The Dangers of Smoking Cigarettes

[Moonbear]

I have very low tolerance to a lot of 'drugs' for some reason, marijuana not being the least, and recently it seems to caffein too.
Moonbear, your the biologist here; what do you think? Am I mutating into a man-eating fish with 6 arms? or developing something psychological?

It's called sensitization. It's sort of the opposite of building up a tolerance. When you are exposed to a drug (I don't know if any studies have been done to specifically address nicotine in this sense, most focus on narcotics), and then stop using it for a while, when you are re-exposed, the effects are much stronger than if you had never taken it at all. Though, if you notice gills and some extra arms, I could be wrong.

 

[tumor]

In Europe looks like everybody is smoking, but there are less cases of lung cancer in general populace.

 

[Gokul43201]

Why not drink?

Feynmann did, and look how he turned out.

Hold it there, just a sec.

Somewhere in his thirties, Feynman gave up alcohol.

He was walking back home from a bar (after successfully hitting on some hot chick or the other, I guess) one night, when he came to the "realization" that the human body was a thing of beauty which he was destroying by getting himself drunk (kind of like the way Einstein felt about putting in the cosmological constant by hand). So he quit.

 

[franznietzsche]

Hold it there, just a sec.

Somewhere in his thirties, Feynman gave up alcohol.

He was walking back home from a bar (after successfully hitting on some hot chick or the other, I guess) one night, when he came to the "realization" that the human body was a thing of beauty which he was destroying by getting himself drunk (kind of like the way Einstein felt about putting in the cosmological constant by hand). So he quit.

Feynman was notorious for loving the night-life.

Great man he was, hero and idol for me.

I love that reference to einstein and the cosmological constant. Makes me feel like a physicist to actually get it. Yay.

 

[Gokul43201]

I had to rack my brain for the right analogy. Glad it didn't end up like a diagonal frog.

 

[Gokul43201]

2nd Updated count :

I SMOKE          I DON'T

tumor              42 
arildno           Gokul
marlon             Evo
                   SA 
                   Chi
                  franz
                 Boulder
                 dexter
                  Andy
                 check
                  Polly
                 Gonzolo
               Moonbear
                Monique
                mattmns
                Integral
                 Smurf
              Evo's Mother

 

[hypnagogue]

I started off smoking cigarettes only as a means of augmenting the effects of alcohol or other things. Then it got to the point where I would bum a cigarette off of a friend even when completely sober, until one day a few years ago I started buying my own packs. (God, this sounds like a bad after school special, doesn't it?) Nowadays, I rarely even go out for a drink, but the habit of smoking remains with me. I am starting to make a concerted effort to quit, though.

For the record, I consider myself a very considerate smoker. I smoke outside, and I always make an effort to meander to a vacant spot if people (especially children) happen to be passing by. When I'm finished, I put the cigarette out and throw it in a trash can rather dropping it on the ground.

I'm completely in favor of laws against indoor smoking in restaurants and the like. Nonetheless, I don't like laws against smoking in bars. If there's any place you should be allowed to smoke indoors, it's in a bar. If some bars wish to be non-smoking, that's fine, but I think they should at least have the option of allowing smoking. Banning smoking in bars seems to me like banning popcorn and soda in a movie theater. Sure, the frills make things a little messy, but they complement the main attraction so well for such a significant portion of the audience! (Disclaimer: Even if you drink, don't smoke.)

 

[Polly]

What Hypnagogue you smoke?! But I have always thought you're a goodie goodie...wow. Maybe smoking is cool after all .

 

[the number 42]

For the record, I consider myself a very considerate smoker. I smoke outside, and I always make an effort to meander to a vacant spot if people (especially children) happen to be passing by. When I'm finished, I put the cigarette out and throw it in a trash can rather dropping it on the ground.

Call that considerate? When I used to smoke I made a point of never exhaling.

 

[franznietzsche]

Call that considerate? When I used to smoke I made a point of never exhaling.

Lose many brain cells that way?

 

[Polly]

It doesn't matter now.

 

[Polly]

never mind.

 

[Polly]

...

 

[Polly]

Sorry folks.

 

[hypnagogue]

What Hypnagogue you smoke?! But I have always thought you're a goodie goodie...wow. Maybe smoking is cool after all .

I'm a goodie goodie? Who knew? Maybe nowadays I am... not quite so much in my teenage years.

Seriously though, smoking isn't cool. Don't smoke, you'll just wind up regretting it.

 

[Polly]

*regains consciousness* Look what a couple of fags have done to me!

 

[JasonRox]

Although Feymann quit, he would most likely agree he had great times he would never regret.

 

[hypnagogue]

*regains consciousness* Look what a couple of fags have done to me!

Are you sure those were nicotine fags?

 

[the number 42]

Lose many brain cells that way?

Can you lose brain cells just by holding your breath? I probably used to know the answer to this...

 

[Monique]

Very simplistic view if i may say. I think every smoker with a rational "clear" mind is very well aware of the impact that tabacco has on our health. The argument that they don't know this and therefore they wouldn't "believe" the damage caused to others, really is shallow and simplistic in nature.


marlon

Then tell me why certain smokers go smoke in places where they bother other people, if it is not ignorance or denial?

 

[Moonbear]

Then tell me why certain smokers go smoke in places where they bother other people, if it is not ignorance or denial?

I guess that just leaves us with rudeness.

 

[Polly]

Are you sure those were nicotine fags?

Actually they are fags and a few mouthful of cooking wine. I have a bottle of red wind from 4 years ago, but I don't have any opener...what a loser I am .

 

[marlon]

Then tell me why certain smokers go smoke in places where they bother other people, if it is not ignorance or denial?

EErrr, look. This question is is very good but they way you formulate it is eeuhh let's say, in the style of a 5-year old. From the beginning i said that smoking indeed can disturbe other people and if people are indeed not at easy with that they should say it AND the smoker should respect their wishes because they are entitled to smoke-free air. Non-smokers do not ask to inhale "dirty"-air so i say they are totally right. However what i find disturbing in your way of "reasoning" is the fact that you seem to imply smokers don't know about the nuisance they cause or they don't know about the heath-related riscs. This is just making apoint just for the sake of making a point. You are really saying nothing here that you can't read in a "how to behaive in public"-course for first graders. Don't turn this into a "we are good-they are bad"-discussion because that's pointless and it is not going to bring you anywhere. If somebody wants to smoke outside then there is nothing wrong with it and in all honesty i must say it really is non of your business. In public places there should be NO smoking, so if somebody does this he or she is as wrong as you are when you make such childsh statements about your boyfriend or whatever...


regards
marlon

 

[marlon]

I guess that just leaves us with rudeness.

of the non-smokers, indeed

marlon

 

[Monique]

If somebody wants to smoke outside then there is nothing wrong with it and in all honesty i must say it really is non of your business. In public places there should be NO smoking, so if somebody does this he or she is as wrong as you are when you make such childsh statements about your boyfriend or whatever...

Yeah, your comments are very grown up too, right whatever.

 

[marlon]

Yeah, your comments are very grown up too, right whatever.

thanks for the mature answer. I made my point and i clearly pointed out where, according to me at least, your "reasoning" degenerates into ...


marlon

 

[Moonbear]

of the non-smokers, indeed

marlon

Why is it rudeness of nonsmokers? If people want to go smoke out in an open field somewhere away from other people (or really, anywhere away from other people), I have no problem with them choosing to do so, as foolish as they seem for making that choice, but when they come stand outside the entrance to my building beneath a huge "No Smoking" sign, and puff away so that I can't get inside without walking through their cloud of smoke, which leaves ME smelling like smoke all day and gives me a terrible headache, wouldn't you consider that rude or inconsiderate?

I think Monique was actually trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, that they don't realize how bothersome their smoke is to others when they are standing outside. From talking with ex-smokers, I think she's correct about that. I've known a number of people who have quit smoking and will walk past a smoker, or stand in the elevator next to someone who just came in from smoking, when the smell is still strong on their clothing, or walk through the entryway of a building where someone is smoking just outside the door, and will remark with surprise that they never realized how bad the smell was when they were smoking. Yes, they knew of the health risks, and most wouldn't light up in a closed room with someone they knew was a non-smoker, and wouldn't intentionally blow smoke in someone else's direction, and they thought they were being polite to step outside, but never realized that just stepping outside wasn't far enough. They pretty much thought that as far as you could see the smoke travel is as far as it went, not realizing the odor permeated much further than the visible smoke cloud around them, or how strong it was on their clothing when they came inside. Ever find yourself gasping for air around someone who seems to have bathed in their perfume? It's sort of the same thing for a nonsmoker to be around a smoker.

 

[Monique]

But don't blame this situation of your friend on others. He is a big boy, he should have reacted himself...This is a childish argument and it is to some extent his own fault...

marlon (runs and hides)

Ok, to come back to your attack: why is it a childish argument that someone smoking outside, in front of an open door, is causing harm to a person sitting inside?

It happens, and people don't see what they're doing: I've seen it myself and I was very worried about the situation. The desk has been moved to a different location, the people have been told to not stand too close to the door, and close the door behind them. But what happens in summer? The door will be open all the time, wind will be blowing in. Time to look for another job.

 

[marlon]

Why is it rudeness of nonsmokers? If people want to go smoke out in an open field somewhere away from other people (or really, anywhere away from other people), I have no problem with them choosing to do so,

I agree

as foolish as they seem for making that choice,

Well, maybe this is your opinion and you are entitled to it but it is irrelevant to this discussion

but when they come stand outside the entrance to my building beneath a huge "No Smoking" sign, and puff away so that I can't get inside without walking through their cloud of smoke, which leaves ME smelling like smoke all day and gives me a terrible headache, wouldn't you consider that rude or inconsiderate?

I agree, you are totally right on this one. In this case, the somkers are wrong...you should be given an clean air entrance, really i agree with you on this one...

I think Monique was actually trying to give them the benefit of the doubt, that they don't realize how bothersome their smoke is to others when they are standing outside.

I really don't see how. To me she only made general useless statements that everybody will agree with. For example if i were to say my girlfriend got long-irritations because i smoke that you will blame me, right? That is justified in my eyes because we live together. But at work if someone blames me for that i won't take it into account because you DONNOT need to be around smokers all the time and even if so, he should have asked to be more considerate. I am sure smokers (at least most of them) will take into account such a serious effect. Just don't come whinning afterwards that it was the smoher's fault.That is childish...

From talking with ex-smokers, I think she's correct about that. I've known a number of people who have quit smoking and will walk past a smoker, or stand in the elevator next to someone who just came in from smoking, when the smell is still strong on their clothing, or walk through the entryway of a building where someone is smoking just outside the door, and will remark with surprise that they never realized how bad the smell was when they were smoking.

Indeed i have heard that too.

Yes, they knew of the health risks, and most wouldn't light up in a closed room with someone they knew was a non-smoker, and wouldn't intentionally blow smoke in someone else's direction, and they thought they were being polite to step outside, but never realized that just stepping outside wasn't far enough. They pretty much thought that as far as you could see the smoke travel is as far as it went, not realizing the odor permeated much further than the visible smoke cloud around them, or how strong it was on their clothing when they came inside.

Pfff, i am sorry but that is too much in my eyes. So, basically, if someone cannot stand some parfume or the "nice" odeur some people have, they should all be thrown out of this restaurant ? I don't think many restaurants would survive such regulations. No, really, just be more considerate as a non-smoker too. Not everything in life will be your way...

Ever find yourself gasping for air around someone who seems to have bathed in their perfume?

yes, then i just make a step aside and all is done. I am not going to start whinning about how unjust this all is...


regards
marlon

 

[marlon]

Ok, to come back to your attack:

Please, i wasn't attacking...i only do that to dextercioby when he is flying again...

why is it a childish argument that someone smoking outside, in front of an open door, is causing harm to a person sitting inside?

Nothing, in fact it is a fact. This is not what i called childish. I was referring to the examples you used and the way you formulate your statements. I made clear references to this in my previous responses to you...

AUB, ge moet daar nu niet kwaad voor zijn. Ik was gewoon een punt aan het maken. Het was niet mijn bedoeling U te beledigen...

It happens, and people don't see what they're doing: I've seen it myself and I was very worried about the situation. The desk has been moved to a different location, the people have been told to not stand too close to the door, and close the door behind them. But what happens in summer? The door will be open all the time, wind will be blowing in. Time to look for another job.

Again, i completely see your point here and i AGREE, really


marlon

 

[Monique]

How do you repel a bunch of annoying teenagers who find it necessary to start smoking, and decide to use my doorstep as a hideout? Everytime I come home my entrance is full of junk: sigarettes, sigarette lighters, left behind sweaters (?), wrappers, you name it, and my house smells of smoke I live on a level in between ground and first floor, so there are some stairs and a small landing.

I tried cleaning the place after them, so they would feel guilty for messing it up.. that did not work. I tried letting the place go, but that started attracting homeless people (they looked like junkies). Now I made a sign 'No smoking', so I expect when I come home tomorrow to have the entrance decorated with teenage rantings.

 

[arildno]

How do you repel a bunch of annoying teenagers who find it necessary to start smoking, and decide to use my doorstep as a hideout? Everytime I come home my entrance is full of junk: sigarettes, sigarette lighters, left behind sweaters (?), wrappers, you name it, and my house smells of smoke I live on a level in between ground and first floor, so there are some stairs and a small landing.

I tried cleaning the place after them, so they would feel guilty for messing it up.. that did not work. I tried letting the place go, but that started attracting homeless people (they looked like junkies). Now I made a sign 'No smoking', so I expect when I come home tomorrow to have the entrance decorated with teenage rantings.

Do you know where they live?
Dump their trash in their mailboxes or something.

 

[russ_watters]

From talking with ex-smokers, I think she's correct about that. I've known a number of people who have quit smoking and will walk past a smoker, or stand in the elevator next to someone who just came in from smoking, when the smell is still strong on their clothing, or walk through the entryway of a building where someone is smoking just outside the door, and will remark with surprise that they never realized how bad the smell was when they were smoking.

My roommate is an ex-smoker and he actually hates being around smoke than me (a never-smoker). When they smoke, they're used to the smell and barely notice it.

 

[Kerrie]

a few years ago i smoked when i lived with a roommate who also smoked. it was easy to give up because it just wasn't me. prior to pregnancy, i would have an occassional cigar if celebrating was in process!

 

[Ba]

Never smoked and really don't want too, I had a roomate that smoked and that smell got everywhere. I was glad when I moved out.

 

[brewnog]

Put me on the passive 'no' list.

 

[russ_watters]

prior to pregnancy, i would have an occassional cigar if celebrating was in process!

Yeah, me too (except for that pregnancy bit). See pic: that's me, second from the right, at a very close friend's wedding last year. My first and last full cigar.

 

[Moonbear]

Monique, are there lights on your landing? Sometimes leaving it brightly lit makes it a less desirable hiding place, or, alternatively, leaving it completely dark can also make it undesirable because they won't even see each other. Even better, pipe in horrid elevator music...apparently loud classical music has also worked to drive teenagers from loitering outside shopping malls in the US (I guess the hope is to either drive them into the stores or out of the way of people wanting to get to the stores). Periodically spilling water while watering plants on the windowsill above could work as a last resort. Get rid of them now before the weather is warm and you want to keep the windows open.

 

[Moonbear]

Yeah, me too (except for that pregnancy bit).

Well, that's a relief! You're not allowed to be a Republican if you get pregnant before you're married.

My first and last full cigar.

Okay, I can tolerate people smoking cigars better than cigarettes, they have a different smell that doesn't seem as nasty, but I still would much much much prefer not to have them anywhere near me. (Sometimes a cigar is just no substitute for......nevermind.)

P.S. Evo, don't make us wait...I demand you release Russ' picture immediately! Hey, wait, now that you're all supermentors, can't you approve your own attachments?

 

[Monique]

Monique, are there lights on your landing? Sometimes leaving it brightly lit makes it a less desirable hiding place, or, alternatively, leaving it completely dark can also make it undesirable because they won't even see each other.

They come during the day so I haven't been home to tell them to get out. I don't know what types they are, but I wouldn't want to get a big mouth or worse Anyway, it's 9.30 pm and I'm soaking the landing with water to give it a thorough clean in a bit

 

[Moonbear]

Piping in classical music seems to be the way to go:

Halt, or I'll play Vivaldi!

With its audience dwindling, classical music finds new cachet — as thug repellent. It can't be what Bach & Co. had in mind.

By Scott Timberg, Times Staff Writer

In the 1982 movie "Fitzcarraldo," a white-suited Klaus Kinski, playing a 19th century rubber baron, steams down a Peruvian river, blasting Caruso on his gramophone toward the damp, dark rain forest and its hostile natives. The phonograph becomes a symbol of the character's attempt to civilize the wilderness — and of his mad obsession to build an opera house in the jungle.

As odd as it sounds, this very technique has been used lately all over the English-speaking world — only not as a civilizing strategy but as a way of banishing ruffians, drug pushers and ne'er-do-wells. To clear out undesirables, opera and classical music have been piped into Canadian parks, Australian railway stations, 7-Eleven parking lots and, most recently, London Underground stops.

Continued at: http://www.calendarlive.com/cl-ca-musichurts13feb13,0,6238299.story

 

[franznietzsche]

Piping in classical music seems to be the way to go:



Continued at: http://www.calendarlive.com/cl-ca-musichurts13feb13,0,6238299.story

That's awesome.

I'll keep that in mind whenever those normal teenagers start bugging me.

 

[honestrosewater]

I agree- people who drive their cars where I want to walk and breathe are rude. And everyone who drives a car is nasty and suicidal.

 

[Monique]

Cars serve another purpose than smoking

 

[honestrosewater]

Cars serve another purpose than smoking

Smoking can serve purposes too. Anyway, driving and smoking are both dangerous and legal under certain restrictions.
I don't understand how someone can complain that some smokers are disrespectful of others and, in the same breath, say smokers shouldn't be allowed to smoke inside any building other than someone's home or even come near others if doing so offends them. Smokers must respect the wants of nonsmokers, but nonsmokers needn't respect the wants of smokers? That makes sense to you?

 

[Andy]

Why should a non smoker go out of their way to accomadate the needs of a smoker?

 

[honestrosewater]

Why should a non smoker go out of their way to accomadate the needs of a smoker?

And why should a smoker go out of their way to accommodate the needs of a nonsmoker? Why should anyone go out of their way to accommodate the needs of a anyone else? I suppose one reason would be that they want to cooperate with each other. Heck, maybe they even believe people deserve to be treated fairly.

 

[russ_watters]

Smoking can serve purposes too.

Such as?

I don't understand how someone can complain that some smokers are disrespectful of others and, in the same breath, say smokers shouldn't be allowed to smoke inside any building other than someone's home or even come near others if doing so offends them. Smokers must respect the wants of nonsmokers, but nonsmokers needn't respect the wants of smokers? That makes sense to you?

Um, yeah. Think about it this way: if you have 50 people in a smoking section and 50 people in a non-smoking section of a restaraunt, how many non-smokers are affected if one non-smoker goes into the smoking section? How many non-smokers are affected if one smoker goes into the non-smoking section?

If I'm hard-up for a table, sometimes I'll choose to sit in the smoking section. I choose to expose myself to smoke for the sake of getting a table. But a smoker cannot choose to sit in the non-smoking section because that circumvents the choice of the 50 people sitting in that section.

Yeah, its an inherrently unequal situation, and you're now on the short end of it (until recently, non-smokers were on the short end of it) . Sorry, but that's just too bad. That's what happens when you do something that is inherrently unhealthy and which society has deemed has no redeeming value (such as that little redeeming value that cars have...transportation).

And why should a smoker go out of their way to accommodate the needs of a nonsmoker?

Choice. Whether or not you smoke is your choice. Therefore, it is you who must make the sacrifice if you want to make that choice. Since I have no choice, your choice is not allowed to affect me. That's how rights work.

I'm sure you'll want to bring cars back into it: what if my driving a car kills a pedestrian accidentally (no drinking involved). My choice to drive, right? Yes, but its also the pedestrian's choice to be on the road.

 

[Monique]

I don't understand how someone can complain that some smokers are disrespectful of others and, in the same breath, say smokers shouldn't be allowed to smoke inside any building other than someone's home or even come near others if doing so offends them.

Ok, suppose: you are sitting in a restaurant having your diner and I come and sit next to your table.

I grab into my pocket and I take out a lighter and a stick of incense, and start burning the incense in the restaurant next to the table you are sitting at. Would you suggest that you would not be bothered, and you would continue to enjoy your diner?

How about, I come into the restaurant and I sit down at the table next to you and I take out a ghetto blaster and start listening to a CD of Skunk Anansie. Again, that would be perfectly ok?

 

[Evo]

Smoking can serve purposes too. Anyway, driving and smoking are both dangerous and legal under certain restrictions.
I don't understand how someone can complain that some smokers are disrespectful of others and, in the same breath, say smokers shouldn't be allowed to smoke inside any building other than someone's home or even come near others if doing so offends them. Smokers must respect the wants of nonsmokers, but nonsmokers needn't respect the wants of smokers? That makes sense to you?

Yes, that makes perfect sense. It's because smoking isn't necessary, it's a nasty, foul smelling practice that affects everyone near them. Because it affects other people, the smoker needs to make sure that they do not affect others that don't wish to breath smoke. If a person can't sit through a meal without smoking, they have a very serious problem. Smokers should not impose their problems on others.

I tell you what, I'll let someone smoke next to me as long as I can keep spraying Lysol at them. Hey, it's my right to get a couple of cans and spray them non stop in the face the whole time their smoke is in my face, right?