BMWbikes, this was covered in a thread about a week ago, whereupon the difference between deliberate risk and otherwise was discussed. But with all due respect, i don't want to resurrect it for your benefit, i don't think it would be productive.

I am also an ex smoker. It is true that the tax paid by smokers is well in excess of the cost to the NHS to treat the smoking related diseases.

I do dislike the smell etc and think that smokers should not object to people who find it unpleasant. Its good to see some smokers saying that they practise consideration to others. Those practising an unpleasant habit do not have the right to inflict it on others.

There is no doubt that it is a particularly unhealthy habit. It is not just cancer but heart disease, emphysema, thrombosis, brain damage to name a few. I know all smokers say they enjoy it and they understand the risks, I used to say that too. Its a standard excuse. But how will you feel when the doctor tells you that the growth inside you is inoperable and you have a few weeks left maybe! Would it all be worth that?

Turbohot, I know how you feel. I tried many times to stop too and it was just too difficult at the time. I had a fairly high risk occupation which did not help. Then I fell off the roof and the time in Hospital while they were rebuilding me gave me the kickstart to stop. After I came out, I found I had the strength to resist and of course the more time passed the easier it became. I cornered the market in Maltesers for a while though! I am now lucky that I don't feel the need to light up if someones has a smoke near me.

Part of the big plus was the saving in money too. I can afford to run a small boat as well as the Scooby. I get a lot more pleasure out of life that way believe me. I can't believe the cost of cigs now!

My sympathies go to the guy on Crack. Thats a one way road to nowhere.

Good luck to Turbohot

Les :)

and again-sorry. System not working

Les :)




[Edited by Leslie - 05/08/2003 12:08:42]

Double post!

Les :)




[Edited by Leslie - 05/08/2003 12:06:08]

It's not only that, it's the devastation that you will leave behind. A friend of mine died from lung cancer about two years ago at the age of 41 so I have seen first hand the hearbreak and pain it causes to lose someone.

If you smoke, you may be willing to take the risk, but ask yourself this: Could you lie in a hospital bed for months having your family visit and watch their hearts break every time they come to watch you slowly ebb away? Could you emotionally destroy the lives of the people you love and care for the most, your partner, children, relatives?

Before he passed away my friend Peter said the morphine numbed the physical pain of the cancer but the emotional pain was so intense it was intolerable.

Think about it and next time you suck on a cigarette take a few minutes to imagine how it feels to tell your children, "Daddy's going to die".

Gary.

I smoke.....alot! :(

Sometimes its really enjoyable but sometimes its disgusting.

I try not to smoke around non-smokers, children or even pets (i hate smoking indoors - pub being an exception though) I even get a bit embarrassed smoking down the street because i'm paranoid it looks bad.

I'd love to give up, i have tried more times than i can count :(

let smokers smoke.....its easy to find a smoke free place to eat- i cant remember the last time i was in a smokey place? certainly dont bother me.

theres to many people in this country so let em die, same goes for not wearing seat belts, etc....just leave em to it. what they cost in medication to stop the cancer (for a while) they will save in state pension and old age illness care as they will be dead.


T

I'm an ex smoker and I feel that smoking should be banned everywhere.

Why should I be subjected to breathing in smoke and having my clothes smell just because i stood close to someone who's smoking?

How would you feel If I was standing next to you with a aerosol (sp) spray which contained something that smelt horrible and could potentially kill you, spraying it in the air and it just happened to go all over you.

You could move but then someone else started spraying too

I'm guessing you wouldn't like it.

My aunt died of lung cancer due to smoking, even days before she died, she still couldn't give the cigarettes up.

Difficult situation and brings a lump into the throat remembering.

I am asthmatic, it's a pain having smokers around, but c'est la vie. :rolleyes:
I dislike it mostly when smokers smoke around food, smoke when you have requested them not to and explained why or just throw their butts on the floor to add yet more litter to the environment. :rolleyes:

Other than that, well, the debate rages on doesn't it....

All smokers should have their hands chopped off.

WRONG!!!

I like to have a night down the pub same as most people. Why should I accept that the pub must be full of smoke, that my health may be damaged, that my eyes will sting and my clothes will smell. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

One local pub has banned smoking completely and after an initial drop off in trade they know have an increase in trade as people tend to stop longer in the clean air.

Was it the chief medical advisor who called for smoking to be banned in all public places a couple of months back?

Can't come soon enough in my opinion.

What if someone went into a pub and started spraying a foul smelling cancer inducing gas around. They be locked up in minutes.

Lee

Is dropping cigarette butts on the floor the same as dropping any other form of litter? It's just that I've seen the police drop cigarettes out of their patrol cars, so I presume it's OK.

Thanks for wishing me luck,Leslie!My Dad died of lung cancer at 65.He was a solid smoker.I used to hate him smoking.It stank as well as,I loved him too much to harm himself as well as, I didn't like him having one after another if he was stress.It stressed me as a child him smoking like a chimney!you know what,when i smoked,my child said the same to me-"I don't wanna loose you." I didn't smoke in same room as them even then,every minute of it,I felt guilty.
So,I am gonna keep up to it! I know that there are examples of people who survive till 80 or so regardless of them being heavy smokers.And,you could die tomorrow of something else,who knows. but,what's the point bringing it upon yourself and the others(passive smoking)or,live in fear?I really never felt comfertable smoking in front of people without asking them if it was ok, anyway.May be it's just me!

http://216.40.249.192/s/cwm/cwm/lurk.gif
yer this is getting good, http://e4u.consoleradar.com/happy/025.gif

Thanks for wishing me luck,Leslie!My Dad died of lung cancer at 65.He was a solid smoker.I used to hate him smoking.It stank as well as,I loved him too much to harm himself as well as, I didn't like him having one after another if he was stress.It stressed me as a child him smoking like a chimney!you know what,when i smoked,my child said the same to me-"I don't wanna loose you." I didn't smoke in same room as them even then,every minute of it,I felt guilty.
So,I am gonna keep up to it! I know that there are examples of people who survive till 80 or so regardless of them being heavy smokers.And,you could die tomorrow of something else,who knows. but,what's the point bringing it upon yourself and the others(passive smoking)or,live in fear?I really never felt comfertable smoking in front of people without asking them if it was ok, anyway.May be it's just me!

ScoobyHot - non smokers should have their noses cut off - to spite the faces of those who flap around like demented spastics.

Damian

ps. Before anyone gets all 'PC' on me about the 'demented spastics' comment - I have more experience and knowledge than most on this topic. :p

Go on TURBOHOT u can do it,http://e4u.consoleradar.com/happy/540.gif 1 day at a time m8

SMOKING KILLS SIMPLE!

I personally lost my father early this year due to cancer due to smoking and it aint pretty watching someone die and say I want to die because it hurts so much!

STOP BEING AN ARROGANT FCUKER IF YOU WANT TO KILL YOURSELF FEEL FREE JUST DON'T MAKE US BREATH THAT SH!T!

GTI - harsh but true. Well said.

Going back to the anti-social smell bit - if I sat i a pub farting my guts out all night, it would be pretty badly frowned upon. For me, the smell of smoking is the same, and it's carcinogenic too!
Smokers also don't seem to understand the idea that even in "well-ventilated" places you can still smell the smoke. E.g. outside in a pub garden. Their sense of smell (and taste) has been destroyed so they think we can't smell it - wrong!! I can smell if the person in the car in front of me is smoking if they've got their window open.

How many non-smokers here run de-cats? :D:

I don't really give a damn about the passive smoking health aspect, I think it's overhyped and irrelevant except for bar staff or someone who shares an office for 10 years with a smoker.

But I do object to having to breathe in disgusting-tasting fumes at any time, and particularly having to wash my clothes and hair afterwards. As said, how about if I had a fart spray and it was my "right" to relax or amuse myself by spraying this around in pubs and restaurants? "After all, if you don't like it, just move away from me" [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]:rolleyes: I'd say it would be less than 60 seconds before someone tried to deck me. So why are smokers so special?

On a lighter note, an article in the paper quoted someone saying "one year of smoking is supposed to take 5 years off your life. Well, I've been smoking for 35 years. 5x35= 175 years, so I should have died in about 1825." Fair point well made :)

Ex Smoker here.

People who smoke and say they do so understanding the risks cannot understand the risks. If they did understand then they wouldn't do it.

My father died of cancer 4 years ago. If I could have gathered the smokers on this board round his bedsidethe day he vomited his faeces over the duvet (due to his intestines collapsing) then perhaps you would have a re-think.

My father was one of the fittest people I knew(martial arts etc), it was embarrassing having a father with a six pack aged 50! He died weighing a little over 7 stone.

Think people, just think.

I have had several several years voluntary experience, I still don't make idle comments like that......

All relevant points, well made.

But you still won't change the minds of Damian et al. It's their Rage Against The Machine.

Or to put it another way, an addiction they know they don't have the willpower to overcome.

Have to say have first hand experience of the medical services not driving this home.

33 year old bloke. Has smoked all his teen/ adult life. Also a touch overweight, eats loads of junk food, drinks plenty beer and does no exercise. Had a stroke. Survived and told by docs that 'this could happen to anyone'. So why the warning about premature strokes on packets of ciggies? :rolleyes:

He still smokes 20+ per day, refuses exercise, eats cr@p, still overweight and drinks plenty of beer. :rolleyes: Point being that most smokers can have very real experiences of the consequences and still not quit.

Some people watched too much Captain Scarlet at an impressionable age!

OK, heres an interesting question.

How many women on here smoke to keep thin?

LOL at BH :D

Hmmm... pubs and clubs are smokey. If you don't like it, don't go in there! :rolleyes: There are plenty of pubs and clubs with dedicated non-smoking areas, go there if you don't want to breath in the nasty filth I may be peddling!!!

If I walk into a pub and don't like the look of it, I leave!!

I will smoke wherever I can (allowed to)

If it's no smoking, I don't smkoe there, fairly straight forward.

If I am smoking and people choose to stand/sit near me, then they should put up or shut up. [img]images/smilies/mad.gif[/img]

I feel sorry for anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer, but at the end of the day, you breath in more crap from cars, than you would from me having the odd cigarette! :rolleyes:

How many of you have de-catted cars? How many of you generate more pollution by running uneconmical cars which burn more fuel?

Before you start judging others, have a look at yourself!

I smoke, but as a side issue, my car has all it's cats in place and I walk to work! I think I generate less pollution in a day than some of you guys driving for 5 minutes! :p