Quote:
Originally posted by MagiK:
E.D. I normally agree with you but on the smoking issue, Im against it. I am tired of smelling the guy driving in front of me when he is smoking in another car....Smoking is one of the truly "intrusive" vices, if you could smoke and keep the smoke to your self that would be one thing, but when you smoke, you affect every individual around you for many feet. There is just no good way to smoke with out affecting others. As for Bars....Bars exist to serve alcohol and are not as such an establishment for smokers...and people other than smokers like to drink and socialize don't ya know?
On the other hand, if the establishment is a private one, I think the owners of the bar, pub or whatever should be the one to decide if it is a smoking or no smoking area and not the government.
I am anti-government intrusion into our personal lives but I choose not to fight against the anti-smoking laws...altho it is a bit irritating that is the government doing it.
Oh and just one other thing, why is it that smokers have to toss their butts wherever they happen to be? Does smoking necessitate littering too?
Just my thoughts on that issue....
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I hear ya MagiK, I'm a smoker and I if could think of a way to smoke in my car and not have the odor of smoke waft all around I'd do it.
I try to avoid smoking anywhere near where it may interfere with a person right to be smoke free, but alas, life is full of compromises.
But then again cars emmit unhealthy fumes and emmit quite an odor, not to mention the the risks of accident and the pollutuion underground gas tanks cause, so maybe we should over-tax the people who drives those too. And what about lawnmowers? not only do those smell, they are noisy! We outa overtax lawnmowers as well! And Airplanes, I can hear those even if they are thousands of miles overhead, no way around that either!
My point is life is full of smelly, noisy dangers and we can either decide to live with them, or we can crusade to end the smelly unhealthy dangers and the only practical way to do that is via...goverment.
I consider myself a libertarian as well, I say let the people smoke who want to and set up places in the general public where smoking is off-limits for those who dont. Thats how it is now and it seems to work just fine on the whole.
I think its pathetic that people can still sue tobacco companies for health problems that they created themselves by choosing to smoke. Come on, the warning labels have been on the packs for some time now, those people ought to take some personal responsility for their own addictions and stop blaming the companies.
If I develop a smoking related illness, I will have no one to blame but myself and I have premium health coverage as well as extra life insurance to cover any left over debt if die from it. So all the extra tax I pay for my smokes goes to fund all the unresponsible people who dont plan ahead for the consequences of their own actions.