Smoker's saliva a 'cocktail of chemicals'

Yahoo ^ | 06/02/04 | Reuters

[cinFLA]

A minor, by definition is someone who lacks the functioning capabilities of an adult.

Some 16 year olds have better functioning capabilities than some "adults" yet we allow those "adults" which many have very limited functioning capabilities to receive all rights but deny them to the sixteen year old.

[FrankR]

"Years ago in high school we discovered that kissing a girl that smoked was like licking a used ashtray."

Yeah, and algore "discovered" the internet too.

That old wives tale - designed primarily to discourage naiive teens from smoking - is older than dirt.

I would like to know who that person was who "licked a used ashtray" to make the comparison.

I've known lot of smokers, but I have yet encountered one who actually put the "ashes" in their mouth. Mostly, it's smoke...and while I wouldn't call their breath "Scope-fresh", I still haven't seen any ashes in there.

So, if you "discovered" that, you were obviously in the bunch who licked the ashtrays for comparison...I mean, otherwise, how would you know?

That old claim has no more validity than the old saying that "if a girl smokes, she's easy".

Or the other rumor that used to go around, "if you sprinkle cigarette ashes in a girls drink, it works just like Spanish Fly."

If you're going to try to convince us all that "junk science" is true, please rely on something other than old wives' tales and urban legends.

[takenoprisoner]

"I often wonder if they regretted that their lives were cut short in their early 60's... "

I don't see how they could regret anything once gone. I don't see how they could miss anything once gone either.

Talk about lives being cut short...you should go visit some of the war memorials. You should also visit some nursing homes while you are at it. You will learn first hand how lives were cut short. Then you will also learn the plight of those whose lives are not cut short.

As an aside, I once met a great grandmother who was 39 years old. Then, sometimes the children just wait too long for their parents so see their grand kids...for whatever excuse.

Meanwhile, I'm glad to hear that you're willing to allow me to choose for myself my on preferences in life. Notice I didn't say death...since death will come for me eventually, and there is no way I can know the hour or the day...nor prevent it. Sure there might be some measure/s to take that might postpone it. But I'd have to live life in seclusion(hardly possible in America), stay out of my car, stay off my motorcycle, build a bomb free burglar free shelter and have my supplies delivered to a safe location once the delivery guy left the premises before I scuttled back to my safety...

I'm still working on how I would pay for my supplies though.

[FrankR]

OK, so you've handled tobacco products as human carcinogens, and admonished those who participate. Here's a list of some more known human carcinogens...please comment on the source, and spreading of each of these, and include a similar 150 word survey like you did for tobacco.

The following substances are either known human carcinogens or may be reasonably anticipated to be carcinogens because of limited evidence of carcinogenicity in humans or sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity in experimental animals.

These substances have been designated as carcinogens or suspect carcinogens by at least one of the following agencies: National Toxicology Program (NTP), International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), American Conference of Governmental Industrial Hygienists (ACGIH), or the National Institute of Occupational Health and Safety (NIOSH). This list is NOT inclusive.

It contains about 350 of the 1000 to 2000 substances suspected to be carcinogenic.

A-alpha-C [2-amino-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole]
acetaldehyde
acetylaminofluorene, 2-
acrylamide
acrylonitrile
actinomycin D
adriamycin [doxorubicin]
AF-2 [2-(2-furyl)-3-(5-nitro-2-furyl)acrylamide]
aflatoxins
agaritine
aldrin
allyl isothiocyanate
allyl isovalerate
amino-2-methylanthraquinone, 1-
amino-5-(5-nitro-2-furyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole
amino-5-nitrothiazole, 2-
aminoanthraquinone, 2-
aminoazobenzene, p-
aminoazotoluene, o- [solvent yellow 3]
aminobipheny, 4-
amitrole
androgenic (anabolic) steroids
aniline
anisidine hydrochloride, o-
anisidine, o-
anlagesic mixtures containing phenacetin
anthanthrene
aramite
arsenic and some arsenic compounds
asbestos
auramine
azacitidine
azaserine
azathioprine


benzene and its derivative compounds
benzidine and its derivative compounds
benzotrichloride
benzo[a]pyrene
benzo[b]fluoranthene
benzo[j]fluoranthene
benzo[k]fluoroanthene
benzyl violet 4B
benz[a]anthracene
benz[c]acridine
beryllium & beryllium compounds (e.g. oxide or sulfate)
bieomycins
bis(chloroethyl) nitrosourea [BCNU]
bis(chloromethyl)ether [BCME]
bitumens, extracts of steam and air refined
butadiene, 1,3-
butylated hydroxyanisole [BHA]
butyrolactone, beta-


C.I. basic red 9 monohydrochloride
cadmium and cadmium compounds
captan
carbazole
carbon blacks
carbon tetrachloride
carrageenan
chlorambucil
chloramphenicol
chlorbenzilat
chlordane
chlordecone [kepone]
chlorendic acid
chlorinated, alpha- toluenes
chlormadinone acetate
chlornaphazine[n,n-bis(2-chloroethyl)-2-naphthylamine]
chloro-o-phenylenediamine, 4-
chloro-o-toluidine, p-
chloroethyl)-3-cyclohexyl-1-nitrosourea, 1-(2- [CCNU]
chloroform
chloromethyl ethyl ether
chloromethyl methyl ether [CCME]
chlorophenols
chlorophenoxy herbicides
chloroprene
chlorothalonil
chloro-o-toluidine, p- and its HCl salt
chlorozotocin
cholesterol
chromium and some chromium compounds
chyrsene
cinnamyl anthranilate
cisplatin [trade name=platinol]
citrus red no. 2
clofibrate
coal tar pitch volatiles
creosotes
cresidine, p-
cupferron
cycasin [methylazoxmethanol]
cyclamates
cyclopenta[cd]pyrene
cyclophosphamide [trade name=cytozan or neosar]
cyclosporin


D, 2,4- (salts and esters) e.g. phenolyacetic acid
dacarbazine [trade name=DIC or DTIC]
danthron
dapsone
daunomycin [daunorubicin]
DDT
decabromodiphyenyl oxide
di(2-ethylhexyl)phthalate
diacetylbenzidine, n,n'-
diallate
diaminoanisole, 2,4-
diaminoanisole sulfate, 2,4-
diaminodiphenyl ether, 4,4'-
diaminotoluene, 2,4-
dibenzo[a,e]flouranthene
dibenzo[a,e]pyrene
dibenzo[a,h]pyrene
dibenzo[a,i]pyrene
dibenzo[a,l]pyrene
dibenzo[c,g]carbazole, 7H-
dibenz[a,c]anthracene
dibenz[a,h]acridine
dibenz[a,h]anthracene
dibenz[a,j]acridine
dibenz[a,j]anthracene
dibromo-3-chloropropane, 1,2- [DBCP]
dibromomethane, 1,2- [DBM]
dichloro-4,4'-diaminodiphenyl ether, 3,3'-
dichlorobenzene, 1,4-
dichlorobenzidine, 3,3'-
dichloroethane, 1,2- [EDC] [ethylene dichloride]
dichloromethane
dichloropropane, 1,2- [propylene dichloride]
dichloropropene, 1,3-
dicofol
dieldrin
dienoestrol
diepoxybutane
diethyl sulfate
diethylhydrazine, 1,2- OR n,n'-diethylhydrazine
diethylstilberstrol [DES]
diglycidyl resorcinol ether
dihydrosafrole
dimethoxybenzidine, 3,3'- [o-dianisidine]
dimethyl sulfate
dimethylamino)methylimino]-5-[2-nitro-2-furyl)vinyl]-
1,3,4 oxadiazole], t-2-[(
dimethylaminoazobenzene (also 4 or para-)
dimethylbenzidine, 3,3'- [o-toludine]
dimethylcarbamoyl chloride
dimethylhydrazine, 1,1-
dimethylhydrazine, 1,2-
dimethylvinyl chloride
dinitropyrene, 1,6-
dinitropyrene, 1,8-
dioxane, 1,4-
direct black 38
direct blue 6
direct brown 95
disperse blue 1

etc.....

epichlorohydrin erionite estradiol 17b estrone ethinyloestradiol ethion ethyl acrylate ethyl methanesulfonate ethyl-n-nitrosourea, n- ethylene dibromide [EDB] ethylene dichloride [1,2-dichloroethane] ethylene oxide ethylene thiourea ethyleneimine ethynodiol diacetate eugenol [oil of cloves] fluorouracil formaldehyde formylhydrazino)-4-(nitro-2-furyl)thiazole, 2-(2- furan furfaltadone glu-p-1(2-amino-6methyldipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]imidazole glu-p-2(2-aminodipyrido[1,2-a:3',2'-d]imidazole glycidaldehyde griseofulvin gyromitrin [acetaldeyde formylmethylhydrazone] hematite [ferric oxide] heptachlor hexachlorobenzene hexachlorobutadiene hexachlorocyclohexane isomers [e.g. lindane] hexamethylphosphoramide hydralazine hydrazine hydrazine sulfate hydrazobenzene indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene iron dextran complex isonizid [isonicotinic acid hydrazide] isosafrole kepone [chlordecone] lasiocarpine lead and lead compounds lindane mea-alpha-c [2-amino-3-methyl-9H-pyrido[2,3-b]indole] medroxyprogesterone acetate megestrol acetate melphalan [alkeran] mercaptopurine, 6- merphalan mestranol methotrexate [trade name=mexate or folex] methoxsalen therapy [PUVA] methoxypsoralen, 5- methyl bromide methyl chloride methyl chloromethyl ether methyl hydrazine [monomethyl hydrazine] methyl iodide methyl methanesulfonate methyl-1-nitroanthraquinone, 2- methyl-n'-nitro-n-nitrosoguanidine, n- [MNNG] methyl-n-nitrosourethane, n- methylazoxymethanol and its acetate methylazridine, 2- [propyleneimine] methylchrysene, 2- methylchrysene, 3- methylchrysene, 4- methylchrysene, 5- methylchrysene, 6- methylenbis(n,n-diemthylaniline), 4,4'- methylene bis(2-chloroaniline), 4,4'- [MOCA] methylene bis(n,n-dimethyl)benzeneamine, 4,4'- methylenedianiline, 4,4'- methylthiouracil metronidazole michler's ketone mineral oils (lubricant based oils and derived products) mirex mitomycin C monocrotaline morpholinomethyl-3-[(5-nitrofurfurylidene)amino]-2- oxazolidinone, 5-( mustard gas myleran [1,4-butanediol dimethanesulfonate] nafenopin naphthylamine, 1- naphthylamine, 2- nickel and some nickel compounds nickel carbonyl nifuradene(1-[(5-nitrofurfurylidene)amino]-2-imidazolinone) niridazole nithiazide nitrilotriacetic acid nitro-2-furyl)-2-thiazolyl]acetamide, n-[4-(5- nitro-ortho-anisidine, 5- nitroacenaphthene, 5- nitroanisole, o- nitrobiphenyl, 4- nitrochrysene, 6- nitrofen nitrogen mustard n-oxide nitrogen mustard [trade name=mustargen] nitropropane, 2- nitropyrene, 1- nitropyrene, 4- nitroso-n-ethylurea, n- nitroso-n-methylurea, n- nitrosoamines (chemical name includes nitroso) nitrosodi-n-butylamine, n- nitrosodi-n-propylamine, n- nitrosodiethanolamine, n- nitrosodiethylamine, n- nitrosodimethylamine, p- nitrosomethylamino)propionitrile, 3-(n- nitrosomethylamino)-1-(3-pyrdyl)-1-butanone, 4-(n- nitrosomethylethylamine, n- nitrosomethylvinylamine, n- nitrosomorpholine, n- nitrosonornicotine, n- nitrosopiperidine, n- nitrosopyrrolidine, n- nitrososarcosine, n- norethisterone norethynodrel ochratoxin A oestradiol-17 beta oestrone oil or orange SS oxydianiline, 4,4'- oxymentholone panfuran S [dihydroxymethylfuratizine] petasitenine phenacetin phenazopyridine phenazopyridine hydrochloride phenelzine phenobarbital phenoxybenzamine and its hydrochloride phenyl-beta-naphthylamine, n- phenylphenol, o- phenytoin (and its sodium salts) polybrominated biphenyls [PBBs] polychlorinated biphenyls [PCBs] ponceau 3R ponceau MX procarbazine procarbazine hydrochloride trade name=matulan progesterone propane sultone, 1,3- propiolactone, beta- propylene dichloride [1,2-dichloropropane] propylene oxide propyleneimine [1,2-propylenimine or 2-methylaziridine] propylthiouracil progestine quercetin reserpine saccharin safrole selenium sulfide senkirkine spironolactone sterigmatocystin streptozotocin styrene styrene oxide sulfallate sulfamethoxazole symphytine silica, crystalline sodium o-phenylphenate telone II (mostly 1,3-dichloropropene) testosterone and its esters tetrachlorodibenzo-dioxin [TCDD] tetrachloroethylene [perchloroethylene] tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin, 2,3,7,8- [TCDD] tetrachlorvinphos thioacetamide thiodianiline, 4,4'- thiotepa thiourea thorium dioxide tolidine, o- toluene diisocyanate [TDI] toluidine, o- toluidine hydrochloride, o- toluidine, p- toxaphene treosulphan triafur [2-amino-5-(nitro-2-furyl)-1,3,4-thiadiazole] trichloroethane, 1,1,2- trichloroethylene trichlorophenol, 2,4,6- trichloropropane, 1,2,3- tris(aziridinyl)-p-benzoquione [triaziquone] tris(1-aziridinyl)phosphine sulfide trade name=thiotepa tris(2,3-dibromopropyl)phosphate trp-P-1 [3-amino,1,4-dimethyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole] trp-P-2 [3-amino-1-methyl-5H-pyrido[4,3-b]indole] trypan blue uracil mustard trade name=uramustine urethane [ethyl carbamate] vinyl bromide vinyl chloride vinyl fluoride vinylcyclohexene, 4- vinylidene chloride [1,1-dichloroethylene] vinylidene fluoride monomer zearalenone zinc chromate

[cinFLA]

I've known lot of smokers, but I have yet encountered one who actually put the "ashes" in their mouth. Mostly, it's smoke...and while I wouldn't call their breath "Scope-fresh", I still haven't seen any ashes in there.

Someone dies from oral cancer every hour in the U.S.

The life expectancy of people who smoke is decrease by 14 years. What are the consequences of smoking?

1. Smokers lose an average of 14 years of life due to their habit.

2. With every puff of cigarette you breath in 4,700 different chemicals.

3. Smoking turns your teeth yellow by leaving sticky tar deposits which can also cause brown stains

4. Your fingernails turn yellow

5. Bad breath

6. Second hand smoke harms those around you

7. Smoker’s palate (red inflammation of roof of the your mouth)

8. You are more likely to develop calculus, plaque that hardens on your teeth and can only be removed during a professional cleaning.

9. Tobacco may also limit blood flow to gum tissue, restricting the necessary nutrients to the bone and periodontal support of the teeth.

10. Increased risk and severity of gum recession and gum disease leading to tooth and bone loss. Tooth loss in smokers occurs at a rate of 2.9 teeth every 10 years for men and 1.5 teeth every 10 years for women (two times the rate of tooth loss in nonsmokers). If you start smoking at age 18 and smoke a pack a day, you could lose four to five teeth by the time you are 35!

11.Smoking delays healing after any dental treatment and can lead to a condition know as dry socket after oral surgery .

12. Black hairy tongue .

13. Oral lesion.

14. Oral cancer of the mouth, pharynx, larynx and esophagus. Smoking causes 75 % of all oral cancer. The type of tobacco product used will dictate where the oral cancer will be located.

15. Smoking before and immediately after receiving periodontal therapy, bleaching, cosmetic dentistry, or oral surgery is not recommended.

16. Smokeless tobacco use leads to generalized early-onset periodontitis (gum disease) and an increased risk for oral cancer.

17. Loss of taste. 18. Less success with periodontal treatment and dental implants. 19. Tobacco use reduces the delivery of oxygen and nutrients to gingival tissue.

[cinFLA]

But I'd have to live life in seclusion(hardly possible in America), stay out of my car, stay off my motorcycle, build a bomb free burglar free shelter and have my supplies delivered to a safe location once the delivery guy left the premises before I scuttled back to my safety...

You forgot to mention looking for the bus coming before crossing the street and reading the warning labels before drinking out of strange bottles.

[laredo44]

Some 16 year olds have better functioning capabilities than some "adults" yet we allow those "adults" which many have very limited functioning capabilities to receive all rights but deny them to the sixteen year old.

If you have a better method of separating minors from adults, by all means propose it now.

[Paulus Invictus]

Well now, I've been to several war memorials including the huge ones in Hawaii and a number of memorials here in the states and Europe. I also visit rest homes quite often and try to cheer the residents. Most of the people there still have a desire to live, no matter their infirmities. As for their "regretting anything once gone" it has to do with whether or not there is a life after death, and that is a religious matter. I for one belive here is, hence the possibility of a regret for things we did against others and to ourselves while here., It's not a matter of argument, just opinion.

[FrankR]

I'm sure all of the anti-smoking groups in America are represented somewhere in your list of smoking related ailments and consequences.

Hello...some of these have been printed on the side of cigarette packs for over 20 years now.

WE KNOW.

A skydiver KNOWS his chute might not open someday...

A race car driver knows death might wait on the next turn...

Mountainclimbers know one slip of the foot, and it's all over....

Daily commutors know that they could be killed at any time by some crazy driver...

People know they might contract AIDS at anytime, and not only the ones who have sex...

Most homes are wrapped in electrical wires and appliances, which could electrocute, or cause fires at any time.

You could get a paper cut from reading a magazine...


Yet, divers still dive, drivers still drive, climbers still climb, commuters still commute, we still wire our homes, and new magazines are printed everyday.

I worry much more about a drunk, or inattentive driver killing me, than about some secondary smoke. I periodically check my home for fire and electrical hazards, but I can't control others' homes when I visit, or even public buildings to be so careful.

At the racetrack, the air if permeated with carbon monoxide, burnt rubber, dust, and other fumes, but no one is crying foul on that "secondary" emission. Haven't heard of a single death from "breathing" at the race track.

Some people have made it their "mission in life" to attack smoking, and smokers. Usually it's someone who had a loved one or a friend lost to some reported cause of tobacco. It's the same emotion that causes people to donate to the Heart Fund if their relative dies of a heart attack.

And, people who see these things, usually quit smoking... and that's good. But to impose personal fears on the rest of the public, is not good. It's nanny-state politics and generally being a busybody.

There are those who want to be totally sterile in this society...they don't want to see, hear, touch, or smell anything unpleasant. They have gone so far with being healthy with their anti-bacterial everything that their natural immunities have suffered and they get sick anyway.

If people want to smoke, let them smoke. If they are more than 10 feet from you, the parts-per-million of smoke in the air is so low, you can barely perceive the odor.

I would venture to say that, like me, most of the boomers alive today grew up in households with at least one smoker..and then they smoked in the house. If the "secondary smoke" urban legend was true, we would have all had cancer by the time we were 21 from Mom and Dad's smoke. Or, from hanging out in smokey bars and disco's in the 70's.

Oh, by the way...your little picture of someone's mouth is grungy...but IF that person had be - in any way - particular about his/her oral hygine, that would not have happened. Your mouth will also get that way from not brushing, not flossing, and general bad oral care.

Oh, and it STILL don't see any ashes in there.

[cinFLA]

And, people who see these things, usually quit smoking... and that's good. But to impose personal fears on the rest of the public, is not good. It's nanny-state politics and generally being a busybody.

One, they ususally do NOT quit smoking, and Two, it is good to publicly expose the harm that smoking does.

[cinFLA]

WE KNOW.

Then why do we have so many posts on this thread challenging the fact that smoking kills?

[cinFLA]

People know they might contract AIDS at anytime, and not only the ones who have sex...

Most people reduce the odds of getting AIDS by not engaging in certain types of sex. Most people reduce the odds of getting mouth, throat and lung cancer by not engaging in certain types of oral gratification.

[cinFLA]

If the "secondary smoke" urban legend was true, we would have all had cancer by the time we were 21 from Mom and Dad's smoke.

The UCLA study referenced by Judith and paid for by big tobacco confirms that SHS related coronary deaths has a +20% risk factor.

[cinFLA]

I worry much more about a drunk, or inattentive driver killing me, than about some secondary smoke.

Do you worry about primary smoke?

[FrankR]

"Most people reduce the odds of getting mouth, throat and lung cancer by not engaging in certain types of oral gratification"

If this is true, why aren't you unleashing the same amount of anti-everything venom on homosexuals and their oral habits? There is information that oral sex CAN cause mouth cancer too.

[FrankR]

"Do you worry about primary smoke?"

No. I don't smoke.

[FrankR]

"The UCLA study referenced by Judith and paid for by big tobacco confirms that SHS related coronary deaths has a +20% risk factor."

That's a very general finding. How much exposure to secondary smoke in parts-per-thousand? Exposure over what amout of time vs. parts-per-thousand?

And back in the 50's, with two parents smoking in the house, and a kid being in the house for say, 20 years before he leaves, why wasn't there a huge outbreak of lung and coronary diseases in the early 60's among young adults?

Everywhere you went then, somebody was smoking...hell, my doctor even smoked back then. The barbershop, grocery stores, and in the workplace. Even as recent as the mid 80's, we smoked at work at close-quartered desks. The non-smokers never complained, never coughed...not once; never filed any lawsuits and never asked us to stop. There was some asbestos removal to be done one time, and they took air quality tests before the work started - right next to my desk, and the parts-per-thousand of contaminates came out NEGLIGIBLE.

This SHS is lawyer and government invented to manifest their multi-million dollar lawsuits and to punish big tobacco for not donating to clinton.

I don't care how intense you are about your case against smoking, you still have no authority to try to control others who choose to smoke, anymore than you can control people who want to take a short bungie jump on a long bungie cord.

Maybe they'll have to get mouth cancer, lung cancer, have a heart attack, or stroke; maybe that's what it will take, but IF PEOPLE WANT TO SMOKE, THEY ARE GOING TO SMOKE, NO MATTER WHAT YOU SAY.

It doesn't matter if they go to $10 a pack, and are available only on the black market, people are still going to smoke. And, the more people like you get in their faces and tongue-lash them about it, the more they will be determined NOT to quit, as an act of defiance.

The trouble with liberals is they never take into account the "human factor [human nature]" when trying to indoctrinate the rest of us...you can't push a rope. Americans don't know how NOT to be free, and we have enough people trying to control us without adding the tobacco police.

A lot of the smokers in this country have been smoking for a long time, with no hassles or complaints...now, since the clinton regime kick started the media, there is an army of do-gooders out there - not just giving information about the dangers of smoking - but becoming tobacco-police.

I will take responsibility for myself, thanks anyway; I don't need a American Cancer Society clone following me around and scolding me for what I do. If I do something illegal, the police will get me, but until then, no tobacco nazi has jurisdiction over me.

Now, I've told you my stance on this as throughly as should be needed for anyone of average intelligence to understand, and I will now cease with this thread, as it is becoming a moot point.

It is quite obvious to all of us who are NOT in a coma, that cigarettes are not good for you - hell, we called them "coffin nails" in the 40's for crying out loud. No one has discovered anything we didn't already know about cigarettes.

Cigarettes damaged my health, and if someone were to ask me, I'd advise them not to smoke - but after that, they're on their own. It is not my place to lecture, quote facts, hand out phamplets, or call my Congressman about it. In fact, it is incumbent on me to mind my own business and be responsible for myself.

I don't care about UCLA studies, or Judith (who or whatever that is), because I would expect such findings from these liberal institutions.

You really can chill out with the anti-smoking ads, facts, and urban legends...I've heard them all, and your version is no more compelling than any of the rest of them I've heard.

The bottom line is, NO ONE is going to quit smoking - or skydiving - because self-appointed, holier-than-thou, I-don't-smoke-therefore-you-shouldn't-either, busybodies want them to quit.

[cinFLA]

I don't care about UCLA studies, or Judith (who or whatever that is), because I would expect such findings from these liberal institutions.

Judith is the poster that has probably posted more posts against me than anyother poster on this thread. She is on your side and brought out the UCLA study as proof that SHS smoke causes no problems. She said it was originally paid for by other sources but when the results were pro-smoke it was defunded. (Of course she didn't say that it was funded for the last two years by big tobacco!) She mentioned that the results were too controversial that it was censored in the US and the results were only printed in Europe.

Of course she didn't mention that the study confirmed that SHS kills; if you read the study and not just the headlines put out by the pro-smoking crowd. Obviously she had not read the study!

[cinFLA]

Everywhere you went then, somebody was smoking...hell, my doctor even smoked back then. The barbershop, grocery stores, and in the workplace. Even as recent as the mid 80's, we smoked at work at close-quartered desks. The non-smokers never complained, never coughed...not once;

Boy, are you ever so wrong. It it that arrogance that has caused the backlash against smokers!

[cinFLA]

If this is true, why aren't you unleashing the same amount of anti-everything venom on homosexuals and their oral habits?

You call the truth venom? Of course, if you don't like the truth, it is venom.