Poll: Equal Rights for Smokers

[Ninja_X]

Don't smokers have to pay higher insurance rates along with the high cigarette tax?

I think it evens out with respect to themselves.

But, no smoking in public places. And smokeing around other people that don't smoke(especially kids) should be punishable.

But worse healthcare? No.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

Also, bring back smoking in clubs/pubs ands such. This whole anti-smoking thing is getting out of hand.

No, don't. Non-smoker's right to clean air supersedes smoker's rights to slowly kill themselves wherever they please.

Go to some other place and stop ruining everyone's fun then. Pubs were made to smoke, drink a pint and have a laugh with friends. Stop nannying everybody.

 

[JaredXE]

I never have smoked. I think the smell is gross, and if it smells gross it almost always tastes gross. BUT, I don't mind smokers. I have no problem with second-hand smoke, I am smart enough to know that it really doesn't affect you unless you breath it in for hours out of the day, and I think this trend of banning smoking in ANY public place (bars count as a public place? I thought it was a place to poison myself and have anonymous random sex with anyone I can pick up.) is stupid and it just infinges on civil rights, because if you removed the word smoking and replaced it with "Colored, hispanic, jewish, women...etc" and start legally banning them from public places, well....people would be in an uproar about it.


All that said, Fuck no. Unless they pay for it all, they do not deserve any extra care for what they chose to do to their own bodies. It's a choice, if you don't like it, quit. And yes, you CAN quit. It is nowhere near as addictive as it's portrayed, it's just a matter of willpower and if you can't quit then shut the fuck up and go breath from a hole in the throat for the rest of your life.

 

[Fritzvalt]

I, for one, am at about a pack a day, and I have been noticing more and more how smokers are treated like second class citizens. North Carolina will be inacting a public smoking ban come January, and I can't be more confused. We're THE tobacco state. There are cities called Tobaccoville and Winston-Salem. Having already reached a recession and the new Gov wants to limit one of our biggest sources of state (And federal) income. It doesn't make any sense.

There's also a lot of incongruencies in most smoking laws. The government has stated that people smoke for one reason alone, that reason being addiction. They classify addiction as a disability. So, not allowing people to smoke some places is like not having a wheelchair ramp.

I need a smoke.

 

[JanatUrlich]

Wait... if they're committing suicide, don't they generally want to be left to die?

Imagine you'd just walked in on your best friend trying to kill him/herself. I think you'd be pretty pissed off if the doctors were just like "Nah he obviously wants to die, just let him"

 

[Jedoro]

Everyone should get the same standard for health care. People who mess up their bodies should pay more for the extra care. No one made them smoke, drink, cut themselves, etc., so the rest of the people who get normal health care shouldn't have to foot the bill for another's bad decisions.

 

[Alphavillain]

Possibly we could have some Sharia-style hand-lopping for smokers who persist? Or, going down a more humanitarian route, maybe sellotape their mouths shut permanently? Or, perhaps just lecture them to death. Each man needs his addictions: anyone that doesn't have them isn't someone I want to know.

 

[Xvito]

I think that smoking should be banned. That's a law that I could respect. A law that doesn't hurt anybody, but instead is designed to help people.

Also, if they need help, I think it's only appropriate to help them.

 

[Melancholy_Ocelot]

What about cigars? They are tobacco, but have no chemical additives that cigarette companies add.

 

[LockHeart]

Also, bring back smoking in clubs/pubs ands such. This whole anti-smoking thing is getting out of hand.

No, don't. Non-smoker's right to clean air supersedes smoker's rights to slowly kill themselves wherever they please.

Private premises, no one's forcing you into there to breathe the evil fumes of death.

OT: Yes, at least here in Britain - everyone is forced to pay for the NHS, therefore everyone deserves equal treatmenmt under it.

 

[JaredXE]

Also, bring back smoking in clubs/pubs ands such. This whole anti-smoking thing is getting out of hand.

No, don't. Non-smoker's right to clean air supersedes smoker's rights to slowly kill themselves wherever they please.

Then go to a smokeless bar to poison yourself. You have no "Right" to clean air, there is no inherent law stating you should be free of toxins. Cigarettes are a LEGAL product, bought by AN ADULT, making an INFORMED choice. And you have the gall to deny him the ability to enjoy his purchased product?

It comes down to choice. You can choose to go to a bar that allows smoking, or you can choose to go to one that doesn't. But these laws have removed the right to choose, have restricted a portion of the populace.....but it's ok with you because then you can down your fermented poison in peace.

 

[TheXRatedDodo]

Surprises me how wen it comes to tobacco, most open minded people are all of a sudden like BAN IT ALL BAN IT BAN IT BAN IT FUCKKKKK
It's about CHOICE.
It's my CHOICE to fill my lungs with this shit, and as long as I'm not filling yours with it too, then what's the problem?

 

[DeadlyYellow]

Wait... if they're committing suicide, don't they generally want to be left to die?

Imagine you'd just walked in on your best friend trying to kill him/herself. I think you'd be pretty pissed off if the doctors were just like "Nah he obviously wants to die, just let him"

While I understand the emotional appeal, the point is not what others would want for them but what the patient (victim?) wants for themselves as wrong as it tends to be.

 

[Woodsey]

I'm divided on this. On the one hand they're human beings so obviously they deserve the health care they pay into like the rest of us.

Having said that, if they get ill from lung cancer or whatever then it's their fault unlike someone who doesn't smoke and is perfectly healthy but still gets cancer.

And if they keep making themselves ill, why should they then get treatment over someone else who tries to look after themselves (which can sometimes be the case)?

Also on a side note, smokers whining about having to go outside for a fag need to shut up whining. Smoking inside makes it unpleasant for the non-smokers, even when you're smoking in a "designated area" like they used to have.

My Dad used to smoke indoors and the entire room would stink out and I'd also smell of fags. You want to kill yourselves then that's your choice, but why should you get more rights over someone who chooses to keep healthier by not smoking?

 

[Casual Shinji]

We can't just go and make smokers get different health care standards than the rest. That's a slippery slope. Soon it's the fat people, and those who don't have enough physical activity, and so on... If we think that way, soon there will be almost no people who will receive the "standard" health care.

Unfortunately we're already going down that road with today's health razzia.

 

[JaredXE]

Oh yeah:

FACT: More people die from alcohol-related deaths than from tobacco-related deaths.

FACT: More health problems are cause by drinking than by smoking.

FACT: Drinking and driving kills people every day, smoking and driving doesn't.

 

[JanatUrlich]

While I understand the emotional appeal, the point is not what others would want for them but what the patient (victim?) wants for themselves.

A person trying to kill themselves is usually not in the right state of mind to be able to judge what is best for themselves, especially in the case of a healthy young person. Euthanasia on the other hand is an entirely different kettle of fish. Suicide should definitely be prevented at all costs, no matter what the individual may feel.

 

[Biek]

I love it when non-smokers complain about people smoking in "public places" they will probably never go to. You see, ive never come across anyone in a pub furiously protesting smoking as they do on the internet. It would be a show id pay to see.

Its funny when I think back on how it began when they forbid smoking in bars. We litterally observe a new race of non smoking patrons in the pub. Looking around with eyes bug with amazement. "Woah, so this is whats its like to be in a pub..." then they look around some more, take a sip of their chocolate milk. And eventually they start realizing: "So, this is it?" And leave, never to be seen again.

 

[TheLefty]

That is possibly one the worst structured arguments I've ever heard.

Also, bring back smoking in clubs/pubs ands such. This whole anti-smoking thing is getting out of hand.

Maybe it's just me but I like being able to eat a peaceful meal without the terrible smell of cigarette smoke.

As much as I hate smoking I have to agree that as suicidal as they are they still need help.

 

[The Infamous Scamola]

That is possibly one the worst structured arguments I've ever heard.

Also, bring back smoking in clubs/pubs ands such. This whole anti-smoking thing is getting out of hand.

Maybe it's just me but I like being able to eat a peaceful meal without the terrible smell of cigarette smoke.

As much as I hate smoking I have to agree that as suicidal as they are they still need help.

Go to a normal restaurant then.

Also, I'm not suicidal, I love life. Are alcohol drinkers suicidal? Are fat people suicidal? Eh?