Life to be more difficult for smokers.

surely the common sense thing is for all the pro-smokers to go to town on it, fill ur boots. You’ll get sick and stay home, making all the non-smoker happier. Hey, I should run for the Legislative Assembly, this is easy!

That could be like shooting a person as a means to stop them attempting suicide. An interesting concept, not sure if it passes the common sense test though.

If someone is doing something likely to kill them, should it be less illegal to shoot them?

5)Smoke enough and it will supress your apetite, and you will not be morbidly obese and a smoker, therefore cutting your health expenditure to th epublic system in half 🙂 (In jest people… not serious…)

6) Its cool and chicks dig a guy in blue jeans white bonds shirt motorcycle boots and a smoke in his mouth ( was the case for me 😛 )

7)Smoking was thecatalyst I needed to imprving my health.

Haha, this is good going. I was just making a banal gag for the 100th post in this thread.

pro-smokers list;
4.) The associated weight loss with any cancer, you may or may get by smoking will make it easier for you fat bastards to lose weight, rather than doing all that annoying excercise.

Pro-smokers list;
3.) Its legal.

Just proving I’m able to sit on both sides of the fence.

pro-smokers list;
2.) quitting smoking will make all the do-good wankers out feel as though they have won an important victory, rather than realising that like a four yeard old, whining about something wont get you nayhwere.

WMD – because, as has been previously stated umpteen times already, its not all about you getting cancer, its everybody else you are exposing that is the problem, and your eventual load on the health system that we will most probably be paying for.

I don’t think its just your responses that are a little slow.

66. I’d like to see the Government and Tobacco Companies go into spin-mode-caniptions if everybody just suddenly quit, all at once, just like that.

Davo…you should probably wash your jacket after a night out with the boys anyway. Beer spills.

Here’s my little pro-smokers list.

1) I’m getting cancer. Why is that your problem?

(Responses may be a bit slow. I’m at a library during my break and I’ll be sneaking comments in during class. Shhhhhhh! And Telstra are a bunch of assholes, so I have no net at home.)

Drugs are bad mmkay

60. If no-one smoked then obnoxious ads like the “no, garry, no” and the graphic portrayal of the crap in a smokers lung would not pollute our screens.
61.Garden beds outside shops, eateries, workplaces would contain living plants, not masses of nicotine soaked butts (I wonder if plants can become addicted)
62. Non-smoking malnourished alto-lacto-fruitarian-vego-nazis would not be able to feel smugly superior and tell you that smoking will kill you
63. Everyone quitting smoking at once would deny the Gubmint of a major funding source, so it’s kind of like anarchy on a restriced scale.
64. Your lungs will thank you by not popping out into your cornflakes during an early morning hack session.
65. A few weeks after quitting you will be able to “stop and smell the roses” after your sense of smell returns.

I do know how smokers feel, being an ex-smoker myself – Dylan Moran in Black Books summed it up with the line:
“You know, just sometimes, in between the first cigarette with coffee in the morning to that four hundredth glass of cornershop piss at 3am, you do sometimes look at yourself and think… This is fantastic”
Ahhh, to be back at uni again….

Anyone coming outside for a ciggie?

Don’t play that bullshit with me Thumper. The taxes received by smokers only subsidise the treatment, not pay for it entirely.

Here’s a strong one though.

59. Cigarettes sicken and kill people when used as intended.

47. They are slow to kill but the statistics state that one out of every five deaths is caused by a smoking related illness, and smoking is also the number one preventable cause of premature death
48. Smoke from cigarettes contains over 4000 chemicals that some one would never dream of putting in his or her mouth in any other case.
49. Poisons such as cyanide, arsenic and formaldehyde lie within the paper-thin walls of the very cigarette that will be in someone’s mouth.
50. There are also forty-three cancer-causing chemicals in tobacco.
51. A majority of lung cancer deaths are caused by something as pointless as smoking (Larson 517)
52. Smokers harm those that are around them. Cigarette second-hand smoke contains twice the tar and nicotine as the smoker inhales from the filtered cigarette.
53. Though a person who’s only around second hand smoke has a significantly reduced risk of developing cancer when compared to a smoker, there is a reason why that person does not smoke
54. Oxygen carrying red blood cells will allow carbon monoxide to bond to them as though it was oxygen. Carbon monoxide is of no use to the body, and because it takes the place of oxygen, it robs the body of oxygen (Larson 520)
55. Ironically, cigarette companies may often advertise smoking as an outdoor activity. They will show people backpacking or jogging, activities that require use of the lungs, heart and blood cells (Roleff 71). All of which are negatively affected by the smoking habit.
56. smoking can accelerate the development of wrinkles because carbon monoxide deprives the body of oxygen, including the skin.
57. Smoking is not only a burden on the smoker’s health but is also a burden on others. The only up (if it can be considered an up) is that smoking provides a form of population control.
58. The only problem with this is that smokers not only waste their money, but also the Government expends lots of money in health care expenses for tobacco related diseases (Larson 517).

Addicts of any kind do not care about others.

There is only one reason, but most smokers won’t listen.

1. You will die from cancer if you smoke.

Plenty of people die from cancers they have no control over and smokers willingly do it do themselves and spend tens of thousands of dollars doing it over their lifetime, then my taxes have to help pay for their health care when said cancer and dying rear their ugly head. It just seems stupid, smoking doesn’t even get you high. I’d rather have a joint personally, but thats just me.

36. your kids get in trouble for smelling like they’ve been smoking, even though their only 7
37. waking up the family coughing all night.
38. Lung cancer
39. secondary Brain Tumors
40. the cost of funerals
41. yellow fingers
42 the cost of tobacco
43. all the little burn marks in your cloths from dropping hot ash
44. all the little burn marks in your car seats from dropping hot ash
45. burning your house down from smoking in bed
46. you’re house most likely stinks

I can keep going but this is making me sick…

Come on neanderthalsis, get some more up there! Cant let the smokers win- hopefully they will run out of puff soon.

then you can have daddy smoker, mummy smoker and all the little baby smokers. The pitter patter of little feet will become the “gasp and hack” of little lungs ;P

31. You’ve wasted healthy harolds time and effort by taking up smoking
32. You’ve cost the government more money – and then you’ll be annoyed when we get taxed more.
33. You’re getting ripped off by buying cigarettes
34. That cost affects your lifestyle(well obviously not everyone, but i see people in my store ‘praying’ that they have enough money to pay for the cigarettes.
35. Money saved by not smoking could be spent on the family/happy times (oh happy days)

27. Its considered (on the most part) an unnattractive thing to do (i.e. turn off)
28. Sets a bad example for kids who have been told not to smoke, or even think about it.
29. People cringe because you are causing another unecessary burden on the health system
30. The smoke blows into the building affecting the poeple who were trying to escape from the smokers

-only 70 to go 🙂

74 to go 😉

i’ll keep the ball rolling

11. Everyone around you has to have a shower and wash every item of clothing thoroughly because of you
12. The idea of sitting outside – for fresh air – is ruined.
13. Your view of your girlfriend is distorted by the “smoke screen”
14. People who are sensitive to smoke either cough or are forced to leave the area
15. Ash, and dirty ash trays litter the tables, food, and clothing.
16. The ground is littered with stamped out butts
17. The (once was very nice) garden beds are a new bin for butts.
18. Smokers breath is foul, and its hard to concentrate when you’ve got that breath in your face
19. Your smile – Yellow/stained teeth are unsightly
20. The tables/chairs etc have burn marks
21. Secondary smoke – possible health risks for other people
22. Continuing from secondary smoke – The unknown affect of many chemicals exposed to many people (and yourself) from the 300 chemicals in cigarettes.
23. The other 30 people around you share the same dislike of smoking
24. My eyes sting when exposed to direct cigarette smoke.
25. I always want to spew when people try and shake my hand with dirty brown cigarette stained fingers. (i’ve seen worth than the pic on the back of the cig. packet)
26. Pregnant mums, or newborns cannot sit anywhere near you

I can think of 100 reasons why smokers should have to butt out at outside dining areas.

List em 😉

I’ll start:
1. The malodourous billowing smoke destroys the wondrous aroma of a medium rare porterhouse.
2. It’s antisocial
3. Sitting in a cloud of smoke tends to upset the fellow punters
4. Your eyes feel gritty the next morning after a night in a smoke filled environment
5. many smokers (especially the ones with white ox or drum rollies)tend to smell like a cross between a cesspit at the back of a tallow rendering factory and the rotting carcas of a Botswanan bare-arsed baboon
6. Sticking something in your mouth and setting fire to it seems to be a silly thing to do when you think about it
7. no woman looks graceful when smoking unless she’s Audrey Hepburn or Audrey Tautou
8. No man looks distinguished when smoking unless he is Humphrey Bogart or Errol Flynn
9. Smoking and drinking absinthe is not a good mix
10. Cigars are only ever acceptable when with the port after a good meal.

Smokers are welcome to continue to contribute to achieving a budget surplus through the bloody exorbitant taxes they pay on them, without smokers, pokies and fuel taxes we probably would not enjoy the benefits of a health system.

I don’t care if you smoke, just not near people trying to eat. Rather poor form that.

When I used to smoke and people told me that smoking was bad for my health I used to retort with “You telling me that smoking is bad for my health is bad for your health”.

Ex smokers are anti smoking nazi for the most part. Somehow I fell outside of that circle.

Unless its to a HUGE detriment – live and let live… I mean who would have taken a job in a pub thinking that they WOULD NOT be exposed to 2nd hand smoke ?

I can think of 100 reasons why smokers should have to butt out at outside dining areas.

Well i dont wash a jacket after one night out ‘with the boys’. Especially if its just for a quiet drink. As for shirts, underwear etc, yes of course.

You guys can smoke, but it just pis$es me off when they find away to smoke ontop of you when you have gone out of your way to stay away from them. At least you seem to be a bit more sympathetic to other people’s feelings. So thanks for that.

Davo, you should be washing your clothes after you’ve worn them.

I must say, as a smoker, I do try to move away from non-smokers, but in beer-gardens, well, it’s not like pubs are supposed to be healthy places anyway.

Tobacco is a both a massive health and social problem, and conversly a source of income the government cannot give up.

Someone has to decide if the benefits outweigh the disadvantages. It’s a pipe dream to find a middle path.

The benefits of smoking are non-existant!

May we be blessed with a Government who will grasp the nettle and start a full public discussion of the subject.

As an ex heavy smoker, unable to condemn current practitioners, I don’t believe the downside of disappearing tobacco would ammount to much more than compensating tobacconists for loss of trade. My local guy already has a number of back-up products.

A huge step, but logical!

It just smells like sh!t, and that’s all it comes down to. Standing next to a car won’t force you to wash your clothes, but standing next to a smoker will. It’s a disgusting and expensive habit, and it costs heaps of money that is an unnecessary on the health care system. It’s not just a coincidence that cigarettes have a massive tax imposed on them

You can’t walk into Belconnen mall without going through a haze of smoke at every entrance.

I had a guy throw a punch at me because after I requested he stop smoking right next to the no smoking sign and blowing smoke in my face and he told me to f*&k off. I asked again politely and he tried the right hook to the head. Some people are so rude.

Addictive personalities – just weak minded people really.

working some years back at sunny belconnen, the entrance to the mall from work was at the back, by the bridge over the car park. the bridge joins a long kind of balcony thing, all the way from the door to the end of the building. but where did the smokers congregate to blow their filthy refuse into the airspace? the other side of the bridge, away from where everyone who cam e across had to pas through, or right by the doors? go on, guess…

lazy fickin’ lowlife scum with faeces for brains. i don;’t mind smokers, it is the arrogant lazy farkheads who piss me off…

rant expires.

nyssa76 – I agree with you, Smokers who find their own area to smoke in should be left alone to do their thing, as long as it isn’t in an area where people generally eat or play. I generally avoid smokers areas…. no need for anybody to complain then!

justabands, now you all can’t say “it makes the air bad” when there are other things far worse that do it at a quicker pace.

And no we don’t need cars, we choose to have them. They’re destroying the environment on a global scale.

People choose to smoke. They destroy their personal environment and those close to them.

We can all sit here on our soap boxes, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s insignificant. Don’t talk about polluting the air unless you’re prepared to look outside the square.

Berraboy, most smokers do move away. Some don’t. Then you get those idiots who see a person smoking, sit near them and complain – despite the fact that the smoker moved away from others for the same reason you are stating.

Oh, and I don’t smoke anymore. Isn’t there the saying that ex-smokers are the worst anti-smoking bastards? Funny, I’m not.

Hear hear. I would regularly drink till I passed out, except Mrs ‘I am the responsible one’ Mælinar keeps stopping me.

Everything else is cool though 🙂

Nyssa76 – yep, exhaust sure is bad, it killed my brother 25 years ago in an accident. However, it has to be incredibly concentrated (like running an engine in an enclosed room) to do you any real harm such as killing you.

Legality aside, smokers know it’s incredibly bad for them but they still do it. Strangely though they (generally) don’t continue this into other every day behavior, e.g. drinking till you pass out is legal too but who does that everyday?

I grew up in a house where both my parents smoked since I was a kid. I was always being accused of having smoked on the way to school as my uniform reeked of smoke. Why would anybody want to put up with that if they didn’t have to? Now, I’m an adult I keep my house smoke free. My kids really notice the “horrible smell” when they go to their grandparents place.

That said, I generally do feel sorry for my folks, (well… my mum anyway as my died died from lung cancer two years ago) as smoking is legal. That still doesn’t make it a smart thing to do and I would still rather they be around to see their grandkids grow up.

The question to my mind on this topic is “why should your right to smoke a legal substance outweigh my right not to be exposed to your smoke?” Al teh Gov’t is saying is ‘smoke em if you want, just not around those that don’t want it around them’.

Other than that, I naturally respect your right to smoke anywhere else you like.

> Car exhaust is far worse.

Sure, car exhaust isn’t good for you either…but cars actually serve a useful purpose. In fact, we’d be hard pressed to live without them the way we exist at the moment. Cigarettes do nothing of any good for anyone.

I hope they exyend the bans to all outdoor areas at bars and cafes. maybe smokers should have to cross the road so we can sit and laugh at the retards as we enjoy our beer!

Our air hasn’t been clean since the Industrial Revolution, so get off your high horse.

Car exhaust is far worse.

Damn, mucked up the “bold” marker. Sorry.

Rotten egg gas is dihydrogen sulphide.

Benzene is emitted by both car exhaust and cigarettes!

http://www.npi.gov.au/database/substance-info/profiles/12.html

A little knowledge of chemistry, and internet research goes a long way.

This debate boils down to a clash of rights – does my right to breathe clean air exceed your right to pollute my clean air? Of course it does. Case closed.

Thumper – “When you start it up that rotten egg smell is benzine, guaranteed to give you cancer much quicker than smoking does.”

I can’t smell any rotten egg gas at all when I am *inside* mu car. The exhaust gas is driven to the rear of the vehicle, and the air intake for the car is at the front – As long as I am moving (and, believe me, I *move*, it is all ok.)

I understand you may want to die, but you should seriously consider removing the hose connecting the exhaust from the cabin in your car.

Special G, I no longer smoke, or don’t you pay attention? It would have been a half decent comment if it had any factual basis. Keep on trying though.

Mael, it could have been that I now ‘flit’ between this site from time to time and don’t comment on everything.

Nyssa out there protecting your addiction again. Think of this – quit smoking and you will be able to afford a house.

It’s that simple. Stop your whinging.

Oh – the rotten egg smell is sulfur too, although I still prefer the traditional method of spelling it, sulphur.

Nyssa – the prevalence of people walking around spraying deodorant is significantly smaller than the amount of people walking around smoking, so much that I would rate the contact level at irrelevant. This is not saying that you have a genuine condition that is affected by deodorants etc, but I’m sure it doesn’t stop you going to the mall whenever you need supplies.

I’ve also mentioned a number of times previously that a few people at a few malls around Canberra could use a bit of deodorant to make the general public ambience a little better and you’ve never mentioned anything.

Thumper – Most of the time you are not standing at the exhaust pipe end of a car when you start it, you are inside behind the wheel with the door closed. Given I agree with you that this is not always the case, a vehicle has been designed with these safety concerns in mind, and should be used in this way.

Just curbing the insanity…

Oh those bad smokers, what shall we do with them? They pay a fortune for the pleasure but are still crapped on by self-righteous do-gooders.

VicePope, it’s our own vanity that causes us to use deodorants and perfumes like Impulse and Lynx. Hypoallergic deodorant does the job just as well. Lush cosmetics even makes a deodorant bar.

Smokers aren’t as bad as the exhaust from a car so quit with the melodramatic rant, or better yet, go and stand on Northbourne Ave (near Dickson) at peak hour and suck it all in.

minime, I’ll remember that the next time my lips turn blue and I’m struggling for air.

Dacquiri – in a sane world (assuming I have any idea what one would look like), smoking would be consigned to the same place as spitting and injecting. If you want to do it at home – do so, and let your house and clothes stink, your lungs collapse and your limbs turn into gangrenous stumps. But keep it out of everyone else’s face.

A friend mentioned that some young women smoke as a means of curbing appetite, so they can remain slim. This is a bit like tanning (with added melanoma), except that the person also gets to be stinky on the way. Has anyone else heard this idea?

Those hundreds of single woman who smoke … have you had the ‘pleasure’ of getting close to one after she had a smoke AND she is wearing perfume. Some kind of adverse analphylaxick reaction there. They smell – if possible – even worse! Therefore: no wonder they are single. But, in balance, the rate of lesbianism is on the increase.

Nyssa – and my point was that there was at least some reason for perfumes and deodorants. People want to smell better than nature intended, so that they do not offend the noses of others. Some of them do this with less reserve and discretion than others, and it inadvertently causes discomfort to some others.

(There are people who develop asthma or anaphylaxis or whatever from a whole range of causes. Peanut exposure is a good example. Common sense, respect for others and courtesy say you do not knowingly subject such a person to an avoidable risk, but that it is still ok to eat peanuts and shellfish etc unless there is known to be a risk to someone).

Smoking, on the other hand, is the useless production of a stinking substance because the smoker is addicted, notwithstanding the offence caused to others. And, while possible, it would be difficult to die of exposure to Brut 33 or Lynx – whereas there is no serious argument that passive smoking does not cause cancer in some of those unfortunate enough to be exposed to it.

VicePope, my point being, you can still spray it in a public place and I will react.

So should they all be banned? No.

It’s called dealing with life.

I’ll let Tom-Tom respond, but throw in a bit in support (he was kind enough to support me a while ago).

Anyone who sprays flyspray etc in a public place is, perhaps, a bit weird. But there’s a point to fly spray, and to deodorant and to perfume, if one shares with me the aroma of the bat cave of Doom. They are done, broadly, for the benefit of those with whom one interacts. (That said, some overdo the perfume and deodorant until they learn to get it right – I think you’re a teacher, so you would have seen a bit of the experimental phase).

Smoking has no such redemption attached – it is a filthy, stinking thing done by filthy, stinking addicts. In my distant youth, some time after the invention of steam power, a man in Sydney achieved brief fame for attacking a smoker with a water pistol on the (just possibly disingenuous) basis that he thought he was on fire and needed to be extinguished.

So by your own definition, I should be able to have people done for assault when they spray deodorant, fly spray, perfume etc?

See, that actually gives me a severe asthma attack and has almost killed me several times.

Perhaps they too should be banned? Or should I walk around swinging a cricket bat too?

I reckon that anyone who chooses to smoke in public, an act which they know is likely to endanger the health of those around them should be done for assault, If I chose to walk through a crowd swinging a cricket bat, knowing it would endanger the health around me I’d be done for assault, what’s the difference between that and smoking?

Minime2 – your circle of acquaintance is obviously wider than mine. It includes single females – though I have noted that smoking as become more a female pursuit over the years (as well as diving down the social class demographics).

I can’t imagine anything worse than getting up close to someone who stinks of tobacco smoke. Possibly a vomity drunk – but that would be exploitative and wrong.

Read a news story recently about all the unmarried and not-in-a-relationship females about. Hundreds if not thousands in canberra. Maybe its because they smell of tobacco – a real bad smell too. Kissin’ one of them is like the old cliche…

OK. I believe people should be allowed to smoke if and only if they are wearing a sealed fireproof plastic bag over their heads for the entire day. That way, they and only they, would be exposed to their smoke.

(What? They’d die! Perish the thought).

More practically, I like the idea of making the sale and consumption of cigarettes an expensive and slow bureaucratic nightmare. (Application to purchase a packet a week in advance, requiring completion of several intrusive forms and a waiver of any liability arising from smoking the things. No more than a packet at a time and only one application in play. Lots of ID checks. Requirement for medical certificates at intervals. Tobacco to be smoked only in private domestic premises with the express written consent of all persons lawfully there or entitled to be there. Not a ban, really.

Ah smokers and their addiction. If the gubmint was serious about it they would simply ban them all together – personally I can’t see it happening.

THUMPER:

Thanks El…

My sentiments exactly.

–

As El said, might as well ban cars, oh, and fast food, and alcohol, and sky diving, football, etc etc…

Mate, I’m _seriously_ hung over here at the moment, but I can’t find any contributions from myself to this thread.

Now I’m confused, and I think that makes the pair of us 🙂

in 2008 is it too much to ask to enjoy a meal outside without another customer lighting up 1 metre away?!

At present, yes. In Garema Place last night my family and I were treated to the “pleasure” of two women arriving at the table next to us after we’d already ordered and practically chain smoking for the next 30-40 minutes. Either one or both of them had a ciggie on the go at all times – made me want to puke.

That is what the next rounds of bans are targeted at – areas outside where food is served. I am sick of having to choose between a noisy indoor area OR a smokey outdoors one, and with a wheelchair-bound family member we are often forced to sit outside because the inside area is not accessible or too crowded.

That’s your grandfather. My grandmother died from smoking – she already knew and had a blast anyway.

Actually WMD, my grandfather died of lung cancer. On his deathbed he said to me ‘thankyou for telling me those things would kill me, if only I had listened to you’.

A smoker thanking me for telling him the obvious. He employed his choice not to listen, and regretted it.

Maybe…but I’ve already given you cancer! Muahahahaha!

I’ll shoot you 1st 😉

Let’s just shoot vigilant non-smokers.

I think we should be promoting smoking to children..

a) it help the global economy by creating demand
b) they will die younger and therefore less likely to require pensions freeing bucket loads of money.
c) there is no c but be very certain that if I think of something it will be posted.

Thankyou, thankyou; I will be here all week.

That’s exactly why I hate smoking around other people, bar my smoking mates. It’s almost as annoying as people saying ‘Do you know those will kill you?”

Oh really?

“The worst kind of non-smokers are the ones that come up to you and cough. That’s pretty fucking cruel isn’t it? Do you go up to cripples and dance too?” – Bill Hicks.

I hate having to wash my jumpers and jackets because smokers have been lingering where i congregate. Its disgusting. You can smoke, its legal, thats fine. But be courteous enough to smoke away from other people. Having said that, If i see a bunch of smokers, i’m not going to go up to them, then have a whinge about secondary smoke.

The fat guy thing was kind of um, a joke, Maelinar.

Tumors still kill you.

‘Minimal’ – meaning a whole five minutes sitting at a table near someone who’s smoking? Jeez..if you’re so afraid of that, don’t sit near smokers.

HELPFUL HANDY HINT – A great deal of people are exposed to cigarette smoke throughout their lives, far far more than people who develop lung cancer.

Enough with the smokescreens.

There is no risk to your health by sitting next to a fat person, even if they did explode, your personal physical health would not be affected.

Propagating that myth is similar to the hype surrounding AIDS victims in the 80’s.

You aren’t going to get lung cancer by sitting in front of your computer screen either, you’ll develop a brain tumor, or brain cancer. Hence the suggestion is irrelevant smoke.

It has been proven in courts that exposure to even minimal secondary smoke can cause lung cancer – this is a fact. Be my guest proving otherwise, your up against the US Supreme Court, not me.

“I’ll give you something more to worry about health-wise.”…..see, smokers are also violent thugs!

Any smoker who say they always bin their butts are f***ing liars.

..unless you smoke. Ruins your sense of smell you see.

Just-bands, only if you expose yourself to passive smoke for prolonged periods every day. You’d more easily get cancer from the computer screen you’re sitting in front of.

As for the smell…if you’re going to be out in public, get a strong nose. Alot of things stink out there.

So many precious little darlings about. What about you self righteous darlings that drive your cars about causing Greenhouse gases. I have to breath your bloody exhaust all day.

Everything should be banned. Fireworks, Cats, Dogs, Cigarettes, Cars, Roads, Planes, Computers, LCD’s, CRT’s, Pools, Taps, Houses, Sprinklers, Potatoes, Coffee, Pizza, Lettuce, Internet, Mobile Phone’s, Banks, Governments, Grass, Tree’s, Music, Camera’s …

Actually, it may well give me cancer. You can’t say that it won’t. Besides, it stinks. I don’t want to throw up whilst eating dinner! It really does stink….smokers really do stink. Mind you, so do many fat people I guess…& of course, they might fall on me & crush me too.

Thumper: they’ll only explode if they have that final “wafer thin mint”. 🙂

Any fat person is a dangerous powderkeg waiting for this to happen.

I was going to get involved with this but I’m going to wait on the results of the Govt. inquiry into the effect on “working families” that this legislation may have. Then I’ll just take the populist position.

A bit of smoke might trail over to you Justbands. Being exposed to so little smoke for such a short period of time will not give you cancer.

The smell? Well, better a fine Dunnie Blue than sweat and digested babies.

A fat person sitting next to me at an outdoor diner (no matter how much they eat) does nothing that would or could harm my health. The same cannot be said about someone smoking at the table next to me.

No, you’re just seeing the light ;). Come to the dark side, my friend…you know it’s the only way…

@Deadmandrinking … Can you please make more smoking friends and get them to behave considerately like you. There’s too many who just don’t give a shit about anyone else and they’re giving you a bad name I’m afraid.

The worst example of this I have seen was seeing a smoker throw a lit butt out his car window the day after the Canberra bushfires. Nice going dickhead!

Crikey, kiss my arse. I try to smoke away from pesky non-smokers. If you make a concious effort to invade my personal space – I’ll give you something more to worry about health-wise.

Polluting the air? Pah! If you took one look at the air we breathe every day, you’d sh-t yourself.

It’s simple. I can handle not smoking inside (not big on it anyway), I can handle putting my butts in the bin (I’m one of those who actually does it) , I can handle not smoking around children – but I can’t handle not smoking. It’s legal. You can purchase smokes over the counter – why should using them be so restrictive?

Just on Crikey’s point, what is the current policy on smoking at al fresco restaurant areas?

I was under the impression it was banned, but in Civic, at least, most venues along Bunda Street have ashtrays catering for smoking customers.

FFS, in 2008 is it too much to ask to enjoy a meal outside without another customer lighting up 1 metre away?!

I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for surgery for 18yo males injured in car accidents because they were driving like idiots, 16yo girls giving birth because they are tramps, alcoholics getting treatment, people on the dole, PPS, PPP, Disability Pension, subsidising inefficient farming practices, propping up the car manufacturing industry, paying politicians, having Customs boats following Japanese whalers taking tourist snaps and a pletora of other seemingly useless activities…
The alternatives are either becoming a hermit and living in a cave or moving to New Zealand.

I’m off to find a cave.

Smokers are the scum of the earth and deserve no special privileges.

I am sick of smokers being given all the best alfresco spots at bars, cafes and restaurants. It doesn’t matter if you are in open space or not – when someone lights up near you they still pollute your air.

You can’t walk two steps anywhere around the city and not see cigarette butts all over the ground. You constantly see smokers throw their butts out their car windows and on the ground as they enter buildings.

Smokers are filthy ill considerate people. May their cancer spread!!!

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Can we have smokers and non-smokers hospitals? If you want to smoke, I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for your health care.

Comment by Mr Waffle — 15 February, 2008 @ 9:36 am
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Aussie smokers pay stupid amounts of tax every time they purchase a pack. Cigarette’s are not $12 a pack of 25’s in the States or the UK – even when you calculate the difference in currency.

Also…you are not going to die from being exposed to smoke one night a week. You want us to smoke outside? Sure. Just don’t come over you clean-breath pale-fingers. Let us enjoy our short lives.

Looks like the non-smokers have won. The smoker’s argument has faded into a breathless, hacking wheeze.

This is one step closer. I think it’s a good move.

+1

I like the change.

And my pointless addition to the argument

I dont mind if you smoke in public areas, probably my fault for hitting you with a 10 second shot of napalm… Now thats smokin 🙂

I am an ex smoker – have been for 14 months. Smokers are the modern day lepers – partial to why I quit – and the health benefits associated with quitting. I mean who woul dhave thought I would go for random walks up Mt Majura on week nights after work ?

Smokers

I saw this cool advertisement for pre-paid funeral plans – That way, you can purchase one for as little as $12 per week, and your family doesn’t have to deal with that stress when your lungs finally crap themselves.

Ha ha this argument is cracking me up!

By the way, I agree with the ban. Smoking should be banned in ALL public places. It interferes with my right to be in a smoke-free environment. If you want to kill yourself, do it in the privacy of your own home.

jemmy, if you think passive smoking doesn’t occur outside you’re fooling yourself. When you give up you’ll be able to walk within 5 metres of someone smoking and understand how it travels.

I don’t entirely disagree when you put it like that…but comparing smoking with schools or defence? That’s the stupid part. Schools are essential, defence is essential (regardless of whether or not we agree with specific military actions), smoking is in no way essential.

Tax isn’t a user pays system, it’s your membership fee to society.

As for smoking outside, I’d like to be able to eat a meal there without having pongy smoke wafting over me. I don’t think smokers should be completely excluded from going out but there must be some way everyone can win.

Whatever happened to those smoke-free cigarettes that were being talked about a while back?

justbands please explain how it’s so stupid. should we not provide healthcare to anyone except people who have never done anything risky or unhealthy in their life? now THAT is a stupid argument. hell let’s just get rid of the public health system altogether! why should i pay for people’s heathcare who can’t afford it? let everyone fend for themselves!

> mr waffle i don’t have children, i don’t want my tax dollars going towards school. oh and i don’t agree with iraq or afghanistan so i don’t want my tax dollars used on the defence portfolio. etc etc etc.

What a stupid argument/point. Really, have a think about it.

mr waffle i don’t have children, i don’t want my tax dollars going towards school. oh and i don’t agree with iraq or afghanistan so i don’t want my tax dollars used on the defence portfolio. etc etc etc.

Speaking of proposed bans, has anyone seen proper detail on these Firework Changes?

Also: Its also about the liability to staff at the bars, not just for the pleasure of smokers.

The usual hysterical nonsense from the local council. The proposed bans are outside where staff aren’t at risk anyway; passive smoking doesn’t come into it. And Mr Waffle, my cigarette taxes far outweight the health care cost for smoking, so I am in fact subsidising you.

Can we have smokers and non-smokers hospitals? If you want to smoke, I don’t want my tax dollars to pay for your health care.

I just hate the fact that nearly everywhere you go you see smoke butts on the ground. Dirty stinky smokers!

Hey Thumper – “If people don’t mind working in a smoky environment then so be it.”

Isn’t that what James Hardy said to his workers in the asbestos mines?

They didn’t mind. They got paid.

Grow a brain!

Whinging, whining f****ing smokers.

Firstly, pubs & clubs ARE workplaces. A Uni student working in a bar to pay their way through school should not have to have their health destroyed just ’cause you idiots who choose to smoke want the “right” to smoke in their face. It’s selfish, unthoughtful, rude behaviour.

Also, I enjoy a beer. My wife, son & I also enjoy the odd club meal & sometimes we even throw a few dollars into a poker machine. Why should we have to breathe your filthy smoke to enjoy a quiet night out?

Want to smoke yourself to death? Fine. Don’t expect the right to take my family down with you.

I used to smoke myself. It wasn’t until after I gave up that I realised how awful it really is for non-smokers. Smoke gets into everything, it stinks…you stink. Really, you stink…bad. Even getting into the lift at work after the smokers have been in it stinks. It’s bad for peoples health & I really can’t see how anyone could argue with a straight face that you should be allowed to do it anywhere in an enclosed space that other people use. The “don’t like smoke, don’t go to the pub” argument is bullshit. Smokers don’t own the pubs & clubs.

Smoking SHOULD be illegal Thumper. 🙂

This is one step closer. I think it’s a good move.

(As for the car argument, yes, we should be doing more to have environmentally friendly cars on the road.)

PS I’m all for your ‘right’ to smoke, just so long as it’s done in an air-tight bubble around your head.

I liken it to my right to drink alcohol, which does not include the right to throw up on you when I’ve had too much.

Who decides which pubs and clubs are allowed to have smoking inside and which aren’t? Recent history will show you that none (or very few?) of them banned it voluntarily.

Pubs & clubs are people’s workplaces too. I can buy the whole “don’t go into the club if you don’t like it” line for patrons but not for staff.

when people stop driving cars I will stop smoking whereever the fck I like. Cars cause far more damage than smoking. fcking antismokingbitchingwhiningcnts.

You’re absolutely right Thumper! I mean nobody *made* Bernie Banton go and work with all of that harmful asbestos did they? Then the bastards turn around and discriminate against James Hardie. What is this world coming to?

The AHA seem to conveniently forget that the new regulations are mainly to protect their employees, and their profits, because these employees are entitled to a safe working environment and could sue their employer if this is not provided and if they get lung cancer. The AHA can’t rely on only employing overseas backpackers, who hopefully don’t sue once they have left the country.