A new study says:

Smoking bans reduce smoking


Maybe at my work, they could expand the smoke-free zone a few more yards.

I agree, CZ. I wish my state would ban smoking in restaurants, but with NC being one of the major tobacco producers, it's not likely to happen. Most of them have smoking sections, but it's impossible NOT to smell that vile odor.

However, some individual establishments have outlawed smoking on their premises. I was enjoying the outdoor section of a nice restaurant recently when a couple of ladies a few tables over both lit up. One of the servers came down on them like a hawk, telling them there was NO SMOKING on the premises and they had to go far away to a designated smoking place. I thanked the server for being so quick about reading them the rules!

Love that picture--came down on them like a hawk!

New York has a LOT of no smoking areas, but people are ALWAYS fighting it. Makes me wonder why they want to kill off strangers...

Move to OH. Ohio is smoke free. It has cost many jobs. Restaurants are hurting, bars have gone out of business. Even private clubs are closing. People were tricked on voting for the ban. If you voted no - it was a yes, and vise-versa. There was wording in the ban the included clubs (Veterens, Eagles, etc.) but it was advertised that Clubs were excluded because they were private.

I used to tend bar and many people only smoked when they went out for a drink (just social smokers). The laws are so harsh in Ohio you can be hauled in for drinking 1/2 a beer or a glass of wine. With the ban and the laws - no one goes out anymore. There are very few jobs in Ohio as it is.

Maybe people don't want to smell it.....but it is one more freedom taken away in this country. What is next?

When I was in Peru you could smoke anywhere, but very few people smoked. It was weird. It think the more you take something away - the more people want to do it.

Prohibition proved that to be true. But we have the added 'pleasure' of smoking being actively promoted everywhere. You never see an old movie without people lighting up. Old TV programs, people lighting up.

The tobacco companies have been VERY effective in promoting their deathly products.

Yes they have.

But people only focus on one deadly pleasure. Oscar Meyer (and many other companies) puts nitrites and nitrates in their meat products to give them a longer shelf life. These additives are KNOWN to cause cancer. You don't see anyone going after them.

Equal (Aspartame) has so many side effects and causes so many health problems including brain tumors but Pepsi and Coke continue to use it in their diet products. People try to go after them, but to no avail.

What gets me - and I am not defending the tobacco companies by any means, but when people light up a cigarette they KNOW they are doing harm to their bodies. When people feed their kids something they think is safe - shouldn't they be AWARE of what they are putting into their own bodies or giving to their kids?

It is like everybody jumps on ONE bandwagon because they can "see" it or "smell" it. But they never give a thought about the unsafe foods we are eating EVERYDAY and feeding to our kids!

Even fruit isn't safe anymore because of the pesticides they use.

Doesn't anyone wonder why the cancer rate is so high, heart disease, kidney disease, diabetes, I could go on and on forever. We have the highest rates in ALL of these compared to other countries.

ALL HUGE Corporations are killing us - not ONLY the tobacco companies.

I understand what you're saying, sadie. But a person's choice to smoke isn't just harming his or her body. It's now been shown through study after study that breathing in the second-hand smoke the smoker exhales is very harmful to people near them who are breathing it in. The smoker's addiction then becomes everyone's problem. We have to inhale...no choice there.

As to food, we do have a choice, a shrinking one, to be sure, when we consider all the additives, as well as where the food came from, but we can control that individually IF we want to do so. BUT, today's rushed American lifestyle does not contribute to good eating habits, especially for children. That's the sad thing...I used to see so many kids at my school eating those awful Lunchables! Yuck!

We no longer have a choice and people are not outraged. The soil is contaminated. The water we drink is contaminated. Everyone is sick. There are so many allergies. You can grow your own food - but are you sure the soil where you grow it is safe?

EVERYTHING is polluted - even the air we breath - cigarette smoke or not. At least you can see the cigarette and cigar smoke and get away from it. It is the unseen that I am talking about.

Everyone who is anti-smoking should be just as anti about the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breath.

You can't just pick one thing and think it is the cure all. I wish those who were so loud about cigarette smoke would be that vigilant about food additives and all pollutants as well. We are killing ourselves and don't even know it.

I have a friend who lives in the backyard of AK Steel. He gets a check for $700.00 every year to wash his house (because of the residue AK puts in the air). He is anti-smoking - smoke free everything. What does he think he is breathing everyday??????

He will die of lung cancer and it won't be from second hand cigarette smoke! The cancer rate in his area is outrageous - but no one seems to makes the connection. He actually eats beans and tomatoes from his garden. Yikes!

I am not defending smokers - I am just saying - when you want to clean something up - why just stop with a small percent of the problem?

You make good points, sadie. EVERYTHING is polluted now. The huge companies have destroyed what used to be safe--everything that used to be safe.

Oh, I know, Coke used to be made with actual cocaine, and licorice is harmful to your health but was widely sold in the good ol' days. But our air was safe to breathe, the water safe to drink, and most foods safe to eat. My how times have changed.

Unfortunately, the places that are trying to bring sanity back in relation to foods sturggle to be heard. Actually they are targetted by the government as terrorists and by companies as the enemy. Just like we are fed lies about politics, we are fed lies about what is safe and what isn't.

How about irradiating foods to make them look fresh when they are not? Gives beef that wholesome fresh red look even though it has been on the shelf way past it's freshness date. Speaking of freshness dates, does anyone know a store that removes products when their freshness dates have expired?

I eat soy. Two of the most genetically engineered plants are corn and soy. GE is done for the people who own farms and stores, not for people. Tomatoes are hard as rocks, as are strawberries. I can't find a seeded watermelon anywhere--only the seedless ones that are like sponges filled with sweet tasteless water. Well, this post could go on forever but I have pretty much said what I wanted to.

This does not in any way forgive tobacco companies for duping the public and doing their best to hook the young. But there are so many problems with the food 'industry', it boggles the mind.

And that doesn't begin to address what is wrong with our environment.

My ex worked in a paper mill. They used a bleach product to bleach recycled paper. The EXACT product is used to spray lettuce on a salad bar. It makes the lettuce stay crisp and not turn brown. I wonder what that does to the lining of a person's stomach? Just makes me want to go get a salad.

It all screams, "Grow your own garden in a greenhouse with filtered air and water." But so few people can actually do that.

I forgot to say, I was watching a new element to the area, an eagle. It was riding the currents of air. The sky looked clear and blue, but not very far into that clear, blue sky the eagle disappeared. There is so much crud in the air now, birds disappear just a short distance into it.

I couldn't believe my eyes. Now if the eagle doesn't come back, I will wonder if it was done in by some kook with a gun, or the air itself.

As for the water we get from our taps - that is recycled (purified?) urine and fecal matter. We are drinking our own body wastes.

I have to say my whole family smoked (except my mother). My father was a chain smoker - he would light a fresh cigarette from his butt before he discarded it. He rolled his own cigarettes from Prince Albert tobacco. Everything was natural - no additives.

Tobacco growers would hand pick tobacco worms from their plants. No pesticides used to increase crop yields. Then big business entered the picture. New ways of farming - PESTICIDES - then flavor enhancers - then dyes so the product would be pretty and appealing - then additives to prolong shelf freshness for more profits.

Take our milk as one example - now today - They will prosecute athletes for using steroids - BUT - big dairy conglomerates can inject their cows with steroids to increase milk production. HEY - punish adults but get our babies addicted while they are in the cradle.

If you like chicken hot wings and buffalo wings - don't go overboard with them. The FDA allows hatcheries to inject the chickens with steroids to increase egg production. They inject the chickens in the neck and there is a big concentration of steroids found in the wings.

The FDA is supposed to be our protector. At least our tax dollars pay their salary but who do they really allow to get away with everything?

I have to repeat a comment I made in another post and we all are guilty of the infraction -- Why does everyone start at the wrong end of the spectrum to solve problems?

How can anyone of us justify trying to dictate to anyone a lifestyle that we find a best way to live. Isn't that just one form of dictatorship?

Just think - if intercourse was made illegal and banned years ago - a lot less idiots would have been born. A lot of abortions would never have taken place, and more important AIDS would not exist today. But I'm sure a mass of people would have screamed for the nosey meddlers to be run out on a rail. To think anyone would have the audacious attitude as to try to tell me how I should live my life.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT - there are always at least 2 sides for every theory and everyone is either a problem solver or a meddler.

I'll cite one more example of mans ability to solve our problems. PENICILLIN - The one size fit all cure for all our infections. One important lesson we did learn - what may cure one person may killl another. Because there are no two people with the same chemical makeup. Thank goodness for our differences - that makes our life interesting if we can accept our differences and respect each other for who we are and not how they think we should live our lives.

I have emphysema and I blame myself for my medical condition. I will not judge nor preach to anyone about their lifestyle. I started smoking when I was eight years old and it sure took a lot of years for it to catch up with me. So I have to say, maybe smoking isn't as bad as some say. I'm not defending smoking per say - but what I am saying is if it is as bad as its portrayed why did it take over 64 years to catch up with me?

I personally think 2nd hand smoke is no more harmful than the emissions from a car which expels much more harmful polutants in a greater volume than a tiny cigarette. How many will give up their cars and start riding bikes - horses or walking?

Jeez, I dont even know where to start with the bad science in this thread....

HI, greenie...good to see you again.

Come on...find a "bad science" starting point and jump in! This is an interesting topic, and one which has put this forum on the map!

EDIT: Saw this report at TRUTHDIG:



READ More at Bad News for Older Smokers

Do any of you smoke who are in this thread?

I do not.

Call to ban all tobacco adverts

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has called on governments to ban all tobacco advertising to help prevent young people taking up the habit.

It accused manufacturers of using increasingly sophisticated marketing techniques to ensare young people, particularly girls in poorer countries.

The UN agency says the more they are exposed to tobacco advertising, the more likely people will start smoking.

The appeal was issued to mark the WHO's World No Tobacco Day.

The organisation said only 5% of the world's population was covered by comprehensive bans on tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship.

It says current restrictions are not enough to protect the world's 1.8bn young people, who are targeted through the intenet, magazines, films, concerts and sporting events.