I've been smoke free for 17 (almost 18) yrs now!

My dad used to smoke when I was little, and now he doesnt. My brother on the other had does. Oh well.

 

I smoked for about a year. Since then I might have the occasional one or two. Still give me a buzz. Lately the smell just makes me nausios. I got into it after high school more as a social thing. I was into hiking/camping a lot then and got tired of getting winded after a half mile. When I met my wife to be I quit all together and focused on her. I've had a few since but nothing major. It's not a cool thing to be doing.

I don't smoke and 8 years later I get winded after 100 yards on a good steep canyon. Go figure. Darn Florida flat lands anyway.

 

I have never puffed on one, and never will. I don't agree w/ gov't regulating private facilities, but I hate being around smoke. Some smokers are considerate, but many are not. Recently my wife, our 6 month old baby and myself was standing outside of a restaurant in front of the door, and 3 jackasses come up beside us and light up. We were very verbal w/ out displeasure of having to move away from the door because of the inconsiderate smokers.

Why do smokers think they have to smoke in front of the doors? Is it because they don't have the lung capacity to walk the extra 15-20 feet?

Oh yeah, if anybody tried to light up in any of my vehicles they would find their a$$ smacking the curb.

 

you have to be able to write checks that don't bounce.

i kinda combined two questions: "do you smoke" and "do you like people who smoke".

happy?

 

I started smoking when I was thirteen(wild child) by the time I hit 21 I was a 2 pack a day plus welding 10 hours a day. In the mornings when I showered to go to work I would cough up all kinds of dark flim and could hardly play flag football on the weekends with my friends.
One payday I stopped and got a steak and potatoes dinner and it was great but when I lit up that smoke it just killed the taste of the food. So from that day I quit cold turkey and havnt smoked since.
Yeah it was tough but I learned how to trick my mind..like buying big packs of big red chewing gum and chewing a stick when I felt the "urge".
I knew it was working when one day as a left a 7-11 I realized I was packing the box of gum in my hand like a pack of ciggarettes.
It was the best desicion I've made in my life and at 47(48 in a month) I know theres a lot of things I couldnt do if I were still smoking.
My wife smokes and I've tried to get her to quit but gave up after she feel asleep in an hypnosis class...so now she takes her be hind out side for the smokes..plus I won't allow her to smoke even in her own car..I drive it some times and I dont want to smell that chit.

 

I have never "poll smoked", nor do I intend to.




I don't smoke cigs, pot, etc.... either



My wife is allowed.......no encouraged to smoke.

She is limited to one brand though.

 

ferrari brand? or just any redneck brand?

 

I smoked for 30 years and started very young. It was harder to quit than anything I've ever done in my life. I remember wanting to be like the guy in the TV commercial that would walk a mile for a Camel, what was so great about camels?, I remember thinking.

By the time I was 15 years old I was smoking two packs a day and was hooked so bad that even very severe punishments would not deter me. Nicotene is a hideously addictive substance that should be phased out of our society. The tobacco farmers and packers can grow and package a different crop.

Because it is so addictive, people who have yet to quit should not be ostrcized or forced to stand outside in 0 degree weather to smoke. But the tobacco executives that stood before congress and LIED about not knowing nicotene is addictive should have gone to jail for a few years.

For you younger posters here who smoke, please consider quiting before you have damaged yourself. It's easy to think that since you are young you have plenty of time and that you will quit later. But today is now later than yesterday and tomorow later still. The next thing you know you'll be a twenty year smoker who coughs, hacks, and spits phlem while panting your way to the store for more smokes. (All the while denying the problem)

Sorry about the book but I am a very opinionated moderate who has been there and done that.

 

I live in FL, where it was made illegal to smoke in public places, restaurants, etc. just recently.

bcbickers - The law was passed here by a majority vote of the population, not by the government. THAT'S why it is OK for the law to exist. That is exactly how the democratic system is supposed to work.

Smoker's side of the argument ? Most (not all) smokers I've observed litter, pollute and as a whole are basically rude about their habit. My not smoking does not infringe on you in any manner. You exhaling smoke into my breathing space DOES infringe on me. That is how the 'Rights" system was designed to work: You have the right to do anything you want, as long as it is not deemed illegal by society or as long as you do not infringe upon, or deny another person, their rights. By smoking in public places, you infringe on non-smokers' rights to be free from smoke.

Your attitude is exactly why people voted to banish it here to begin with.

I for one am tired of looking at the ground at every intersection, curb, etc. and seeing cigarette butts everywhere. At least 2 times a day I see some moron throwing their cigarette butt out the window of their car. I wish I was a cop. I would write them a nice littering fine...

As far as I can tell, smoker's lack of consideration for non-smokers has caused this legislation to happen. You can expect more and more areas to do this as time goes on.

I for one enjoy going into a restaurant / bar and not coming out smelling like an ashtray, as Jenn pointed out earlier. California (and now Florida) make "night life" a lot better for those of us who do not smoke.

Sorry for the rant, but inconsiderate smokers really irritate me...

 

LMAO

Come on man. You know you're a "poll" smoker from way back.

 

Nick D - I echo your message wholeheartedly..... I smoked for 25 years 1-2 packs a day..... tried to quit several times over the past 5 years.. nicoderm, the patch, cold turkey, etc, etc, etc.... always came back at the first sign of any type of stress or anxiety... no matter how long I had stopped, I was right back to where I was in a day or so....

FINALLY (!) tried hypnosis (one group session for 3 hours offered atour local hospital) and although you may laugh, I could care less as it worked for me..... after the initial two weeks, which there were some temptation, I found myself thinking less and less about having a smoke.... the key thing that did it for me was getting it in my mind that there was no such thing as an occasional cigarette... that if I smoked just one, I'd be right back to ground zero..... more or less scared me straight.... it's been 8 months now and there's no way I would even try a cigarette right now.... feeling MUCH better, playing hockey a couple times a week, etc, etc..... my only regret is not having stopped when I was 20 years old... anyways.... off the soap box... hopefully you younger guys out there will seriously think twice.... it really does catch up to you in your later years and just think of the $$ you can save for mods on your trucks!!!

 

I would like to see everybody that wants to be able to quit. MY brother coughs so much when he answers the phone that I tell him to call me back when he can talk.

He has tried the patch, hypnosis and whatever else he could find but still only needs one match a day to light the first one.

 

It is such a funny argument about either smokers or non-smokers and their rights. Some smokers claim to have a right to smoke where ever they please and then you have some non-smokers claiming they have a right to be somewhere free of smoke. Both arguments are childish and just plain STUPID.

If a smoker wants to claim some “right” to smoke where they wish then stay home and smoke where ever you wish on your own property. If you a non-smoker trying to claim some “stupid” right to be in an area that is smoke free then you too can stay home and be in an area that is smoke free.

It is neither the right of the smoker to smoke where ever they please or the non-smokers right to claim they have a “special” right to be in a smoke free area other then their own property. The two sides that claim these stupid rights are the whiners of society who usually whine about every damn thing there is.

These two sides claiming these rights I would ask “where” do you find this right? Is it in the Constitution? NO, it’s not, it is simple a “made up” right by some group of people which makes it a useless right to begin with. What about a group of people that don’t want to smell perfume when in a public place? Do they have a “right” not to have to smell someone that baths themselves in perfume or cologne? What about a group of people that don’t like looking at the scum of the earth “homeless by choice” Does that group have a right to not have to see these worthless people display there choice of not working and/or having drug and alcohol problems in public view?

See what I mean when people start claiming some “made up” right? Kind of childish if you ask me. You do have a right to make personal choices, but not for others…

Here is something to think about. You have a much higher chance of dieing in an auto accident with a drunk driver then you do by second hand smoke.

You have a right to vote for laws at times and if you vote for particular areas to be smoke free then so be it. That ONLY means you have the right to vote for it. It does NOT mean you have a right to be in a smoke free area. If you had that right to begin with then you would have never had to vote for the law in the first place.

To many people throw around the term “My rights” and don’t have a clue as to what that actually means…

 

Here in brevard, you can dial *kbb if you see someone litter and it'll let you tell them a tag number, and sends an officer to where you are. the officers can only give warnings, but hey, will scare them strait!

 

There are different orders of rights. Those mentioned in the Constitution as inalienable, and those provided by legislation. It says nowhere in the Constitution that I do not have the right to run around naked in the streets. Somebody had to say, "Hey, that's just not right." and have a law passed.

The same thing applies to cigarette smoke in public. If enough people say, "Hey, that's just not right." and pass a law, then smoking will become illegal. Smokers have themselves to blame really. Years of being inconsiderate to non-smokers have led up to this. Is it silly? Hell yes. It's silly that legislation is required to wring a little common courtesy out of a fellow human being.