Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Cecilia on January 26, 2011 at 10:31am

Yes, back in the days when smoking was allowed every where but just when moves were being made to limit it more and more I remember lots of complaints from smokers about their rights (they are still complaining) and often wondered how they feel if I felt free to sneeze all over their food.  One time I was in a crowded restaurant, tables v. close together and I was in my first trimester of pregnancy (all day nausea).  So, this older couple sat down next to us, ordered drinks and then lit up just as my appetizers came.  I did ask the waiter if we could move, mind you, did not ask them to stop smoking, just asked if we could move away from the smoking.  And, get this, they had the nerve to say how rude we were to say anything against their smoking.  Oh, how I wished that my nausea had manifested itself as puke all over those morans.  I am totally sure if they are still alive today that they are major Tea Partiers....

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Permalink Reply by T A A on January 26, 2011 at 10:44am

George Carlisle on the ridiculousness of public smoking spaces...

A smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a pool.

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Permalink Reply by Cecilia on January 26, 2011 at 10:51am

I love it!!

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Permalink Reply by Richard Raymond on February 6, 2011 at 1:29pm

Scientific evidence has proven that smoking can cause lung cancer.  Some people (20% or so) have some kind of immunity to it.  I don't care if you smoke, don't do it in my presence, because more evidence has shown that second hand smoke also causes cancer.  Besides, it stinks, you look ridiculous with something hanging out of your mouth, it's not cool by today's standards, you could be doing something much more constructive than sucking in smoke and blowing it out!  If you want a high, there are a lot of other alternatives.  I've seen too many people die a horrible death from excessive smoking ( both my parents included).  Last thing I remember my mother telling me on her death bed was, " Rick, I wish I would have listened to you about smoking".  She died 2 days later.  This image will always be imbedded in my memory.  When you see people still smoking after a heart operation, people wheezing barely able to breathe and always having to go outside to get their fix, it totally disgusts me.  The tobacco companies are laughing at us! Go ahead have another cigarette.  Puff, puff, puff, until you smoke yourself to death!

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Permalink Reply by Ken on February 8, 2011 at 5:52pm

I'd be more afraid of the radiation in microwaves, that destroy 90% and more of cancer fighting agents in our food. We're a fat, greedy country (as a whole). Are we really to believe that cigarettes alone are the cause of our cancer?! People have been smoking tobacco since before America. Cancer increases have gone up DRASTICALLY since the 1950's. What changed in the 50's?? The introduction and ENORMOUS consumer use of microwaves and microwaved food. Radiation people. IT KILLS.

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Permalink Reply by Kris Feenstra on February 8, 2011 at 6:32pm

"Are we really to believe that cigarettes alone are the cause of our cancer?!"

 

Of course not, but at the time much of the anti-smoking campaigning really gained force, smoking was one of the most ubiquitous carcinogens consumed strictly for recreational purposes.

 

"Cancer increases have gone up DRASTICALLY since the 1950's. What changed in the 50's??" 

The introduction and ENORMOUS consumer use of microwaves and microwaved food. Radiation people. IT KILLS.

 

Do you have a reliable source for the supporting data?  Have incidences really gone up dramatically, or are there other factors affecting the numbers.  Is there actually a documented correlation between the increase in microwave usage and cancer rate?

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Permalink Reply by Ed on February 9, 2011 at 8:46am

Microwave energy is used to excite/vibrate the water molecules of foodstuffs and generate heat. I am not aware of any residual radiation that results from this process. If the seals on the microwave are in good order the small amount emitted is contained. 

 

More worry should be directed at your cell phone: that thing pressed against your skull...    :^ )

 

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Permalink Reply by Ed on February 9, 2011 at 9:06pm

Jesting about what?  No amusement intended.....

 

The operation of microwave cookers or cell phones?

 

I haven't conducted any lab tests on mine but a properly sealed microwave oven SUPPOSEDLY contains 99.9% of  the microwave energy to  inside the unit, according to manufacturers:

 

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

Several countries, as well as the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the International Committee on Electromagnetic Safety (ICES) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), have set a product emission limit of 50 watts per square metre (W/m2) at any point 5 cm away from the external surfaces of the oven. In practice, emissions from modern domestic microwave ovens are substantially below this international limit, and have interlocks that prevent people being exposed to microwaves while the oven is on. Moreover, exposure decreases rapidly with distance; e.g. a person 50 cm from the oven receives about one one-hundredth of the microwave exposure of a person 5 cm away. 

 

Radon is a bigger concern for me.....    :^ )

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Permalink Reply by Troy C on February 9, 2011 at 9:01am

Fear sells... people stay tuned for fear. They have to know what is going to kill them tomorrow. That's what the Rally to Restore Sanity or Keep Fear Alive was about.

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Permalink Reply by Lisa on February 9, 2011 at 11:20pm

Smokers will always defend smoking because they are addicted.  I was a staunch defender for 20 plus years until I felt that I was aging faster than I should be and I finally bit the bullet and quit.   Now I see that all my excuses for enjoying it and thinking it calmed me were nothing more than  my body demanding my addiction be fed. 

Smoking will kill you eventually, but if it waits til your 80, it will make your last couple decades  a living hell.   People can defend it, but until they've actually quit and can experience both sides of the argument,  arguing "for" smoking is just the addiction talking.  

 

Since I'm a nurse, I can remember years ago, how many people walked around with oxygen tanks, only to turn them off, have a smoke, and turn them back on to resume breathing.   COPD was rampant.   Now that there are less smokers, you don't see it as much.    Heart disease, diabetes and obesity are all made worse by smoking, but the COPD is right there in your face and unless you're a severe asthmatic, smoking is pretty much the ONLY cause of it and its crippling.  I just got off the phone this evening with a long time friend and smoker.  He could barely finish a sentence.  Its really no way to live.

 

If anyone is needing some help quitting, try Whyquit.com.  It's the best resource I have ever seen to quit smoking and I used it extensively when I quit.

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Permalink Reply by T A A on February 10, 2011 at 3:19am

Not only are there less smokers, but those who do smoke a lot less... both my parents used to smoke 3 packs a day, that was back in the day when it was 25 per pack, and they were "King Size". My parents smoked from age 13, as did my brother and sister.

 

From what I've seen with my families multiple attempts at quitting... my mother was always so moralistic and so judgemental of everyone, yet could not see her own addiction. I think she did not admit to herself that she was an addict before age 55. My brother, tho he was the first to quit (but he hops back on now and then) also does not confess to addiction. My sister suffered other drug addictions on top of nicotine, she also refused to call smoking an addiction, she said she smoked because "she likes it". I'm always a little surprised at how society treats alcohol addiction differently from nicotine addiction. In North America, nicotine companies are no longer allowed to market to youth, and in Canada, they're longer allowed to sponsor large events such as music festivals or sporting events. Taking out advertising is a huge factor... unfortunately, marketing to youth is still full blown in on other continents. I've read about raves in Europe that are sponsored by nicotine companies, where smokes are given out for free to youth, even though this practice is banned.

 

I am curious to see how the nicotine inhaler, such as grandiosely advertised in The Tourist. It will reduce combustion based toxins and particulates, but the nicotine and farming chemicals will still be highly present. If I'm not mistaking, health problems such as COPD are due to the combustion, not the nicotine molecule per se?

 

My mom had stopped for 10 years, she is 67 and vegetarian, and has just started again, while on vacation down South. As with alcohol... once an addict... always an alcoholic... always a cigarette smoker. Quitting for good is a work in progress.

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