That right there will certainly get my support, calling me stupid.

Give up your red meat, dairy and caffine and I'll give up my smoking. And let's ban public perfume wearing while we're at it, I'm chemically sensitive.

Wait, can we ban ugly? I mean, we all have to look, right?

Ugly doesn't affect other people's health. Neither does caffeine/dairy/red meat. If the smokers would all smoke at least the required distance away from all buildings (even when its raining), never indoors (including inside their own apartment - except smoke friendly bars, which I'm all for), would receive hefty fines for tossing butts on the floor, I'd be happy. I don't really care what you do to you, I only care what you do to me (and potentially your kids, since child abuse is bad).

I also think you should be allowed to smoke inside your own home, as long as you own the property its on, don't live with children, and all adults are consenting.

Really?

So how about drinking, you can get in a accident and kill other people, should drinking be banned? I bet a gun could be used to injure third parties, especially while drinking, can we ban guns?

If we can't legislate morality how can we legislate what people do in their own homes? Oh, right, it's for the children.

If not smoking made me live forever, I'd quit today. As it is I don't smoke where it's posted non smoking, I don't blow my smoke in the faces of little children, I don't smoke in peoples houses that don't allow it, I don't drive by exhale smoke randomly on people as I pass them by on the street.

But that's not good enough for you, you want to push your morals and personal habits onto everyone else in the country. How is this any different than anyone you disagree with? Is it different because it's you?

You're missing the point. It is illegal to drink and drive and shoot random people. Its not legal to abuse alcohol in that way or to abuse guns in that way.

Killing/injuring people with guns/alcohol comes from abuse of those things (which is illegal). Killing/injuring people with smoking just constitutes plain old use, not abuse. Thats just what it does.

Except that you can't prove that it does harm other people. Especially outdoors.

So you promise to stand 10 feet away from anyone while smoking? Forget cancer, talk to somebody with Asthma or Allergies and see how it makes them feel. No? Its because your so called "right" to abuse a substance is the highest and mightiest right of all, right?

"Forget cancer, talk to somebody with Asthma or Allergies and see how it makes them feel."

So... when are we banning nuts, gluten and other foods that people are allergic to in public? I understand your point, but when we allow asthmatics and allergics dictate public policy for everyone, you quickly run into problems.

For instance, how do asthmatics feel about diesel? Should we ban that so they can go out without needing to be concerned about it?

Hard cases make bad law.

I didn't mean people who are allergic to smoke per say. I just mean that smoking makes anyone with breathing issues more uncomfortable than they need to be (ie it compounds seasonal allergies/asthma).

But you are correct, it was a bad example. I don't have allergies/asthma and smoking troubles my breathing, so I can't even imagine what it does to people who already have problems. I should have just sited general breathing discomfort as an alternative to the cancer thing rather than select out a specific group that are bothered by it.

I was on a flight that refused to serve peanuts because someone 15 rows up was alergic to them. My gosh are we a becoming a society of idiots devoid of logic? If peanuts were that dangerous to this person should he have even left the house, and how did he survive just getting to the gate? People with allergies are responsible to understand the hazards they face and take appropriate measures. Am I suppose to be a mind reader aware of every ailment a person might have as I pass them on the street?

A previous post stated that: "you should be allowed to smoke inside your own home, as long as you own the property its on, don't live with children, and all adults are consenting." Why thank you very freaking much! Would it be ok if I have a smoke on my porch sir? Should I cancel my lawn service? What kind of laundry soap do you want me to use?

By the way my Grandmother smoked Chesterfield non filtered and lived into her 90's. My Grandfather smoked and lived to 100. Check your family tree. Second hand smoke may be the least of your problems.

georgia yankee:

I was on a flight that refused to serve peanuts because someone 15 rows up was alergic to them. My gosh are we a becoming a society of idiots devoid of logic? If peanuts were that dangerous to this person should he have even left the house, and how did he survive just getting to the gate? People with allergies are responsible to understand the hazards they face and take appropriate measures. Am I suppose to be a mind reader aware of every ailment a person might have as I pass them on the street?

Lets start with this one. Peanut allergies often present much more severe than other allergies. Even peanut dust can cause a problem for them. While I'm not for banning peanuts at ballgames (don't go), or even airplanes, planes use the same stale recycled air the whole flight. Not exactly the same thing. The airlines would rather have the ticket sales from people who are allergic than have the ticket sales from people who would rather not fly than be denied their peanuts on occasional flights (I'm guessing this number is zero). Its a simple economic matter. I was on such a flight recently too, and I was hungry, and the only thing I had in my bag was a peanut butter breakfast bar I had been looking forward to. And I lived.

A previous post stated that: "you should be allowed to smoke inside your own home, as long as you own the property its on, don't live with children, and all adults are consenting." Why thank you very freaking much! Would it be ok if I have a smoke on my porch sir? Should I cancel my lawn service? What kind of laundry soap do you want me to use?

Do you have a reason for thinking you should be allowed to smoke in other circumstances? Theres no right to smoke in the constitution you know. And if it is there, its right next to the right to smoke pot and crack.

By the way my Grandmother smoked Chesterfield non filtered and lived into her 90's. My Grandfather smoked and lived to 100. Check your family tree. Second hand smoke may be the least of your problems.

And I bet I'd cough if I walked by them. This isn't just about cancer.

The supporters of smoking bans go on and on about how no one has the "right" to smoke- it's not in the Constitution, etc. Where is it written that you have a right to walk around out of doors without facing unpleasant smells? Or, heavens, coughing? I for one detest the smell of woodsmoke, does this mean my neighbors with the wood furnace should no longer be allowed to use their fireplace when the smoke seeps into my house? What about the exhaust fumes I choke on all day in my car and on foot. Those are certainly unpleasant and full of all kind of nasty things. Do I have some sort of right to be protected from that? If you can prove a negative outdoor health consequence, then OK. However, don't use your fickle nose and the breathing difficulties of asthmatics as excuses to pick and choose which unpleasant vapors you want removed from the air.

I was on such a flight recently too, and I was hungry, and the only thing I had in my bag was a peanut butter breakfast bar I had been looking forward to. And I lived.

let me get this straight. you couldn't have peanuts because there was an allergic person on the flight. you say that peanut dust in an airplane with recycled air could potentially be dangerous to an allergic person. and then you ate your peanut butter breakfast bar. because that would have been better than eating peanuts how exactly?

i'm sorry. but the last thing we need in this country is more laws. we're close enough to becoming a puritanical police state as it is. Sure that's a bit of hyperbole, but I wish it were moreso. We tell people what they can and can't wear, what they can and can't put in their bodies, how fast they can drive, which drugs they are allowed and how much, where they can drink and not drink, etc...

enough with the laws already. the world's never going to be exactly the way you want it because everyone has a different perspective on how things SHOULD be. we should stop trying to legislate from our small worldviews and instead just deal with the fact that we live in a heterogeneous culture and not a homogenous one. and thank god for that, i say.

Do you have a reason for thinking you should be allowed to smoke in other circumstances? Theres no right to smoke in the constitution you know. And if it is there, its right next to the right to smoke pot and crack.

Probably the 9th amendment would cover it, and your peanut butter.

amethyst:

I was on such a flight recently too, and I was hungry, and the only thing I had in my bag was a peanut butter breakfast bar I had been looking forward to. And I lived.

let me get this straight. you couldn't have peanuts because there was an allergic person on the flight. you say that peanut dust in an airplane with recycled air could potentially be dangerous to an allergic person. and then you ate your peanut butter breakfast bar. because that would have been better than eating peanuts how exactly?

My point was that I didn't eat the peanut butter bar :). I just stayed hungry for the 2 hour flight. I'd rather just be hungry than kill someone.

i'm sorry. but the last thing we need in this country is more laws. we're close enough to becoming a puritanical police state as it is. Sure that's a bit of hyperbole, but I wish it were moreso. We tell people what they can and can't wear, what they can and can't put in their bodies, how fast they can drive, which drugs they are allowed and how much, where they can drink and not drink, etc...

enough with the laws already. the world's never going to be exactly the way you want it because everyone has a different perspective on how things SHOULD be. we should stop trying to legislate from our small worldviews and instead just deal with the fact that we live in a heterogeneous culture and not a homogenous one. and thank god for that, i say.

The problem is that in me first culture the assholes feel they can do whatever they want, and laws are here to stop you from acting on your god given "right" to do whatever makes you happy irregardless of how many people you make unhappy in the process. I tend to believe in the idea of a happiness equation. If the thing that makes 30 people happy upsets 500 people, the 30 people should go make their own society where that thing is allowed and leave the rest of us alone.