Smoking Lounge...

[Philo]

The main thing is that there's too much money in it. In Quebec, they get more tax revenue from cigarettes than they pay into the public health care system. How's that for irony?

I say that's what you people should do in the States. Tax the shit out of cigarettes and use the money to pay for a decent health care system. Do the same with marijuana and cocaine and you'll have a better health care system than Cuba even!

 

[DanCPA]

I say that's what you people should do in the States. Tax the shit out of cigarettes...

Ciggies already have some pretty hefty taxes on them!

 

[Philo]

I don't know much about it (it's State by State, right?), but from what I've heard, they're generally still a lot lower than they are here. And I was just being facetious.

 

[DanCPA]

I don't know much about it (it's State by State, right?), but from what I've heard, they're generally still a lot lower than they are here. And I was just being facetious.

Well, there are many in politics (usually the democrats) who would take your theory to heart and run with it.
As I don't smoke, it wouldn't affect me... but I don't like the idea of taxing these people just because they are doing something unpopular

 

[Holdfast]

Don't smoke, don't mind.

Well, at least in principle. I certainly don't mind the smell/feel of smoke in the air (I sort of like it, actually) but I do get a little annoyed when my clothes end up smelling of it because it takes an age for them to freshen up again. I don't want to spend money dry cleaning stuff just because of smoke. So I tend to dislike it a bit in very enclosed places.

 

[Captain Gandalf]

I'm a smoker, and although I only smoke in places where it's allowed, I find that those places are getting fewer and fewer.
The way it is now, smokers are more and more treated like criminals, and it has to stop at some point, or in ten years they're building concentration camps for them.
I agree that non-smokers should have the right not to be bothered by cigarette smoke, but equally, smokers should have the right to smoke.
If there's anything that really gets my blood boiling, it's a non-smoker telling me I should quit when he/she sees me lighting up a cigarette in a place where it's allowed. A non-smoker will never be able to understand what it is to smoke, and somehow the worst fanatics seem to be those who quit in the past. It almost seems they're jealous.
Courtesy should work both ways.
One more thing, and you can't underestimate this : when I started to smoke, 25 years ago, it was a time where smoking was "cool", and if you didn't do it, you were considered to be a "nerd".
In other words, many people started to smoke because of a certain "social pressure".
Now, 25 years later, the roles are reversed, and the "social pressure" is on the smokers to quit the habit that (in many cases), society caused in the first place.
Well, though luck! I'll only quit when it's completely my own decision, and not because of the nagging of non-smokers.
Maybe some people will jump all over me for what I stated above, but you know what? They won't be saying anything I haven't heard a hundred times before.

 

[jamestyler]

I'm a smoker, and although I only smoke in places where it's allowed, I find that those places are getting fewer and fewer.

That was touched upon on Question Time, or random debate show to non Brits, mentioning all the laws brought in for smokers including plans to hude cigarettes under the counter so children can't see them... while not really dealing with alcoholism or drug use on the same scale.

Which does seem a little odd.

 

[Capn Flukie]

I smoke 2 cigarettes a day and the after-work doobie.

My dad had a martini, I have a doobie.

It's a generational thing.

*hands teya a light*

 

[RoJoHen]

I smoke 2 cigarettes a day and the after-work doobie.

My dad had a martini, I have a doobie.

It's a generational thing.

I usually have a glass of milk.

 

[RJDiogenes]

I don't smoke, and I've never really understood it. I've often wondered who the hell ever thought of it to begin with; "Hey, I know, let's roll up some plant matter, light it on fire and suck the deadly, choking smoke into our lungs. That should kill some time."

Never appealed to me. It was even worse when I was a kid and just about everybody smoked. Every social gathering took place in a gray bitter haze that hurt your eyes and throat. There were ashtrays everywhere, piled high with ash and cups full of cigarette stubs; the ash would drift into the air and coat everything. It was repulsive.

The one good thing I can say is that I love the smell of cigars and tobacco. That's because one of the two places I used to buy my comics back in the 60s was the Cigar Store in Field's Corner. So whenever I smell a cigar or tobacco, I think I'm about to get a new issue of Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

 

[ITL]

The one good thing I can say is that I love the smell of cigars and tobacco. That's because one of the two places I used to buy my comics back in the 60s was the Cigar Store in Field's Corner. So whenever I smell a cigar or tobacco, I think I'm about to get a new issue of Fantastic Four by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.

And I associate the smell of bacon sammiches with the FF, as I used to get my comics from a market stall that was next to where they were sold...

 

[Goliath]

So, do you smoke and if so what is your preferences/thoughts? If you don't do you mind it, like or dislike, out right hate?

I am a regular pipe smoker, with a collection of about two dozen pipes. I generally smoke at home, except when I'm on research trips abroad: then, I generally smoke a bowl in the evening, in the nearest public park.

I don't usually smoke at work, since I don't have the option of just stepping outside for a quick puff: a pipe takes about an hour to smoke properly.

I also smoke cigars now and then, though I'm no aficionado. In fact, I generally smoke Backwoods--sold at fine convenience stores everywhere.

I used to be a cigarette addict, but in keeping with my personal philosophy of "indulgence, not compulsion," I now allow myself just one, whenever I complete a piece of writing, like an article or book. That works out to one or two a year.

This is made easier by the fact that I've grown to dislike the smell of most cigarette smoke. Compared to pipes and fine pipe tobacco, most cigarette tobacco is crap, and cigarettes themselves are just nicotine-delivery devices--the crack vials of tobacciana.

It wouldn't bother me if cigarette manufacturers went out of business entirely.

 

[teya]

I smoke 2 cigarettes a day and the after-work doobie.

My dad had a martini, I have a doobie.

It's a generational thing.

Hey teya... you are the teya from starscape, right? If so, how's the whole cloths design thing working out?

That's me.

The recession has put a hold on starting a clothing line, so I'm refocusing my efforts on patterns for hand-knitters (it's a surprisingly huge market) for now.

 

[Hermiod]

I'm not a fan of smoking in general. It makes people smell, for a start, and the smell of cigars reminds me of my father too much.

I don't see a lot of it on TV anymore which is why it surprised me when Woolsey and Sheppard started puffing on cigars at the end of a recent Stargate: Atlantis episode.

 

[May 20]

I'm another one who really doesn't understand the point of smoking. And while I generally am for lower taxes (or no taxes), I'm all for taxing both tobacco and alcohol to the absolute max.

But if I'm out in public and a smoker passes me or lights up in my vicinity, I'm not going to say anything unless they appear to be intentionally exhaling on my kids.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

I smoke and since Britain has banned smoking in pubs I've met a lot more people. Huddled together in a usually cheap lean-to around a heater which throws out less warmth than a 50W bulb, there is a certain comraderie. We seem to have much more fun, so much so we are infiltrated by non-smokers who want to know what the joke is. Thinking of putting up signs saying 'smokers only allowed'

 

[Cali]

I don't smoke and I don't like it one bit.

 

[K'Ehleyr]

Then you're not allowed )

 

[Pingfah]

I smoke and since Britain has banned smoking in pubs I've met a lot more people. Huddled together in a usually cheap lean-to around a heater which throws out less warmth than a 50W bulb, there is a certain comraderie. We seem to have much more fun, so much so we are infiltrated by non-smokers who want to know what the joke is. Thinking of putting up signs saying 'smokers only allowed'

Hey, well its bloody annoying when you are at the pub and suddenly 3/4 of your group all file outside and you have to stay and watch all their seats.

Makes me want to start smoking again

 

[nevermore]

^Somebody has to watch the seats. I'm sure you look very manly sitting there keeping all the girls' purses safe.