Do smokers have any rights?

eco-logic Powerhouse.com ^ | February 15, 2005 | Alan Caruba

[dog breath]

I am a pipe smoker and the tobacco not made into cigarettes is cheap. You can get a lot of tobacco for very little money. Tobacco, with some practice, is also able to be grown in any home garden, the only drawback is that you need to let it cure for a year. The range of tobaccos available is vast and the flavor is far greater then store bought cigarettes. You can also find tobacco with less chemical crap added to it. There is no real scientific proof that small amounts of tobacco is harmful. Much like drinking, too much is bad, but small amounts like 2 or 3 times a day may actually be healthy. Herbalists know that small amounts of smoking in the morning can aid digestion. In cold weather it can warm the sinus and lungs when working outside. A good pipe or cigar can be a very relaxing and stress relieving experience much like meditation. Seriously, look at the studies, they are talking always about excessive smoking which is very bad for you. I suspect too much of many things could be proved harmful with a little study.

[housewife101]

Your post is refreshing, thanks.

You are welcome...wish more people would see this as a gov't control issue than anything else. Somehow people totally miss that point. Glad so many here realize it.

[WildTurkey]

Take a look at the 11th, there you will see it is the right of the property owner to allow tobacco burning on his property.

Strange interpretation.

[CSM]

Personally, I'm against any anti-discrimination law regarding tobacco use. (among other things) If we can no longer descriminate against smokers, then I could no longer descriminate against non-smokers. It is a two way street (maybe).

[CSM]

How?

[dmz]

Are you one of those conservatives that believe the only rights we have were specifically called out in the constitution?
_______

If anyone believes the above, I would suggest actually reading the document in question.

[SheLion]

That doesn't bother me, however, I choose to go to those restaurants in which I can survive! :-) They shouldn't be required to accomodate those of us who happen to have problems I am also highly allergic to certain parfumes, but I don't expect them to stop allowing people to wear it! :-)

You are so right. And there is room for all of us without government intervention.

[PeterFinn]

I don't think it is legal - but the PC crowd readily accepts smoking pot while they reject smoking tobacco. Neither one is particularly good for you.

But pot rots your mind so the liberals love it. Pot smokers inevitably vote socialist becuase their mental capacity is diminished.

[usgator]

Interesting info. Thanks. This looks like it may be a good alternative to "brand name" cigarettes.

[SheLion]

But pot rots your mind so the liberals love it. Pot smokers inevitably vote socialist becuase their mental capacity is diminished.

I'd still rather pass a smoker on the highway then a pot user. That's for sure. At least regular cigarettes don't make one feel all crazy in the head. I can still function with a clear head. :)

[HarleyLady27]

I used to be a smoker, before my heart attack, and yes I think smokers should be able to smoke where, when they want, they are part of society, and pay taxes, so therefore, they should be able to enjoy the first admendment, and if my husband dies before I do, I will go back to smoking till I die, no matter what the price is, nomatter what the law is....my right, I earned it the hard way!!!

[SheLion]

This looks like it may be a good alternative to "brand name" cigarettes.

Plus, the bags of loose tobacco doesn't have all those additives in it. I noticed a big difference since rolling my own.

[daylate-dollarshort]

2,000,000 imates in our jails and prisons
can't be wrong!!

[Publius6961]

Why should a child of a person be forced to breathe SHS while the employee of the same person is protected from having to breathe SHS ?

Because it has been demonstrated (if not proven) that for everyone except a very few people with a real illness, that the "damage" from SHS is psychological, a neurosis.

[usgator]

My wife and I are both smokers and we are both angry about how we are treated by non-smokers or, worse, some ex-smokers. The price of name-brand cigs seems to go up on a daily basis. This is something we are both going to look into ... unless we quit completely.

[usgator]

my right, I earned it the hard way

Love the attitiude. Hope you continue being a non-smoker, though.

[SheLion]

My wife and I are both smokers and we are both angry about how we are treated by non-smokers or, worse, some ex-smokers. The price of name-brand cigs seems to go up on a daily basis. This is something we are both going to look into ... unless we quit completely.

Well, I enjoy smoking.  And my coffee. :)

As long as I enjoy it, I doubt if I could quit.  I don't want to quit so I won't try.

I have been rolling my own now for over 4 years.  When the state increased taxes on my premiums and a carton ran between $45-$50 dollars for 10 packs, I finally listened to my fellow FReepers.  So many of them told me to roll my own, and I tried it and have never looked back.

For a little under $8 dollars, I can roll out a beautiful carton of cigarettes.  The savings has been wonderful!

And when you have two smokers in the house, the expense is horrifying.

My wife and I are both smokers and we are both angry about how we are treated by non-smokers or, worse, some ex-smokers. The price of name-brand cigs seems to go up on a daily basis. This is something we are both going to look into ... unless we quit completely.

Well, I enjoy smoking.  And my coffee. :)

As long as I enjoy it, I doubt if I could quit.  I don't want to quit so I won't try.

I have been rolling my own now for over 4 years.  When the state increased taxes on my premiums and a carton ran between $45-$50 dollars for 10 packs, I finally listened to my fellow FReepers.  So many of them told me to roll my own, and I tried it and have never looked back.

For a little under $8 dollars, I can roll out a beautiful carton of cigarettes.  The savings has been wonderful!

And when you have two smokers in the house, the expense is horrifying.

[mugs99]

I haven't been following marijuana

Maybe you should be. Tobacco is being demonized the same way marijuana was. Up until 1938 millions of Americans consumed cannabis. There were no problems. The Liberals decided cannabis is bad the same way they have decided tobacco is bad for you.

How long before smoking tobacco will be a crime?
...

[SheLion]

Maybe you should be. Tobacco is being demonized the same way marijuana was. Up until 1938 millions of Americans consumed cannabis. There were no problems. The Liberals decided cannabis is bad the same way they have decided tobacco is bad for you.

Well, tobacco is still a legal commodity.  I am not into pot so I don't follow it.  I'm stuck in this war on smokers.

How long before smoking tobacco will be a crime?

If the government bans it, then it will become a crime.

[usgator]

How long before smoking tobacco will be a crime?

You mean it's not? The way I get treated by some people you would think it rates slightly above pedophilia on the crime list.