Smokers "Rights"

January 19, 2009 3:28pm CST
Brace yourself. I am so tired of smokers complaining that they are having their "human rights" taken away from them. It's not a human rights issue Sweatshops in china where children are being treated like prisiners is a human rights issue, Guantanamo bay is a human rights issue. I think the right of someone who doesnt want to be poisoned by smelly, dirty second hand smoke and given lung cancer outweighs the rights of someone who wants to poison themselves and everybody else. Since the smoking ban was introduced in the UK, I reckon I have inhaled more smoke as everone is out on the street doing it. Before, if you didnt wanna go into a place that had smoke, you didnt have to, now its damn well everywhere. I have no objection to people smoking, just do it by your damned self and dont poison me or my nieces and nephews. I dont care if i have offended anyone, i needed to say that Are you a smoker? are you offended? Do you think its a human rights issue?
3 people like this
10 responses
@snowcat46 (2322)
• United States
19 Jan 09
I smoke every once in awhile. A pack of cigs lasts me a year or more. (You don't know how bad a cig can taste after it's a year old...) Smoking isn't a human rights issue. Non-smokers have had to live with smelling smoke in restaurants and other places for years. No one ever really cared about them. I feel it's a lesson in courtesy that should have been instigated years ago. Most smokers don't care whether they're offending anyone, now they have to. I think it's about time. Just think how much better the food will taste when you go out!
19 Jan 09
No, they dont care who they are offending. i just hate getting a lungfull when i step outside for a bit of fresh air!
@nixxi76 (3191)
• Canada
20 Jan 09
There are two kinds of smokers.. the conciderate and not so conciderate. How do I know this? Because between my hubby and myself, I feel that I'm the conciderate one. I will smoke outside and so will he but if it weren't for me, then he would inside. I don't smoke in my vehicle but he will unless I ask him not to. If a person doesn't like smoking I will not smoke around them at all no matter how much I want to pull out my hair from those obscene cravings. I'm not offended by your discussion at all. I can understand the frustrations that you have with what you're talking about. In fact, I'm so angry at the people who are inconsiderate smokers where they don't care about others. Cheer up! Have a nice day
1 person likes this
20 Jan 09
at least there is one considerate smoker left!! just out of curiosity, if you both smoke, why dont you smoke in the car or inside?
1 person likes this
20 Jan 09
well thats understandable!
@lingli_78 (12822)
• Australia
20 Jan 09
i agree with you completely... i'm not a smoker myself and i hate the smell of smoke... i also don't want to jeopardise my health by being a passive smoker... i think those inconsiderate smokers who didn't think about other people and just smoke wherever they want are being very selfish... i hope the government will make a law to control these inconsiderate smokers... i have no problem with people smoking as long as they do it in a proper place and don't disturb the non-smokers... take care and have a nice day...
20 Jan 09
exactly, dont disturb the non smokers. If a smoker got there first, the non smoker doesnt have to go there. And it works the other way around.
@rusty2rusty (6751)
• Defiance, Ohio
20 Jan 09
No, I don't think smoking is a human rights issue. Possibly a health or pollution issue. But not a humans right issue.
20 Jan 09
areed.
20 Jan 09
sorry, that was meant to say agreed.
@pergammano (7682)
• Canada
19 Jan 09
I do have an issue that I have voiced many times before! Once a month, I visit the War Veteran's Hospital at Shaughnessy! Some of these gentleman are very, very old and have fought in two wars! They still smoke, I take them outside, in -20C so they can have a smoke! They are hurt, many almost give their lives for "human rights"...and now they don't have any!
1 person likes this
19 Jan 09
I can appreciate the fact that many people lost their lives. But if its too cold and uncomfortable outside, no one is violating their human rights there are 2 options, go out and be cold, or give up smoking.
@vicki2876 (5636)
• Canada
20 Jan 09
I smoked for 16 years heavily. Pack a day smoker. I will say that it isn't a human rights thing. I always said that it wasn't. People should not have to put up with my addiction. No one else should have been hurt by what I was doing to myself. I never smoked in public (except my back yard alone) and thought it was great they were banning it from every building and now even the surrounding area of the building cause you have to walk through the pack of smokers by the entrance. Now if you have a minor in the vehicle you can't smoke in it. (Nova Scotia Canada). I have quit for over a year now and I feel bad cause I now realize how much smoke travels. I can smell a neighbor smoking outside and I live in the sticks. I can smell the smoke off the jackets of children whose parents smoke. That was me. I had no right to do this to anyone else. Therefore I have no rights.
1 person likes this
20 Jan 09
well said, I think banning smoking in a car with a minor is a great idea, but I still dont think people should smoke around their children at all.
20 Jan 09
Hi 3cardmonte, Somerkers rights? what about the fumes from the cars, whe don't have a say on that, as soon as we go out we have to inhale all the pollution they cause, but if you don't like someone smoking round you, you can move away from them. I ams sick and tired of those anti smoling fanatic tell us what to do and what not to do, if ciggerettes are so bad, why don't the goverment ban them altogether? and if thats a case people will find something else to complain about, so why not complain drinks, they are bad you and the person who gets drunk because they attend beat people up when they drunk. Tamara
@BlueGoblin (1829)
• United States
20 Jan 09
I'm not a smoker but I'm against smoking laws. It harkens back to the times of prohibition and we know how that worked out. I'm not convinced second hand smoke causes me any harm either. The people that wanted to pass anti-smoking laws were the ones behind the second handing smoking research. People that pass a smoker now feel they will instantly develop cancer. I think that is complete bull. You would have to be around smokers everyday, 24/7, and it still might not effect you.
20 Jan 09
second hand smoke is a fact, you're right, it may not harm you, but I wouldnt want to take that risk with my life, and certainly not with my childrens. http://www.lungusa.org/site/pp.asp?c=dvLUK9O0E&b=39858 The American lung association(statistics from US department of health) states that the estimated deaths caused by second hand smoke are around 46,000 per year, so you would not have to be around smokers 24/7. Its incredibly difficult to avoid smoke as one in five people smoke.
@joniebee (182)
20 Jan 09
Hi there 3cardmonte,Aaahh the old smoking question,Certainly a hot topic lately.If anti-smokers tried to impose their will of making smoking illegal then that would very much be a human rights issue,But on the other side of the coin,Non-smokers certainly have the right to breathe clean air.Also there is absolutely no reason at all why smokers shouldn't be catered for inside public buildings,If there is proper ventilation there is no reason to force them outside,It is to harsh.
20 Jan 09
yeah, fair enough that way you would know not to go in there!
• Canada
20 Jan 09
I feel like this is a humans right issue, the smokers feel thier rights are being taken away by the government limiting where they can smoke and the non smokers feel it is violating thier rights becuase they have to breath it in of other people choose to smoke around them so really this is about everyones rights. So really everyone feel that thier rights are more imprtnand. Ok so the non smokers dont like having to now breath the smoke in from people smoking outside but did they not cause that when they fought to ban smoking inside establishments becuase they didnt want to breath it in inside the establishment? You dont want to breath smoke in from outside but smokers never wanted to be forced outside in the first place so are we to blame, or in a way have we been forced into it. I dont want to offend any one when I smoke and I will try not to smoke where non smokers are, unless they are in my house car ect and are not a child. If it is a child then i will stop if it is an adult they have a choice as to if they want to stay or go. As for in public if they would allow the establishments to make that decission if they are smoking or not that would solve alot of the problems with people smoking outside or having to be esposed because smokers would smoke inside at their establishment when non smokers would stay away from those places unless they were willing to breath in thier second hand smoke. The problem with this is these establishments had the choice before the ban and most of them stayed smoking, so then the non smokers werent happy having smoke in the places they liked to go so they forced the ban on smoking? So why did most of these places not switch to non smoking before the ban? Simply because alot of the people comming to the places were smokers they didnt want to loose the business. So now the non smokers got thier way and forced these places to do something they didnt want to do us smokers were forced outside and you non smokers are still complaining...it seems the only thing that will make you all happy is if they ban smoking all together? They havent done that yet though so for now i guess everyone will just have to deal with it and make thier own choices about if they go into a store with smokers out front just like the smokers have to deal with all the new laws and make the choice to stand outside in the cold or heat or rain or whatever to have our smokes.