<p>I think this is wrong on many levels... first is government encroachment on people's decision making. Yes, it may kill you, but I firmly believe in everybody's right to be a complete idiot and kill themselves. Secondly, second hand smoke will not kill you if you walk by it quickly, which from what I understand, is what people do when they dislike the smell of smoke.
Third, yes, while cigarette smoking may occur more often, it takes away any smoking, as previously stated, from pipes or cigars which, generally are smoked less often than cigarettes.
As a member of my own schools cigar club, I enjoy getting together once a week to enjoy a nice cigar and shoot the s***. Nobody who is not a smoker ever comes around, and is therefore of no harm to them. And it really relives the stress of a military academy.</p>
<p>As for the healthy lifestyle and smoking killing... Winston Churchill started drinking liquor from the moment he woke up to the moment he went to sleep, smoked an average of 28 cigars a day, had a ridiculous amount of stress in his life, and lived to be 92. Not to mention he saved the world from evil.</p>
<p>To end on a story... Churchill, after the War, was in the states and being toured around an Air Force base to be shown the new jets the Americans had been working on. In the hanger, there were signs everywhere which said "No Smoking, Very Flammable" yet Sir Winston still had a cigar lit up. One of the American Generals quietly asked Churchill's assistant: "Could you ask the Prime Minister to put out his cigar, the planes could explode." To which the assistant responded: "They wouldn't dare."</p>
<p>I hate cigarette smoke, so the ban would be to my benefit. Yet I'm pretty creeped out by this - I don't think the colleges should have that kind of jurisdiction over students. Yeah, I hate smoke, but I feel strongly that others should have the right to smoke if they desire. Outside, it's not really hurting anyone but themselves. I just don't think that kind of thing should be regulated.</p>
<p>^ Why shouldn't they? If students don't like a school's regulations, they have every right to leave that school. </p>
<p>Every one of my friends smoke. I wouldn't mind a ban. My boyfriend (a heavy smoker) goes to Penn State :)</p>
<p>Even if there is truth in saying that people exaggerate when they complain too much about cigarette smoke, you have to take into consideration that there ARE people who are extremeley sensitive to these kinds of things; I kno my mom can't take any kind of smoke without having some kind of (purely physiological) asthma attack or suffocating. Maybe she's an extreme case, but we all must also consider where 'rights' infringe on those of others - in the sense that someone who smokes might be infringing on my right to clean air (and by extension, health and life) But I really don't know. It's a disgusting habit, I hate being kissed after my boyfriend's smoked, but that's all also my decision.</p>
<p>Nonsmokers can avoid putting themselves in smoke-ful situations. It should not be a Governmental ordinance. Very much how people who fear rollercoasters shouldn't go on them, but the rest of us can enjoy risking our lives and be just fine with it.</p>
<p>Truthfulness of all of that up there notwithstanding, I still don't mind the ban :P</p>
<p>I wish all the Penn schools would actually implement the bans they already have in place. Colleges also have alcohol banned on campuses but from all my friends I hear that boozing is a HUGE problem at many Penn schools....</p>
<p>It's not enough to have rules if the schools don't implement them.</p>
<p>I don't smoke and the smoking thing's gotten ridiculous. As much as I'm libertarian and support person liberty and all this stuff, smoking's gotten to the point where it's a danger to public health and safety. Good on them. If you want to drink a dozen cases of beer and jump out of a window, fine, go ahead, you're not harming anyone but yourself, nor are you a nuisance to anyone but yourself. But if you're smoking, you ARE a nuisance to nonsmokers, who, believe it or not, are the majority.</p>
<p>By the way, at NYU about half the people smoke-and it's ridiculous that I have to walk behind a trail of cigarette smoke because people don't bother to block the blowing end of their cigarettes when it's not in their mouth. I know it's your right to smoke, but I don't want to see it, I don't want to smell it, nor do I want to hear about it.</p>
<p>I actually a roommate who had the audacity to smoke in the room while I was there-but it was the end of the year so wasn't worth reporting to my RA. I HAD to exit the room. There are also people like my sister who wheeze when she smells cigarettes. Some people have asthma, others have weaknesses in their respiratory systems-smoking exacerbates both.</p>
<p>However, I'd be all for installing smoking booths on the streets-glass boxes where people could go for a cigarette. It would be vented through the floor and have tons of filters so that most of the crap would be filtered out. :D Kind of like smoking lounges at airports. And trust me, I have been to Asia-and I swore to myself I would NEVER go there because of the cigarette smoke. It's intolerable.</p>
<p>I am an adult, and I have made a decision for myself. My decision is that I don't want to breathe in the toxic smoke from someone else's cigarette, because I am one of those annoying people who wheeze and feel sick when I inhale smoke. Unfortunately, there are times when you simply cannot avoid a smoker, such as when you are on a city street and someone who is smoking comes toward you or passes you. Going into traffic in the street is not an option, nor is there room to get around the other way.</p>
<p>I don't care if someone else smokes, but I definitely don't want any of his/her smoke to get into my body. I would have no complaints if that were always the case.</p>
<p>
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Going into traffic in the street is not an option, nor is there room to get around the other way.
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</p>
<p>Gladmom, the exhaust fumes from the traffic of which you speak are causing you a lot more harm than the lone smoker on the sidewalk. Let's ban cars too.</p>
<p>Ernie, cigarette smoke makes me wheeze, but car exhaust doesn't. I don't like the exhaust, and I think that steps should be taken to clean that up, but I don't think that cars should be banned. Our society has been set up so that most people need to drive -- to get to work, to buy food and so on. Cigarette smoking is done for pleasure or because of an addiction. Our lawmakers agree that in most situations, smokers don't have the right to blow their smoke into my body.</p>
<p>Oh, so nobody anywhere should ever be allowed to enjoy a few puffs because it makes you wheeze? I don't get your point...</p>
<p>It's true that smokers don't have the right to "blow their smoke into your body." That's why they're not doing that. They're blowing smoke into the air, and you are making the choice to be there. Also, I assure you that if you live in an urban area, cigarette smoke is the least of your pollution concerns.</p>
<p>Don't compare smoking to a cold. The difference is that smokers make the conscious decision to smoke, where those who have colds and flus are not making the conscious decision to be sick.</p>
<p>Smoking is a danger to society at large. There's no reasonable argument to that. Saying that car exhaust is MORE dangerous is a really dry argument. It doesn't change that smoking is dangerous, or that smoking a cigarette is really comparable to driving your car to work. It isn't.</p>
<p>Yes, but people who leave their homes when they have any communicable diseases are making the conscious choice to spread the disease. Much like people who smoke outside their home.</p>
<p>And people who drive cars are making the conscious decision to do that rather than, walk, bike or use public transportation. While I don't smoke cigarettes, only cigars, I figure I'm helping people by not driving a car and walking or using public transportation everywhere I go.</p>
<p>And, if memory serves, last time we tried to ban something that humans have been using for a long time, we ended up getting the rise of organized crime. And, if memory serves, the same arguments that "it hurts everybody, not just those who use it" was also used.</p>
<p>And I've already made my statement about "being healthy"... Churchill drank and smoke in his every waking hour, was overweight and incredibly stressed, yet, somehow, managed to live to 92.</p>
<p>
[quote]
smokers make the conscious decision to smoke
[/quote]
It was a conscious decision when they were a teenager, and - while a dumb idea even then - at least it wasn't deemed worthy of persecution at that time. Now they're stuck with an addiction AND persecution.</p>
<p>
[quote]
people who drive cars are making the conscious decision to do that
[/quote]
You know that realistically there isn't a choice here for the vast majority of Americans - unfortunately. (minimize driving - yes, but that's a separate issue and a whole nother topic).</p>
<p>i go to school at columbia college chicago. we have a ban on the 15ft surrounding the enterence of any building on campus (which is the entire city) but since i have asthma and am especially prone to hacking fits around smoke, i have to carry my inhaler with me everywhere because of all the smoke. and ccc is an art school so a lot of students here smoke.
i personally would love it if there was a campus wide ban on smoking since it could keep me from having as many hacking fits, but since my campus is the entire south loop of chicago it is unrealistic. for private campuses that have areas such as the "Quad" i can see how a ban on smoking might work, but be annoying as hell to many ppl (except for me) i really do believe that smoking in general should be illegal because it isn't just bad for the person who smokes, but others around them too. but hey, what can i do... that is just my oppinion.</p>
<p>
[quote]
Yes, but people who leave their homes when they have any communicable diseases are making the conscious choice to spread the disease. Much like people who smoke outside their home.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Aren't people with some communicable diseases quarantined? What about the personal rights and freedoms of people with SARS? It's your own stupid fault for sitting next to them in the restaurant.</p>
<p>With respect to health care costs, individuals who smoke, are obese, etc. generally have shorter lives, and their lifetime health care costs are actually less than those of healthier people who live longer lives with expensive life extending care during old age. Details about the Dutch study can be found here: Does</a> Preventing Obesity Lead to Reduced Health-Care Costs?</p>
<p>"And I've already made my statement about "being healthy"... Churchill drank and smoke in his every waking hour, was overweight and incredibly stressed, yet, somehow, managed to live to 92."</p>