyone." Just doesn't happen.

As for the people who go into coughing fits when I'm outside enjoying a smoke? I smile at them and say "Good thing you aren't a smoker, if I had a cough like that I'd be worried."

 

[Zizzousa]

I am a smoker, and I get sneered at by people I do not know who do not smoke. I'm pretty sure they don't hate smokers - in fact, I don't think anyone in this thread does - they just feel SUPERIOR. And that's the important bit. The smoker hates the arrogant fuck who looks at them like they have any right to dictate someone's personal choices. I don't sneer at people who drive cars, drink, or have conversations on the bus that make me lost my faith in humanity.

Maybe in the past, annoyance with smokers would have been justified, because smoking was permitted in confined spaces. Now, by and large, it is not. I supported the decision to ban smoking indoors. When you're out in the open air, however, you're not about to seriously tell me that the little wispy smoke you walk past when I'm smoking is going to kill you, make you smell bad (concentration of smoke to air seriously not going to harm your smells) or is any worse for you in any way than being near combustion-engine vehicles which are moving is. Do you sneer at the drivers like you're better? (Note: I'm not talking all non-smokers, most of whom are cool - it's just the sneering ones.)

I don't drive - but nor do I go around telling people to stop driving because it's polluting the air. Live and let live. Mentalist non-smokers are pushing for a ban on tobacco, and I honestly do not know why; but you can bet that alcohol or something else on the list of Fun But Kinda Dangerous Things That Adults Can Choose to Do.

So no, it's not alright to hate smokers. Let he without sin cast the first stone - if you've ever done something to your body that wasn't good for it, or driven a vehicle that runs on hydrocarbons, step the f**k back and let me have a smoke.