I started smoking at 11 and quit at 28.

Since then I've gained almost 100 pounds, got ornery, look older, hate to wash windows and cut the grass.

Surely, the cause of it was those 17 years of smoking.

I think that I am entitled to some recompense for smoking those cigarettes -- at the very least, I should be reimbursed for all that I spent on them -- since the tobacco company knew or should have know that I would enjoy smoking them.

It took me over a year to get to the point that when I walked into a room of smokers that I didn't have the craving big time.

The hardest part was trying to shoot pool, have a drink, and NOT have a cigarette at the same time -- now That's will-power!

I soon thereafter started to notice smells that I had not smelled for at least 10 years prior -- most were un-pleasant (like people) -- and I am now pretty hyper-sensitive to second-hand smoke -- which is most annoying.

The real sin here is that nobody really wants the tobacco companies to go out of business -- just transfer some of their wealth to others.

 

There seems to be some misunderstanding about my smoking in restaurants comment. McDonalds, as I recall, had a "smoking section." I used to smoke in the "smoking section." Those that did not wish to choke on smoke would simply sit in the "non-smoking section." However, any air in any indoor facility is more than likely "unfresh" for various reasons not related to smoking. I also mentioned that smoking is a dirty nasty habit and I wish that it never existed to be taken away from those that want to do it. It is a current and pressing issue and smoking has become unpopular. That is the real reason all of this crap is going on. I am not pro-smoking, I am pro-keeping what little you have. Other pressing and unpopular issues have a similar fate. Next it will be gun manufacturers being sued out of business, or very near, because of some incompetent parent letting their kid get a gun and blow someone away. These lawsuits are the "easy way out." Is it really the manufacturers fault for making these things? Gimme a break! If smoking is outlawed, it would become one of the biggest black market items going! Bigger than pot or any other drug, bigger than firearms, and it would not make things better for anybody. It will only set the stage for other things to become obsolete because we let things like this happen.

And Dennis, while I agree with some of what you said, the hog farm thing is a little off the wall. Where I live we have county zoning codes. It is a violation of these codes to operate a hog farm in the areas I prefer to live in (kinda like lighting a smoke in the non-smoking section). I would not move in to a "hog farm friendly" area of town and demand that one stop operating their hog farm. Regardless of how high or low my tolerance of "fragrances of nature" may be. I am just not selfish enough to do that.

I will quit smoking in the near future, it has been an on and off habit with me for years. When I do, I will sit in the non-smoking sections of restaurants. I will oppose smoke butts littering streets and parking lots and beaches. I will do my part to help anyone who wants to quit if they ask for it. I will also continue to politely tolerate little brat bastard children running in circles in public places. But most importantly, I will keep my mouth shut and let folks enjoy the rights and priviledges they still have. Be it smoke in the proper section or raise delinquent children.

BTW, Mickey D's had awfully neat little disposable ashtrays. Remember?

"The really "fresh" air is outside already!"

I'll smoke to that!
seacrow

 

98,

Actually, cars and trucks may yet be outlawed, especially in big cities, but for reasons other than safety, unless you consider breathing fresh air a safety issue.

As far as vehicles go, we all are supposed to be licensed to drive and we're all supposed to follow the law. If we don't follow the rules, we lose our privilege to drive.

Automobile companies have been sued and regulated into making their vehicles safer and cleaner. They polute and burn less fuel than ever before. They now protect their passengers better than before (seatbelts, airbags, brakes, crush zones, etc.). Most of that came about because of litigation from accidents and thru government legislation and consumer demand.

If a vehicle is properly operated according to the law, it is about as safe as you can get. If you don't operate it properly, you should be caught by the police and taken off the road until you can comply with the laws.

Tobacco, on the other hand, cannot be made safe and innocuous without causing addicted smokers to suffer from the DTs. At this point, about all that can be done is to keep it out of the hands of our youth and to stop the advertising tobacco companies do.

Think about the ads for a moment. Do you really think they are for present smokers? Do smokers switch brands THAT often? I don't think so.

I'd also like to see smokers pay their fair share for the strain they are putting on our health care system. Why should a non-smoker in good health pay the same health insurance premiums a smoker pays? If smokers should take responsibility for themselves, then they should be responsible for the increase in health care costs they may require in the future.

Gopher,

You're talking about the prohibition of alcohol. Well, the difference between alcohol and tobacco are like night and day. When alcohol is used in moderation, one or two drinks a day, it can actually be beneficial for your health, so long as you don't imbibe and drive or operate equipment. Tobacco, on the other hand when used as it's designed is addictive and destructive. Of course, when alcohol is abused, we run into problems especially when we're talking about driving under the influence. I read that fewer people are driving drunk these days and why is that? It's because of laws and litigation. Drunk drivers are forced to pay for their poor judgment. More and more people are thinking twice before driving drunk.

I had a single Coors Light at a friend's house this afternoon and I drove 2 hours later. When I was in college, I drove drunk numerous times. We even drank while we drove. It wasn't illegal to drink and drive back then. As drunk driving laws got tougher and enforcement got better, I stopped driving drunk. Same thing should happen with tobacco. Make it tougher to get. Make it hurt financially. Fewer people will start smoking and maybe even cause many to quit smoking.

Yeah, I'm very passionate about this. How can I not be after taking care of somebody for 8 years and watching that person die right before my eyes 24 hours after going into a coma caused by the shutdown of various organs.

Smoking is an insidious form of suicide. I've seen it first hand.

 

Almost 2 months since I quit, still have bad cravings, getting less frequent though. Biggest reason I quit? Not health and not expense. I just got tired of being treated like a godda*mn 2nd class citizen, smokers have rights too and in alot of situations they are being violated.

Now for smokers paying their share of health issues, I believe smokers pay more for health and life insurance than non-smokers. The government makes plenty of cash off of the taxes they impose on tobacco and in my opinion that should go to the health care system.

The lawsuit will be reduced, it would be very unhealthy for the economy if all of the cigarette companies folded at once. Not to mention how many politicians line their pockets with tobacco money.

In the future smoking will be illegal along with many other things we take for granted (read enjoy your internal combustion engine while you can).

[This message has been edited by 2000Lariat (edited 07-17-2000).]

 

I find the day and nite thing a crap, have you heard of liver descease caused by drinking alcohol, oh! the drinkers are going to jump at me and defend alcohol, just drink it moderately, oh yeah try it every day for 32 years and you will have the same problem as tobacco, you will have tax payers pay your error, in France they have come up with red wine is good for preventing heart attack, now those that love to drink find an excuse to drink more, aspirin do too, but who wants to take a tablet a day, and they cause ulcers.
Have you ever tried this, pour some Coca Cola on side walk or garage floor especialy if its dirty and let stand for a while you see it get clean, no scrubbing at all, so imagine what a coke is doing to your stomach and liver and kidneys.
What about coffee, in the morning one cup an eye opener two cups ready to go three cups and boy I am flying,drink it in excess and and you get high blood presure.

so my question, whats good for you, drink water, eat vegetables no red meat, poultry are fed with ormones to grow and bad for your health, so whats safe in this society for your health.

 

Let's cut to the chase. Smokers are upset about this lawsuit mainly for ONE REASON: cigarette prices are about to skyrocket. Personally, I am glad...it will make stopping and buying that pack of cigarettes even less attractive to me.

Tamster
One week, 8 hours, 3 minutes and 11 seconds. 220 cigarettes not smoked

 

I just saw on the news this am. It could take decades until anyone sees any money from tobacco companies. The appeals process could take that long, 20+yrs.

I see so many of you have recently quit. Maybe it will be a good time for me to quit too. I think I will get some gum and give it another shot. I stil think the lawsuit is dead wrong. If folks really want to eliminate smoking. Post blackened lung pictures in every public smoking area or pics of burning money. Eventually, it would work on it's own and not be so irresponsible.

Oh BTW, fellow truck lovers, it's only a matter of time before the tree-huggers get upset about our big fancy trucks running over Geos and taking up two spaces at the local grocery. Get ready for a similar rally in the next five years to eliminate trucks and SUVs as daily drivers. It will happen, I promise. Some sort of unreasonable tax, a plethora of unfair lawsuits, and any other means to eliminate fine vehicles such as the SuperCrew. It's only a matter of time before somebody decides that they are inconvenient, guzzle gas, and are unsafe for those that tailgate. Then we'll sit around and let them get stripped away. Meanwhile, a handful of morons will get some satisfaction knowing that Ford will get what's coming to them for making such vehicles. I guess a few more of us will walk with a limp then huh?

It's the principle of the whole thing. Anybody ever read "1984"?

Big brother is watching you!

 

The ruling is totally absurd and yes people should take responsibility for their own actions. I'm sorry for anyone who has lost a friend or loved one to lung cancer but not any more than I am for those who lost friends and loved ones period.

The biggest thing that pisses me off about this whole issue is that everyone seems intent on doing away with the tabacco companies all at once. I wish they would load up these knee-jerk liberals in a bus and drive them through Kentucky, North Carolina, Tennesse, etc., where you can't drive 1/2 mile outside of a city without seeing someone raising tobacco, and explain to me what those people are supposed to do now. Start growing corn? Yeah, that would be great. Try to grow enough corn to compete with the financial impact of just one acre of tobacco and drive the price of corn to the basement and make farmers in the Mid-west poor too. Or better yet, the hippie solution, "Grow, hemp man." I'm sorry but the world only needs so much rope.

I know treating lung cancer cost us money but so does treating AIDS patients. Are we going to ban sex? If you're going to punish smokers for using a harmful product then people who have permiscous sexual relations should also be treated as second class citizens. No, wait, that would be discrimination and we can't have that now can we.

America is a free country and people can make there own decisions. Anyone who thinks this will end with tobacco is dead wrong. We are already are in a fight to keep our guns. Give me one good reason why alcohol isn't next. Who knows after that, "All those F-150's sure do burn allot of gas and could really hurt another driver in an accident. . ."

I smoked for two years and one day I decided I didn't want to smoke anymore so I quit. I know this doesn't compare to quiting after 30 years but if you want to quit, REALLY want to quit it can be done (and it can be done now with help, unlike the old days). That doesn't mean it's easy but the smoker made the decision and it's one that he/she has to live with.

Anyone trying to quit I commend you and say good luck and God bless.

 

I agree that people have to start taking responsibility for their own actions and that this suite is absolutely absurd. This judgement does nothing for the hundreds of smokers it represents. I remember getting a check for 27 cents from an insurance due to some class action law suit. It cost more to mail it to me than I got and I wonder how much the lawers got for their efforts?

If this judgment does cripple the smoking industry, people are not going to quit, but Organized crime will sure benefit from the Black market I'm sure.

Wait, I have high blood pressure and we all know cholesterol leads to this and I like eggs. So I think the chicken farmers owe me something for continuing to produce and sell eggs when they know cholestoral is bad for me.

You know if we couldn't drive over 15 miles per hour, there would be a dramatic decreas in automobile casualties. Let's govern all the vehicles where they can't go any faster than 15.

And we could continue.....Red Meat, Alcohol, all non organically grown vegatables, any foods containing sodium....etc...etc...ect.

You have to have laws to protect people from others and from themselves to some degree, but a little common sence has to be used. Sure saccharin caused cancer in lab rats, but a human being would have to drink 300 cans of diet soda a day for 30 years to emulate the dosage and poportions that were required to produce these results in rats.

So whats next, do we sue the alcohol manufactures becase a underage collegs student dies from alcohol poisoning during a binge drinking party night, or because one of his budies who had too much to drink and killed an innocent person in an alcohol related car crash. Or maybe the relatives of all the people who were killed by drunk drivers should sue the automobile industry for not making their cars unable to be driven by someone who was intoxicated.

Any way you look at it, there is no easy solution, but the people who are not abusing thier rights should not be denied them because of the few that are irresponsible and abuse their priveledges.

 

Tamster: I was going to post something but thought it would take too long to explani -- but your timetable makes it easy.

The last time I quit, I kept cigarettes handy -- but noted after the first day that if I smoked today, it would take me a whole day of not smoking to say that I haven't smoked for a day. Afte a week, if I smoked to day, it would take me another week of not smoking before I could say I haven't smoked for a week -- etc.. Before long, it got to be pretty compelling.

Keep it up!

 

Well here is my two cents;

Here in NC they grow nothing but fields and fields of this Cancer
causing tobacco. You should all visit your local hospitals to see
what I have seen. The people walking around connected to infusion pumps
or laying on their death beds with tubes coming out of their bodies. A
good portion of these Cancer Lung and Brain tumor cases are due to the
smoking of this useless crop, which has no value whatsoever to soceity.
Except to make the Tobacco Companies and Cancer Drug Companies wealthy
with Chemo being dispensed daily to keep someone existing in a shell of
themselves. This is not living, does anyone want to go through this?
DONT SMOKE STAY ALIVE..BAN TOBAC EEEE!!!

Lets hear it for a useful Crop, did you ever hear of anyone dying from
growing corn, rice,
peaches, plums..you get the point. Why waste the land on growing
something that is truly a known Cancer causing substance. Check the
obituaries in your local newspaper and you will see people dying of
tobacco related deaths everyday.

They should be sued out of existence for covering the fact they knew it
was dangerous for years and pushing this drug with full
knowledge it was lethal..to the teenage market to get them hooked at an
early age, so that they could be lying in their deaths beds later on in
life.

TOBACCO = CANCER = A SLOW AGONIZING PAINFUL DEATH!!!! SMOKE AT YOUR OWN
RISK!!! BEWARE!!!




------------------
99 F150 SC,5.4L,4x4 ORP,TTP,Gibson Single Side Cat-Back Exhaust System,Airaid,Duraliner Bedliner,Lund Bug Deflector Shield, SmittyBilt Outland Sport Bumper Guard in SS,A.R.E. Cab High Bed Cap,Valentine Radar Detector,ICOM 2M/70CM Ham Radio,R.F.Concepts Linear Amplifier,2watts in,170 watts out,Diamond SG Series Dual Band Antenna.

 

I don't smoke. I hate cig smoke, and I don't agree with the verdict. When will people take responsibility for their own actions? Not until the scum lawyers quit filing class action suits for a million people they never met. You can bet right now there is a greedy, money hungry, scumbag lawyer scheming a class action suit against Ford for all the millions of people who ever coughed because of emissions from the inefficient F-150's out there. In return for their effort, they'll charge Ford $1000 and hour for suing them.

The tobacco companies should spin off their other products, tell the states to F.O., move to Mexico and let the illegal aliens distribute their product. Since most of the price of a box of smokes is taxes, they could probably remain profitable.

I hate cigs and smoke, but as long as you don't blow your smoke on me and throw your butts in my yard, I won't spill my beer on you and throw my bottles in yours.

------------------
1998 F-150 SC 4X4, 5.4, ORP, Red clearcoat, K&N, Chrome push guard, roll bar & tube side steps, Smoke bug guard and tail light covers, Black bed mat & Ford mud flaps.
www.wrtc.com/oldbook/Truck5.jpg

 

I am a non-smoker and I think that this verdict is absolutly absurd. When will individuals begin to take responsibility for their own actions? Also how many lawsuits have been brought before the alcohol producing companies for the number of liver transplants made or the number of drunk drivng victims? I am tired of paying for every one elses mistakes. It is time for the government to stop spending money on these types of habit related health problems and aim their ambition to cleaning this country up. I am tired of paying for dying smokers, women with 12 kids on welfare and above all the stupidity of others. The irresponsibilty and laziness of individuals is the cancer of our society.


Snow white

 

Actually, if you don't abuse alcohol, it's okay to drink. Again one or two drinks a day will probably not cause any problems.

As far as liver transplants go, I don't believe a whole lot of them, are being done for alcoholics. Most of the liver transplants that I have heard of have been for people who suffered liver failure due to various diseases such as hepatitis.

The reason Coke can clean things are two-fold. Maybe three-fold. Coke has phosphoric and citric (I believe, I don't have a can handy to check) acids. It's also carbonated, so it has carbonic acid in it too. The acids in Coke don't affect your stomach in the way you fear. Your stomach is an acid factory in itself. The acid breaks down the foods we eat. The acids in Coke are weak.

Tobacco is one item where it's almost impossible for a person to use in levels that doesn't cause harm to their bodies. It's also something that tends to addict the vast majority of those who use it.

The real problem is how stop new smokers. How do you keep kids from starting? Parents need to set the example for their kids. If smokers don't want their kids to smoke, they should do everything in their power to quit. Tobacco companies must stop advertising. Tobacco advertising is designed to get new smokers to choose their products. Tobacco advertising should be banned from sports events. BTW, when I say ban, I'm actually saying it should be phased out over a period of time. The shock of losing advertising dollars all at once will be devastating to a lot of people, most notably, sporting events.

Seacrow, the hog farm is an excellent example to use. I'm only talking about the odor from it. Of course there are zoning laws to prevent a hog farm from moving next door to you, as you say. Well, that's just my point. Laws are there to keep you from suffering through all the stink and noise from that hog farm. It protects you from it. What's the difference between that and a law that says people can't smoke indoors?

Health insurance premiums for smokers and non-smokers are the same, especially if your insurance is a benefit provided by your employer like most health insurance is these days. They make no distinction. Life insurance on the other hand makes a distinction. They expect a smoker to die earlier, so the premiums will have to be higher. Since most Americans are non-smokers, it's them who are footing the majority of the bill for the smokers. That's how insurance works. It really stinks for people who don't smoke. In more ways than one.

Oh well. Thanks for the stimulating discussion. I hope my views have put a different perspective on smoking that you may not have thought about.

To all those who have quit. My heartiest congratulations. You are all winners in my book. I know it was hard to do, but I think you will realize that it was worth the effort.

Oh, forgot. Look for legislation in the future regarding smoking in mulitlevel residences. We're seeing more and more complaints about smoke wafting up into apartments and condos of non-smokers from smokers' apartments on lower floors.

 

Y2K 7700: Thanks! That is very useful advice.

For everyone else...saw this and thought it was funny.



Tam