SMOKING KILLS

[Vyk]

So rape should be legal?

I am struggling to come up with some sort of crazy logic you must have used to relate that to what Shlup said about personal choice and failing. I can only assume it's a joking reference or parody, in which case its complete lack of sense would be appropriate.

When I first saw that I thought it was a sarcastic embellishment on the idea of the smoker being around, deciding for everyone that they should have his smoke in their lungs. And a rapist around, deciding for them that they should have his dick in their ass. In both instances he chooses what goes into their body

But knowing my luck I'm way off base

[Raistlin]

... wow, I did not think of that. I sincerely hope that there's no one in the world who could seriously make that argument. I don't have much hope left for humanity as it is.

[Shlup]

For the record, I do think smoking in public is really rude. So is farting in public. Making people smell your stink is rude.

It is not, however, similar to raping someone. A small fraction of a bad smell, no worse for you than the we Southern Californians inhale all day anyway, is not the same as being violently sexually assaulted.

I can't believe I even had to explain that difference. If anyone would seriously like to push the "smoking in public is comparable to rape" argument, please let me know so I can ban you for being too stupid to tolerate. I'm pretty sure that's in the rules somewhere, and, if it isn't, I will be sure to add it.

"Rule 45: If you are so stupid that your posts cause ShlupQuack physical pain, you will be instantly banned."

[Rye]

Oh god, what have I created.

[Vyk]

Whoa. I was just surmising what I thought he might be meaning. I wouldn't presume to say that's what he actually meant. And even if that is what he meant, I certainly wouldn't push that argument, and I highly doubt he was serious even if that is the case

[Shlup]

I know, Vyk; my comment wasn't directed at you.

[blackmage_nuke]

While I dont agree with smoking being as bad as rape I can see how someone who likes to keep their lungs nice and healthy by exercise and not smoking being forced to inhale second hand smoke is somewhat similar to raping virgins who like to keep their bodies pure. And just like rapists can give their rapee's stds/pregnancy, smokers can get the people they force to second hand smoke lung cancer.

So you know if everyone is ok with it then its consensual sex/smoking but if someone politely asks you to stop smoking/making sexual advances and you keep going then the smoker/raper should understand no means no.

Sorry Shlup while the comparison was overexagerated i do feel it is apt.

[Vyk]

While I dont agree with smoking being as bad as rape I can see how someone who likes to keep their lungs nice and healthy by exercise and not smoking being forced to inhale second hand smoke is somewhat similar to raping virgins who like to keep their bodies pure. And just like rapists can give their rapee's stds/pregnancy, smokers can get the people they force to second hand smoke lung cancer.

So you know if everyone is ok with it then its consensual sex/smoking but if someone politely asks you to stop smoking/making sexual advances and you keep going then the smoker/raper should understand no means no.

Sorry Shlup while the comparison was overexagerated i do feel it is apt.

I'm afraid this is where people will probably say suck it up and don't hang out with your friends who smoke. I understand the arguments for both sides. But in the end, if that's how someone feels then they need to decide between their lungs or hanging out with their smoking friend

[Bunny]

Oh man, I was joking, calm down! I do not think (and seriously hope nobody thinks) that smoking is, in any way, comparable to rape. I kidnapped Shlup's post and ran away with it in the completely wrong direction. Don't ban me!

[Shlup]

I assumed you weren't serious, but damn you for taking away my excuse to ban you. I was so close this time...

[Bunny]

Like you've ever needed a reason to do horrible things to me.

[kotora]

and here I was thinking mentioning rape on the internet could only lead to hilarity instead of serious business

[Raistlin]

Only if dickwolves are involved.

[NorthernChaosGod]

"Every limb is an erect phallus" XD

[Loony BoB]

Me? A non-smoker that doesn't like that smoking is legal? However did you guess?

Heaven forbid people be able to make their own decisions about what goes in their bodies. I suppose you'd like to see Big Macs outlawed too?

There are two ways to look at that, I guess. Firstly, "Because a Big Mac harms you, too!" - no, it doesn't. It has a high fat content and whatever, sure, but so long as you don't eat other overly fatty foods throughout the day, there is nothing wrong with eating a Big Mac. It's food, just like all other foods. There is nothing directly harmful about a Big Mac unless you have it in excess. One could even go as far as to say that a Big Mac could potentially make up part of a healthy diet on the condition that the other foods you ate throughout the day (and the energy you used up) balanced out.

Cigarettes damage your own body from the first inhalation and can damage the bodies of others as well. There is basically no health benefit whatsoever, and from what I understand only serve to relieve stress, provide some sense of warmth and to feed an addiction. The former two things can be done in other ways and the latter thing is not a true benefit and wouldn't be required if you didn't smoke cigarettes in the first place. Cigarettes also cause damage to unborn children yet there is no law against pregnant women smoking. I find this stupid, personally, but sadly there are so many people who argue for everything out there to be legalised, and also for everything that is legal now to stay legal forever regardless of the changes in knowledge over the years. If the problems with cigarette use were known to the general public at the time they first came into production I'm fairly sure they would have been classed a drug from then onwards.

I don't really feel at great risk from cigarette smoke, and the dwindling number of people who smoke in places I am these days means that I don't inhale much second hand smoke these days, either. But I want it illegalised because I fear that someday my children may take up smoking at a young age and then become addicted and ruin their body with that addiction. The fact that it's even illegal to do it as a youth pretty much sums up the fact that everyone knows that it's not good for you and that you shouldn't really do it if you want to be healthy.

I understand taxes can be higher due to cigarette smoking, too, but I'm not heavily bothered by that at the moment. Maybe other people might be. Either way, again, it's just another drug people can get addicted to. The only difference is that it doesn't work quickly. The downside of that is it's legal, and that means that people have it for a long time, which means that it is allowed to work slowly. Sort of like saying that if cocaine didn't damage you in a quick way then it would be totally cool to do it over time instead. It's pretty weird to me that some people don't understand why other people want it made illegal.

Still, that's just how I feel about smoking. Almost every friend I have at work smokes, and a bunch of friends I have outside of work smoke too. I gave up on lecturing for the most part, although there have been occasions where I have probably gone overboard with it from time to time.