Debate #1: Smoking law!

[Hagger 9003]

yeh, but you guys have got to look at it from the smokers viewpoint. alot of them dont really have a choice. it takes an incredible amount of willpower to stop smoking, and most mortal humans dont have that. the vast majority of smokers who are actually over the legal age dont want to smoke. they physically need the cigarettes. certainly, they can see the ad campaigns. but what can they do? alot of them can do nothing. they are completely hooked, and they just cant stop. certainly, alot of young smokers do it to be cool, but as people mature, they often do try to stop. a survey said that 90% of peoples attempts to stop smoking are met with failure.
definitely, its disgusting. but think about teh person who is smoking. do they want to be doing it? they are doing more harm to themselves than they are to you, and they know it. dont be too hard on them.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

Be that as it may, the non-smokers shouldn't have to put up with it. Just because they're addicted to it, doesn't mean they can't show the rest of us some respect.
As for all the attempts to stop being met with failure, ultimately it would take a lot of willpower some people don't have, but if they really wanted to stop, anyone could find a way eventually. I'm not saying it'd be really hard, too hard for most first time, but if at first you don't succeed, try and try again......
It's all comes down to having good motivation really. If you've got no reason to stop, and you are addicted, you're probably not going to be bothered trying.

[Broccoli]

The most smokers I know either don't really realize that they are addicted and say they just do it for fun, or do realize that but say that the fun they have from smoking is worth their health.

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

They'll be singing a different tune when they get older I'll bet. And if I was smoking, I'd check whether I was addicted just to make sure I wasn't. It's almost too late then though,you just shouldn't start...

[Un'Anima Persa]

I'd stay away completely. I am glad they educate us kids in school, because when I get into high school, I now know how to handle some of hte peer pressure I will encounter, and I know that if they want me to get into drugs the reasons why I shouldn't.

I also think that smokers, if they are going to smoke in public places, should be separated from non-smokers, because, when my dad smokes around me, i get all choked up and its hard to breathe

[funky_witch]

wot r we tlkin bout?

[Scarlet Lioness]

Hey funky_witch this is a debate about the smoking law...

Sorry everyone she's a little newbie...lol!!!

[pandora315]

I'm going to be extremly opinionated for a moment and say that anyone who says its too hard to quit smoking and keeps it up is full of rubbish. Mind over matter.

I started smoking at 14 and continued right up through university where I was smoking close to two packs a day. Then in the mornings when I woke up I'd cough unable to stop and have a nasty sick feeling in my stomache and my head would ache until I'd have my first ciggy of the day. Then, being the poor uni student that I was there came a few days where I ran out of smokes and didn't have any money to buy more with (I actually picked old half used butts out of ashtrays in desperation- not proud of it but if it'll teach others about how stupid it is to smoke there you go). I felt wonderful from not smoking. My cough cleared up and I realized that the reason I had no headache was that I could breathe properly for the first time in years. I decided to quit that very week. I said no more ciggy's to myself and without the aid of expensive patches or gum I quit then and there. Its been going on four years since then and I havn't had another smoke since- in fact the smell of smoke when I go out to a club even makes me feel a bit ill.

[Chesirae]

I fully agree that smoking is gross. Anyone wanting to plug their body up with something that nasty is wrong in the head, in my opinion.
However...it's their right to.
You can't change the fact that it's constitutionally protected. You have the freedom to do whatever you want with your body in this country (or, at least...mostly. Oregon is the only state to legalize assisted suicide so far.)
It's stupid to try and ban smoking from certain places. Some places, like a hospital, yes, it makes sense. But bars? Restaurants? Come on people. Stop going all Big Brother on us and let us live our on lives.
Further, I'm going to state that outlawing smoking all together is another stupid and pointless idea. Just because it's illegal won't make it unaccessable. Frankly, the government is doing the right thing for once. Making the ciggarettes more and more expensive and forcing the public to understand that smoking is not healthy for you is the only way to stop smoking all together. If you make it so that ciggies are illegal, people will just go to the streets to get them. Ciggarettes aren't that hard to make. But if we ban them, they will join the ranks of coke and meth as drugs on the street, open to the public. Ready to be bought at higher prices than they ever were legally.
Banning them is stupid. Just as banning the places to smoke is stupid.

[Bextra]

i dont like smoking, it can kill little kids and older kids with second hand smoke. im glad that they banned smoking in public places in nz. my dad used to smoke but then i made him quit because i was concerned that my dad wouldnt be around as long as i wanted him to be. the smell in the house was suffocating so i spent alot of time at the next door neighbours place. plus they had a cool dog so that was an added bonus.

[L'Oeil de Râ]

Sorry, I didn't read all posts (they are so long )


I don't smoke and I hate when I smell cigarette's smoke Luckily, there are any smokers who respect no smokers, but there is a minority. A lot of people deny it, but cigarette is a drug. It kill slowly. There are mothers who continute to smoke even if they have a baby. These babies incur health's problem like asthma. Moreover, smokers spend a lot of money in cigarettes!

[Phoenix in the Ashes]

Yes I'm fairly sure they've done quite a few surveys to check the amount of money wasted on buying cigarettes.
That's almost reason enough!

[Asphodel]

You will spend at least several thousand dollars a year on ciggarettes. Not only that, but smokers are endangering non-smokers. Because the smoker breathes the smoke from a filter, it's not as dangerous as second-hand smoke.

[SunsetG|rl]

You're making this a way big deal. Smoking might be bad and unhealthy but people who smoke are not necesarily stupid... I smoke... And I realise how bad it is for me... But I won't stop... It is more of a masochist thing... Don't we have the right to hurt ourselves if we choose to?

As for pasive smokers...I agree that some places should be smoke free. It does bother some people... But I so hate it when in a bar a stupid person starts making all those faces on how (s)he hates smoke and smokers. It can be really absurd... And I feel like I'm being judge by my cover... Feels so shallow. They should have never came there ... And it would be really absurd to forbid smoking in a bar...

[Asphodel]

I agree, with Sunset, but I'm talking about smokers who smoke in all areas, even ones that are designating "No Smoking"