Secondhand Smoke

[ysabetwordsmith]

 ... may cause behavior problems in children.  Some people have allergies to tobacco; if nothing else, children may act up because the smoke makes them miserable.  

Also it does not help to know adults around you are unwilling or unable to stop putting your life at risk.  That starting bugging me when I was, hmm, four or five?  It'd take longer for most kids, but at least some of them will notice that.

Comments

[cmcmck]

You know what drives me nuts?

When you see parents with little ones in a buggy and the two of them are leaning over the child with fags hanging from their mouths.

Gah! What possesses them?

Well...

[ysabetwordsmith]

Addiction. Nicotine is among the very hardest drugs to quit permanently, along with things like heroin.

Re: Well...

[cmcmck]

I know it as I'll admit to being an ex smoker although I stopped well over thirty years back.

[red_trillium]

I think the hardest thing for me to accept is that while a smoker knows it's bad for their health & don't care, many don't seem to care that it's bad for those around them. If smoking was a vice like drinking alcohol I'd be more happy to accept the "Right To Smoke" argument--ie ok in moderation, don't do something that gets someone killed, etc. But smoking impacts other people. I can't take a nice walk at work (in the central business district) because I get innundated with second hand smoke. When I go out into my garden someone is outside near us (not sure where) smoking. I sometimes get whiffs of smoke at work---and I'm on the 14th floor of an airconditioned unit. It's from people smoking next to the intake (wherever that is!) I am looking forward to our Relay for Life--- one of the only smoke free events I know I can go to and yes, there might be people smoking in the parking lot but the main event I will be able to breathe.

I do know smokers and I know ones who are happy to move or to try to prevent their smoking from affecting others. But there are ones who don't care and if you were to politely ask them to move or to stop they give you grief. The city council was thinking of banning smoking in the city sidewalks and putting up dedicated "smoke here" spaces or "no smoking" signs. Some of the feedback in the press from smokers said they'd go stand right next to one of the signs and smoke for the hell of it. Answers like that make me want to load up on beans, dried fruit & sourkraut and create my own version of chemical revenge.

I understand it's hard to quit--my mom did it after 30 years of smoking. My team leader and a coworker are trying to quit. It isn't easy and I respect people who try and who do think of the consequences.

Thoughts

[ysabetwordsmith]

>> I think the hardest thing for me to accept is that while a smoker knows it's bad for their health & don't care, many don't seem to care that it's bad for those around them. <<

Some do, some don't. I have no problem with smokers who keep their business away from nonconsenting bystanders. I resent people using smokers as a way to break down individual rights. A smoking-only bar or other establishment harms nobody, because there are other nonsmoking places people can go. It would be a great deal more honest just to outlaw smoking, but people won't do that because there's so much money in it. Besides, I feel that people should be free to make their own choices.

I only get hostile about the issue when smokers get their smoke on other people who don't want it. That's not okay.

>>It isn't easy and I respect people who try and who do think of the consequences.<<

Agreed.

[fayanora.livejournal.com]

I have long thought that smoking around children should be considered child abuse.