If you smoke - just stop it

[Eddie_GE]

Ive never smoked cigarettes (although I have smoked a pipe at one time, and used to be very into cigars years ago)..

that said.. if we condemned everyone that had a habit or a hobby that we didn't like.. we'd all be fucked sooner or later...

Im much more into the idea that you do what you want, I'll do what I want.. and as long as you doing what you want doesn't negatively impact me, I'll do my best to make sure what Im doing doesn't negatively impact you..

We don't allow smoking in restaurants any longer.. we don't allow smoking on aircraft.. or city buses.. or in most buildings.. etc..etc..

its been a very long time since I've been bothered by someone else's cigarette smoke.. and on the very rare occurrence where it has happened over the last 40+ years since smoking has largely become unpopular in the US, its been pretty easy for me just to move a few feet away and no longer be bothered..

I guess I'd ask, what if someone tomorrow declares you never be allowed to have a fine wine because alcoholism has robbed them of too many people.. and people sweating out alcohol the next morning stink... or you can never eat another hostess product because Americans are fat asses and too many people are dying from diabetes.. and fat sweaty people stink.. or that you not be allowed to hunt deer anymore because too many women are crying at home while their husbands go missing for weeks at a time during hunting season, etc..etc.. would you concede? or tell them to pound sand?

Maybe my Indian neighbors should be banned from cooking their currie dishes? the women are starting to get a little portly over there, and if you've ever smelled an indian that's been eating currie every day for a week.. holy shit do they stink!



Were I a smoker (Im not) and anyone told me to "stop".. I'd very likely fire one up immediately and then start chain smoking until you finally got frustrated and left..

Im grown.. if I choose to destroy my body with cigarettes, whiskey, too much fatty red meat, or anything else.. and Im not infringing on your rights in the process.. I'd prefer that you not try to infringe on my rights because you feel inconvenienced in my execution of them..

People need to stop any bad habits they might have because THEY have a desire to stop.. not because anyone else wants them to stop..

…Im much more into the idea that you do what you want, I'll do what I want.. and as long as you doing what you want doesn't negatively impact me, I'll do my best to make sure what Im doing doesn't negatively impact you..“
thats the way it works

 

[BeeMaa]

I was a can a day of Copenhagen for nearly 40 years. I occasionally smoked cigarettes, but was more often a pipe. Dip was my #1 nicotine vice by far.

The only thing that made me quit was me. Not my wife, family, friends, government or anything else could change my mind. Whenever someone quits, they do it for themselves…no one else.

I’m coming up on 10 years nicotine free and the further you get from when I quit, the easier it gets.

Good luck to those who are wiling and able to put the habit down. The other side is better than you think.

 

[Neophyte]

To the OP;
You’re breathing oxygen. Just STOP IT.
Other people besides you need that oxygen. I too am sixty but I don’t consider myself the appointed, or is it anointed, one that decides what everyone else should do.
You do you and I’ll do me.
A non smoker.

 

[BRICKBURN]

I'm 60 years old and have never smoked but I've been robbed of dozens of men that mattered to me. They all died much earlier than they should have simply because they smoked. I could write a book and may share a few chapter but for now, here's my Top 10 reasons to quite smoking while you still can.

1. You stink,
2. A pack a day habit diverted into a 401k instead of being smoked will be worth $1 million in 36 years (at 10% return),
3. You stink, and those around you notice it,
4. Your legs could die three (3) years before you do (a chapter in the book),
5. You stink, and those around you notice it, they're just too polite to tell you,
6. You don't look cool, you look stupid,
7. You're robbing the world, your family, your PH and yourself of the best of you,
8. You're reducing your hunting ability,
9. If you live long enough, smoking is 100% fatal,
10. Did I mention that you stink?

I’m sorry you lost people you cared for. My condolences.

 

[fourfive8]

Did a long time ago. Also dipped some Copenhagen occasionally. I feel extremely fortunate to not be addiction prone. I really liked Copenhagen but quickly discovered I couldn’t get enough of it so that was that. Same for alcohol- have one drink occasionally and that’s that. I’m allergic to morphine so obviously not prone to opioid addiction. I thank my lucky stars and ancestry. And, someone smoking near me- doesn’t bother me in the least. Kind of a contrary reaction of many ex-smokers… so I dunno?

 

[deewayne2003]

I don’t believe in banning motorcycles and I have been crippled on one.

Well said!

Further more I've known more people killed and crippled on horses than all other forms or recreation combined..... but I don't want to ban them.

I do want to ban the US government from paying hundreds of millions of dollars annually to wealthy federally connected land owners to park POS invasive/destructive wild horses on their properties!

 

[Rocked and Loaded]

I don’t disagree…

But we’re paying for the obese, alcoholics, drug addicts, and everyone else under the sun with a bad habit…

Can’t really just single out the smokers can we?

Especially since so few people smoke nowadays compared to other vices. In the US at least.

From the American lung association:

• Long term, smoking rates have fallen 73% among adults, from 42.6% in 1965 to 11.6% in 2022.
• Long term, smoking rates have fallen 86% among youth, from 36.4% in 1997 to 3.8% in 2021.

I don’t have anyone among my immediate family or friends who smokes cigarettes.

It seems strange to me that smoking would still be a singled out these days.