(16-11-2011, 10:04)wife4rent Wrote: With another attack on the smoker this morning, what do you think about smoking?
Do you smoke?
If so what made you start?
Do you want to give up?
How do you feel about people that smoke?
How do you feel about the persecution of smokers by some?
I do not smoke never have nor would I start, I do understand that it can be an addiction, so can be hard for people to give up.
Personally I am glad of the smoking ban in pubs etc. the air is cleaner and your clothes do not carry the smell of other people smoking
Smokers can be inconsiderate, they are often seen walking around in crowded streets waving their cigarette around and even holding them low which can result in harm to children passing by. Clothes are often burnt by other peoples cigarettes.
Smokers cost the NHS a fortune, true, but I am sure that if you were a business and took the income from the tax on smokers and deducted the cost of NHS treatment you would probably be in profit.
Just to get the topic going...
Sarah
Hi Sarah
Interesting topic!
I suppose I started smoking because at the time nearly all male role models did. James Bond certainly did, and he got all the fast cars, beautiful women and travel to exotic locations. Never once saw him coughing his guts up after a heavy night or a girl refusing to kiss him 'cos he tasted like an ashtray!
People that have never smoked cannot know how addictive it is and how difficult it is to give up. I speak from some experience having been a heavy (40+ per day) smoker, given it up for six years, started again, and now I've given it up again - I hope for good.
I try hard not to be a self-righteous born again non-smoker, but it is difficult as I know that I'm basically a nicotine addict and always will be, so I do try to avoid being in places where people are smoking, and I don't like people smoking around me.
I was probably very inconsiderate myself when I smoked, but in my view this is simply a symptom of the addiction. As with most addicts, like druggies and alcoholics, consideration for others is secondary to the need to satisfy the addiction. This does not mean that smokers are necessarily bad people.
I travel abroad a lot and I hate visiting countries where smoking is allowed as it just takes me back to the "bad old days" when my clothing permanently smelt of cigarette smoke. Now it only smells of stale sweat and splatters of curry!
The government attitude to smokers I find pretty distasteful. It seems that they don't mind receiving all the tax revenue, but then treat smokers as second-class citizens. I never tried getting any NHS help to give up as I always felt that I would end up being patronised by some "health professional" who had never smoked and therefore had absolutely no concept of the difficulties involved.
I know that when I smoked, most of the time I really didn't want to, and I suspect that if most smokers were entirely honest, they would say the same.