Quit nagging the smokers, will ya?

Today is the day we set aside each year to badger, harass and pester that marginalized subculture of Americans, the Doorway People.

You know the Doorway People. They stand in doorways at work or at the mall smoking cigarettes because lighting up in mixed company has become as distasteful as nose-picking.

Yes, today marks the 27th anniversary of the Great American Smokeout, sponsored by the American Cancer Society, where modern incarnates of pinch-mouthed prohibitionists attempt to further ghettoize smokers.

Now, it's not that I think smoking is good. I have friends who smoke. I wish they didn't. On average, they will trade 10 years of their lives to enjoy their habit. But we're all grownups. Smoking is their demon and I have enough of my own demons to wrestle with.

But, unlike anti-smoking zealots, I sympathize with smokers.

That's because I was a smoker. When I quit for good in 1996, I was burning through 2 1/2 packs a day. I ditched the habit because each time I coughed, my lungs rattled as if someone had backed into metal trash cans.

Still, I loved every puff. I still miss it. In fact, I still have nicotine cravings.

So I'm sympathetic to smokers and believe they should be free to enjoy their addiction, which, last I checked, remains legal. Which is why I dislike the anti-smoking scolds. They are trying to criminalize smoking.

From New York City to Dallas, from Toledo, Ohio, to Eugene, Ore., anti-smoking zealots have racked up successful campaigns to ban smoking in bars and restaurants, the last bastion of peace and acceptance for smokers.

Eventually, the anti-smoking "movement" will have won enough smoking bans in enough cities in enough states to introduce national no-smoking legislation, said Zoe Mitchell, co-founder of Ban the Ban, which recently defeated efforts to enact similar no-smoking legislation in Washington, D.C.

"Ultimately, their goal is to make it a national issue based on their success at the local level," she said.

Anti-smokers say they're acting in the best interest of public health.

They say all those smokers burden the healthcare system with their cigarette-related maladies. It costs all of us more in healthcare premiums, they say.

Nonsense. Smokers die sooner than most of us nonsmokers, never collecting a cent from Social Security, which they've paid for decades.

Also, smokers pay outrageous cigarette taxes on each pack of smokes, which pours billions of dollars annually into government coffers.

At best, the money argument is a wash.

When an anti-smoking nut steps into a place like the Puss N' Boots Tavern in Fairless Hills, all they see is the blue-gray cloud of smoke hovering over the patrons crowded around the bar.

When I walk into the Boot, I see it differently.

I see a local cop who's seen more than his fair share of tragedy.

Or an emergency room nurse who was up to her elbows in blood just a few hours before.

Or a construction guy who's sacrificed years of Saturdays to work overtime so he could save for his kid's college tuition.

Or a middle-aged father worried about his son, who's fighting the war.

These are the good people the anti-smoking zealots want to stigmatize as public health leeches.

And if they accomplish their goal, they won't go away.

They will persecute the overweight, stigmatize SUV drivers and haul into court those who don't recycle.

They've got the money and the time and the lawyers.

>Isn't that the whole idea behind the "War on Some Drugs when Used by Certain People"?

Can't ever recall AIDS being spread through the use of a cigarette.

Me either. I'm sure nobody ever contracted the disease while drunk either.

Can't recall anyone killing someone driving under the influence of a cigarette.

Or alcohol (legal).

Can't recall any unwanted babies under the influence of a cigarette.

Or alcohol (legal).

Nobody has to go to rehab to quit smoking.

Nobody "has" to go to rehab to quit anything. They just don't sell "a patch" for heroin addicts yet.

I don't seem to recall River Pheonix dying at 21 because he O.D'd on a pack of smokes.

True, it was a combination of legal drugs, illegal drugs, and alcohol.

If someone jumps off a bridge, do we outlaw bridges?

Or Hendricks, Jim Morrison,Joplin,and on and on and on.

Hendricks is still somewhat of a mystery on exactly what he did, Joplin's official cause was Heroin mixed with a LARGE AMOUNT OF ALCOHOL.

Again, should we outlaw it?

Funny how someone who smokes and happens to die in their 70's is commiting suicide. But, people o.d.ing in their teens and 20's is not a big deal.Drugs should be legal.

Many of them are legal. You can go to your local store and buy cigarettes and alcohol right now. Or if you are the harried housewife of someone rich and or famous, you can score pretty much whatever you want.

Like the author of the article, I used to smoke, too. I began with I was 17 and stopped for good when I was 33 (17 years ago).

I truly enjoyed smoking, especially with a cup of coffee. Some of my favorite smoking memories: going for a walk in the country with my best friend in college, walking our dogs, having a smoke and talking; and traveling in Europe and trying all the different cigarettes.

After about 10 years of smoking, cigarettes began to make me ill -- sore throats, nose always stuffed up, coughs. As time went on, I switched to lighter and lighter brands because my body could not take smoking.

I tried off and on to quit over the years because everyone knows if you smoke long enough, you have a good chance of getting cancer.

People quit for different reasons. You have to find your own.

My reason: I told myself it was fine to smoke for pleasure, but cigarettes were making me sick and I could not stop. I told myself I was neurotic -- that if I enjoyed anything else that was making me ill (eating food if I had an allergy, etc.), I would just stop, but I could not with cigarettes.

I was psychologically addicted to cigarettes -- they represented freedom in some way I cannot describe. This is just advertising. Cigarettes are just a dried up plant inside a piece of paper.

Anyway, I did quit for good, 17 years now. I told myself smoking for enjoyment was fine, but I was not able to do that. I had to have a cigarette just to get through the ordinary ups and downs of life, and I refused to be like that. I also enrolled in a smoking program (SmokeEnders) because I knew I could not quit my own, and for 4 months I avoided situations where I would smell smoke and be tempted to start again (SmokeEnders did not tell me do do this -- I did it on my own).

ONLY after I quit for good did my sense of smell start to come back. In all the years I smoked, I HAD NO IDEA how truly overwhelming cigarettes smell, that they smell foul and stick to your clothes and hair. I had no idea at all because smoking kills your sense of smell. When smokers say they can't understand why other people object, it is because smoking has killed their sense of smell and they don't realize it.

I'm happy that you quit smoking. If a person really hates a habit, then give it up. Sometimes, habits are hard to break.

I haven't reached that point yet. I truly enjoy smoking, even after all these years. Coffee and cigarettes. :)

A lot of times I will go to light up and then think 'nah. I really don't want a cigarette right now.' And I put it down.

My sense of smell and hearing are excellent. I guess for some, smoking desensitizes taste and smell, but I haven't noticed any difference. If a food taste good I eat it. And if it doesn't, I don't waste money bringing it into the house. I don't live to eat anyway. :)

But good for you! Thanks for your testimony.

When I do the same thing here in VA/DC - the bars are no more crowded....but they smell like absolute $h!t!....as do I at the end of the night.

You know...when I go to a bar and see fat chicks...sometimes they smell like absolute $hit too. While were at it...let make them go outside as well.

I mean, cmon...if you're really that offended by cig smoke at a bar...find a smoke-free bar...or move to NYC. I'm sooo tired of 1% of thin skinned people trying to outlaw all things that annoy them. Deal with it and move on.

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