Just as a head's up, it's illegal to smoke on the streets in Tokyo. If you need to smoke, go to the smoke box and light up there.

The reason for the smoke boxes are obvious when you end up in them, and see pictures of small children burned horribly from the cherries on the cigarettes. That's why it's illegal. It's not the second hand smoke. It's the dense population in small areas.

falcontwin:
Lets talk statistics 48% of people who smoke die from smoking related illnesses. 100% of people who breathe air die, ergo breathing should be banned.

Yes smoking is bad but for fuck sake you can't even eat fried potatoes because they kill you a dozen different ways so fuckit. if you don't like smoking don't smoke but leave those who do the fuck alone. The only minority groups it is ok to be racist against are smokers and overweight people.

If your a kiddy fucker people will make excuses that your parents did not teach you the proper boundaries but if you smoke you are worse than satan dressed as hitler having gay sex with a jew who was driving 56 in a 55 zone.

Despite what some smokers try to tell to passive smoking does exist. You smoke around other people and they die from smoke related illness, YOU ARE A MURDERER.

I think people who smoke and take drugs forget the whole rights thing. You only have a right so long as it does not infringe on another persons rights. You may have the right to smoke but I have the right to clean(ish) air. Thats why I've been 100% behind the ban on smoking in public buildings.

And cut the crap about smokers being a "minority group". Those who smoke are just a bunch of people with an addiction who mostly have no respect for those who don't.

Oh and your statistical reasoning is bull. Its the same rubbish politicians try to pull. By that reasoning It is safer to drive on the wrong side of the road with an unstable nuclear bomb strapped to your chest than it is to drive on the right side of the road dead on the speed limit.

Bluemage, I'm not arguing with you in any way, but there's a loose policy here that you don't cut apart others' posts beyond reason. There's nothing wrong with breaking apart paragraphs or a few sentences, but when you split sentences into several quotes it's jarring.

BlueMage:

My advice to non-baby-eaters: They taste really good lightly salted. I enjoy eating babies. I'd rather live a short life where I can eat babies, rather than a long drawn out one where I deny myself a pleasure that I desire.

Feel free to replace baby-eating with Jew-baking.

Baby eating is quite illegal, and with good reason. Smoking is not, because it really isnt a huge deal. Sorry mate, but nobody farts sunshine, the world is full of things that will harm you and a few wisps of smoke drifting by you every once in a while shouldnt be the greatest of your worries. Now if I was to go and breathe smoke into a bubble boys bubble, you'd have a case, but the reality is, I rarely smoke near non smokers, I'm usually off by myself or with a fellow smoker, and your healthy lungs can cope with a few rogue smoke atoms.

You say I have no right to smoke in public? Well I'm afraid I do. I'm not going to blow smoke in your face, but I am granted the right by law to smoke on the street. You cannot take it away from me because you feel as if it's wrong, that is not and will not ever be in your power to do.

I did quit smoking, realised after a few months that there honestly was no reason not to, its what I want to do, I do not want to quit, I enjoy it as an activity (more than a chemical dependence though I wouldnt deny that nicotine has its part) and as a social bonding exercise (that sounds dorky, but there is often some comradery to be found between smokers standing outside in the cold).

Good luck trying to die in your sleep, honestly i wish you the best, but things like that you can't control. You also cannot control numerous illnesses that appear in your twilight years because we simply do not know why they come about. You can say healthy living blah blah, and eat a tofu burger every day, but thats not going to stop alzheimers or dementia or countless other problems that occur due to factors genetic or otherwise. They are undignified, there is no poetic death in sleep for most people. Spend a few hours in a nursing home, and dont try and filter out the voices there. I did this once, it was horrible.

An old woman was lying on the floor next to her wheelchair. I asked if I should help, the nurse said "No, she is just trying to get attention." and left her there. As I walked down a hallway, I turned to see a naked man, in plain sight-wrinkelled and unsure of his surroundings- in the shower. You see, in many nursing homes there are no private showers, and the old folk are washed in plain sight, rarely with the curtain drawn. This man however, was just standing idly, waiting for someone to come and wash him.

They did have a big screen tv though. I was about 13, and since then I have no desire to be one of those mistreated people. For your information, this was an expensive nursing home, my great grandmother was rich, but that means nothing when you lose your mind. She screamed and thought we were strangers when we used to try and visit her. Enjoy your twilight years, I'll spend mine dead, thanks.

After seeing the mentioning of smoke boxes in Tokyo by vxicepickxv, I mentioned it to my girlfriend who searched for a picture of one. We didn't find one, but we found these posters that are inside/outside said boxes. Translations are obviously a little off - hehe.

RAKtheUndead:

You haven't read any of the Vista arguments that I've been involved in, have you? It's not unique to smoking, by any means.

Heh, Vista is scum. And I think I remember posting on that thread.

The reason I ask is that it seems to be a combination of the Console Wars(My choice is superior because it's mine) and the Religion Wars ( I had/know of someone who had a bad experience with it once). I accept that's a very narrow view of it, but you only tend to see that level of aggression in certain arguments, like Pineapple on Pizza, Halo or Halflife, but almost never on CBS/FOX (BBC/ITV).

Let's face it, nearly 40% of people here want to see graphic images of people suffering thrust in front of smokers faces daily. That's a LOT of hate. Almost makes me want to have a cig.

zhoomout:

Despite what some smokers try to tell to passive smoking does exist. You smoke around other people and they die from smoke related illness, YOU ARE A MURDERER.

By the same reasoning, anyone who supported any War is also. And all drivers.

I think people who smoke and take drugs forget the whole rights thing.

What rights? Bearing Arms? Freedom of Speech? And as far as I know, penicillin is also a drug...like aspirin and many others.

You only have a right so long as it does not infringe on another persons rights. You may have the right to smoke but I have the right to clean(ish) air. Thats why I've been 100% behind the ban on smoking in public buildings.

Uhm, no such rights exist. Personally if I wanted clean air, I'd be taxing the major polluters of this world.

And cut the crap about smokers being a "minority group". Those who smoke are just a bunch of people with an addiction who mostly have no respect for those who don't.

And you have the utmost respect for us?

Oh and your statistical reasoning is bull. Its the same rubbish politicians try to pull. By that reasoning It is safer to drive on the wrong side of the road with an unstable nuclear bomb strapped to your chest than it is to drive on the right side of the road dead on the speed limit.

Well...there'd be no-one else on the road...

dannydamage:

Haha, those guys should make comic strips.

Ladies and gentlemen. The exhausts from your cars are slowly killing me and my family. Please stop driving.

Decoy Doctorpus:
Ladies and gentlemen. The exhausts from your cars are slowly killing me and my family. Please stop driving.

[Pulls up to curb and walks away leaving car on.]

Anyway, I used to smoke for a couple months (not really addicted) and then one day I got suckered into signing a contract stating that if I where caught smoking again I would give my computer away. Anyway, that and actually laziness made me stop smoking (too lazy to buy more).

That short time I did smoke though gave me a new perspective on smokers. I was all about telling people to stop smoking. I once went on a flight where the only seats left were in the smoking section and it was a 17 hour flight to the Philippines. Well, my Mom was telling everyone left and right to not smoke (ooooh boy I do feel sorry for those people now), but I mean I was a kid then and that really stuck in my head for a while and probably what made me feel the way I did about smoking. Then of course the DARE program propaganda (don't kid yourself, it really is) I mean, I wasn't even in High School yet I didn't stand a chance against all that.

Well, I started hanging out with more smokers and I eventually just got used to it. I mean people that smoke don't all have cancer (higher risk, but whatever), and most of the time they are polite about their habit. They will excuse themselves and go outside to have a smoke.

Here is how I think of smoking: If you are going to do it, fine whatever. I am not going to say anything about it. Hell if you want someone to hang out with while you are puffing away outside, I'll totally go hang out with you. If you want help quitting I can help people too. I am not going to be a dick about it and people certainly don't have to be as nice about it as I am, but I mean they are people too and there is no reason you should be rude to them if they are not blowing smoke in your face.

Try this, be nice to a smoker once in a while. When you are going to a party buy a pack of cigarettes before you arrive. I always have people at parties going, "Anyone got a cig?" I don't smoke, but I'll give them away. Sure you are supporting a "bad habit", but it's their habit it's their choice and actually what I think you are doing is just being a nice person.

Rambling done.

Easykill:
You guys... Why is the largest poll option I have never smoked and they deserve it? I had FAITH in you guys. I've never smoked and voted that's going too far.

If it makes you feel better EasyKill, I chose that option, too. I mean, once you have bought that pack of cigarettes, I don't think that a horrific picture will do anything positive for anybody.

jamanticus:

Easykill:
You guys... Why is the largest poll option I have never smoked and they deserve it? I had FAITH in you guys. I've never smoked and voted that's going too far.

If it makes you feel better EasyKill, I chose that option, too. I mean, once you have bought that pack of cigarettes, I don't think that a horrific picture will do anything positive for anybody.

[edit for reading it wrong]

I guess it's not enough to deter smoking, but to make people hate it with a fiery passion as hot as a thousand blue suns.

Of my eighteen aunts, uncles, and parents (the generation), four smoked. (Actually two more once smoked, but quit decades ago.) Three of the smokers are dead, two of lung cancer and one of throat cancer followed by a heart attack. All the rest are alive.

That said, each person owns himself. If you want to put smoke into your lungs, they are your lungs; you should have that right, as long as you accept the consequences. Of course I don't believe in second-hand smoke issues unless there are aggravating factors like asthma or very poor air circulation in the area. But then again I'm one of those rare non-smokers who doesn't particularly mind cigarette smoke.

In my opinion, if they want to shock smokers, really shock them. Have random packs equipped with capacitors or those rattlesnake egg noisemakers. That way you deter smoking plus amuse us non-smokers.

werepossum:
Of my eighteen aunts, uncles, and parents (the generation), four smoked. (Actually two more once smoked, but quit decades ago.) Three of the smokers are dead, two of lung cancer and one of throat cancer followed by a heart attack. All the rest are alive.

That said, each person owns himself. If you want to put smoke into your lungs, they are your lungs; you should have that right, as long as you accept the consequences. Of course I don't believe in second-hand smoke issues unless there are aggravating factors like asthma or very poor air circulation in the area. But then again I'm one of those rare non-smokers who doesn't particularly mind cigarette smoke.

In my opinion, if they want to shock smokers, really shock them. Have random packs equipped with capacitors or those rattlesnake egg noisemakers. That way you deter smoking plus amuse us non-smokers.

My friend's wife died of lung cancer a few years back.

She never smoked, but all of her friends did.

The moral: Second-hand smoke is bad.

Sorry, she was a pretty awesome person, and the world was one great person shorter due to cigarettes, and not of her own accord.
Probably the reason why I hate cigarettes so much.

Lord Krunk:

The moral: Second-hand smoke is bad.

First of all : My condolences.

I have to put a second though: They were her friends who she chose to be with.

My grandfather lost an eye to fireworks; that doesn't mean I hate them. My Aunt died of Diabetes, but I still have sugar. (though not as much now)

It's always horrific when a family member is taken away from you, but I'd blame the cancer rather than one of the many things that 'could' have caused it.

The_root_of_all_evil:

Lord Krunk:

The moral: Second-hand smoke is bad.

First of all : My condolences.

I have to put a second though: They were her friends who she chose to be with.

My grandfather lost an eye to fireworks; that doesn't mean I hate them. My Aunt died of Diabetes, but I still have sugar. (though not as much now)

It's always horrific when a family member is taken away from you, but I'd blame the cancer rather than one of the many things that 'could' have caused it.

You do need to remember that sugar is necessary for survival.

Also, fireworks are made to look pretty.

But what are cigarettes for? An escape? A way to look 'cool'? They are only a revenue raiser.

The hilarious irony of a racing enthusiast supporting a ban on smoking:

RAKtheUndead:
The hilarious irony of a racing enthusiast supporting a ban on smoking:

1

2

3

4

Psst. This is what all those look like

Try them now - my image tags were messed up. You'll see what I mean immediately.

The_root_of_all_evil:
As of yesterday, the Government, bless them, decided that us smokers were just not getting the message and have included graphic warnings on the packets.

Please do not open this if you are easily shocked. I'm only including it because it will become publicly shown soon

The picture is basically a full colour image of a man with a huge tumour in his throat.

Now, I smoke. I don't particularly like it but I'm chemically addicted; what I'd like to know from people is whether you think this level of 'shock' advertising is seriously questionable, especially considering that said packets will be visible to minors?

Most smokers are fully aware of the fact that smoking shortens their lifespan; but you don't see similar heart warnings on caffeine, liver warnings on alcohol or even nose warnings on cocaine.

I m a non-smoker but i believe that nearly everything we eat, see, or touch generally shortens our lifespan somehow... Extra cholesterol/fat in food, too much time in front of PC/TV (That's me...), coffee, alcohol, smoking and everything.

I m cool with it but i have no real opinion about things like that picture. I guess there is nothing wrong with that. People wolf down on smoking too much...

Lord Krunk:

The_root_of_all_evil:

Lord Krunk:

The moral: Second-hand smoke is bad.

First of all : My condolences.

I have to put a second though: They were her friends who she chose to be with.

My grandfather lost an eye to fireworks; that doesn't mean I hate them. My Aunt died of Diabetes, but I still have sugar. (though not as much now)

It's always horrific when a family member is taken away from you, but I'd blame the cancer rather than one of the many things that 'could' have caused it.

You do need to remember that sugar is necessary for survival.

Also, fireworks are made to look pretty.

But what are cigarettes for? An escape? A way to look 'cool'? They are only a revenue raiser.

What are games for? What are drugs for? What is alcohol for?

It obviously makes people feel better or provide them with some kind of escapism. Duh.

And even though i don't have most of the "damaging" habits, i don't really care if i live past 50 or 60. What am i going to miss? Being useless and unable to do anything, annoying my grandchildren? meh.

Honestly,As a smoker I can not stand this more then anything. In the states we are treated worse then drug addicts, At least when people say,"I smoke weed" people go oh he's just a hippie..thats kind of cool,But dare you say,"I enjoy a legal substance to take the edge off" you get."Oh my god your a horriable person kill yourself" It is just amazing how much of a second class citizen you become when you smoke.

But I enjoy that,Why? Because smokers stick together when we are thrown out and forced to huddle together in smoking areas you meet real people who have took a stand saying I do not care what people think of me I am a smoker and proud of it.Those are true people. Not the coffee drinking hip wanabes who think they can tell people how to live there life.

Gormourn:

Lord Krunk:

The_root_of_all_evil:

Lord Krunk:

The moral: Second-hand smoke is bad.

First of all : My condolences.

I have to put a second though: They were her friends who she chose to be with.

My grandfather lost an eye to fireworks; that doesn't mean I hate them. My Aunt died of Diabetes, but I still have sugar. (though not as much now)

It's always horrific when a family member is taken away from you, but I'd blame the cancer rather than one of the many things that 'could' have caused it.

You do need to remember that sugar is necessary for survival.

Also, fireworks are made to look pretty.

But what are cigarettes for? An escape? A way to look 'cool'? They are only a revenue raiser.

What are games for? What are drugs for? What is alcohol for?

Entertainment. Medicine. As for alcohol; science?

Also, apparently, red wine is good for you, in moderation. But binge drinking is stupid.

And I'm a teetotaller, so don't pull the alcohol card on me, at least until I'm an adult.

EDIT: As for this thread, I'm going to avoid it now. I'm feeling more and more like Eggo, and that's probably not a good thing in this case.

My solution to stop smoking is to raise the age limit by one every year. Pretty much it means that every one who can smoke this year legally, can do so for the rest of their lives, but no one younger can ever do it. No one who smokes now could complain, because it does nothing to their smoking. No one who smokes and is doing so under the legal age can complain, because they were not allowed to smoke before it.
Effects from this would start to show up in a decade or two. Then we should have no smokers under 40. How about a two decades from that, youngest smokers would be around 60. How many smokers are left at that point.
Of course the tobacco industry would complain, but how can you defend selling poison to people. They would still have about ten years with no significant drop in sales.

I remember the ad campaign in which they displayed a photograph of Brooke Shields smeared all over in tar and phlegm making her resemble a refugee from Valdez, Alaska after an Exxon tanker piloted by an alcoholic passed by. Supposedly this showed what one would look like on the outside if your lungs were on the outside and you smoked cigarettes. SFW? I'm through apologizing. If your opinions mattered to me I wouldn't be working at a call center for the cable company.

I smoked for a few years but I quit about a year(and a half?) ago. I was already informed about the dangers of smoking but I didn't quit until I wanted to. The first few weeks were the hardest but I didn't find it too bad. Seeing it as a challenge was the easiest way for me to give up; I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it. I must admit that I do have the occasional smoke but it's very rarely.
All shock tactics do is further desensitize the population and make more extreme shock tactics necessary if they want to continue this form of deterrent. Informing the public is a far better option. If you have the facts then you can make an informed decision. People choose to smoke, so let them.

flatearth:
My solution to stop smoking is to raise the age limit by one every year.

Remember a little thing called Prohibition in the 1920's? Bootleg whiskey financed the rise of the Cosa Nostra, which virtually didn't function outside of a few loan sharks and numbers rackets. It also gave rise to narcotics as a major national soul sucking plague. Denying people a vice only makes it more vicious. But, it's ok to sell container cargo ship loads of cigarettes overseas, especially to China and India. Geronimo's revenge works on everyone.