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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Tobacco.

"There are some circles in America where it seems to be more socially acceptable to carry a hand-gun than a packet of cigarettes." - Katharine Whitehorn



I know, this is an on-going debate, but I have to put my two cents in.

A commercial just aired on my TV, it's an old one, I've seen it a few years ago, where an old woman who had a tracheotomy (lung disease where they have the hole in their throat) talks about how the tobacco company fucked her over.

Now, this lady started smoking when she was 13, which was about 70-ish years ago, and around those times and before then, people didn't understand the dangers of smoking. That's acceptable.

However, a few years after that, and all the way to this day, everyone knows that smoking is "bad for you." It was even labeled on the cigarette packs that it may cause cancer or other lung and mouth diseases. Yet, people still smoked. Their choice, I don't judge them.

But then someone gets sick. They get a cardiovascular disease, a respiratory disease, mouth disease, lung disease, cancer, all that bad stuff. Hell, maybe even more than one.

So, who do they blame for them getting sick? The tobacco company. They do not take their own responsibility that they chose to start smoking. (Again, I'm talking about now, when people knew that smoking is bad for you, not when it wasn't confirmed or even assumed yet).

That pisses me off. While I myself don't like the smell of smoke, I don't care if someone does or not. If you are old enough to decide for yourself, and old enough to buy cigarettes, you are the only one to blame if you get sick. The tobacco company has bluntly said that yes, there are severe health risks attached to this, usually.  But since they're greedy bastards and make great money off of this, they're going to keep selling.

It's your choice to keep buying and smoking. Not theirs. If everyone is so pissed off at them and what smoking can do to you, why did you keep buying cigarettes?

And also, a lot of people who are so against smoking can get really annoying. They can be twenty feet away from someone who's smoking, in a smoking area of the restaurant or outside of one, and they'll make obvious little remarks and movements that the smoke is "bothering" them. They'll wave their hand in front of their face furiously and scrunch their nose and say, UGH!! When you usually can't even smell it that much, if at all. Or, like my grandma, will walk right by the smoker and glare and make comments just loud enough for them to hear about how smoking is disgusting.

Yes, it is, but it's their chose to smoke, it's a smoking area, you have no right to complain if you are willingly going to a place that allows smoking in or around their business.

Also, it is not guaranteed that you will get cancer or some sort of disease from smoking. It's just a big "possibly," really. Depends on your health. There's a lot of people who have smoked for years and they're healthy as a horse.

And why don't people make this big of a deal about alcohol? That's pretty much just as bad, and can ruin someone's life in more ways than just making them sick. I've had second hand experience with this. At least with smoking, they're sober and stay sober (unless they're also drinking, too. You get what I mean.) Smoking doesn't alter your state of mind. You get a buzz and that lasts for a couple minutes, that's it. But no, you don't see people attacking the liquor or beer companies. Not as much or often, at least.

13 comments:

  1. People are just really stupid. It's HER fault she started smoking. Not the companies. o.O And alcohol should definitely be known as just as bad. It's poison. That's why you throw it back up and get a hangover.

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  2. I have a package of cigarettes from Turkey, and the package warning actually reads: Cigarettes
    WILL kill you.

    Made me laugh.

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  3. Jodie - You throw it up if you drink more than you should :P But very true nonetheless!

    Border - hahaha that's pretty funny :D

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  4. You have smoking areas INSIDE a resraurant? My God, I forgot those even existed!

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  5. Anna - LOL yeah, it's really stupid.

    Tom - usually anywhere that has TV's inside you can smoke at the bar, they're not found often though.

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  6. I totally agree! I actually like the smell of smoke, even though I don't smoke cigarettes myself, so I'm never bothered by smokers anyway haha. But really, it's their choice so the obvious correct thing to do would be to accept responsibility. I know plenty of smokers in that mindset who say "I know it's bad for me, but that's the choice I make." Seems smart to me.. why bother trying to blame someone for what is obviously your own decision?

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  7. I wish I would have never started. I was 14, trying to fit in. I hate it now. I've been trying to quit for over a year, and succeeded a couple times, to relapse. I've lost much family because of it. Terrible thing is, it's addicting. More addicting than heroin in some cases. I will continue to try and quit until I succeed, and leave this filthy habit behind! Kudos to you for not liking it, keep it that way :)

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  8. Totally agree with this, also I thought you'd like to know I've decided to follow your blog. After reading a few posts, you're pretty darn good at making just writing interesting. I'm bad at that so I tend to add pictures and music to my blog :D
    On the subject of smoking though, my uncle did for the longest time. When he was younger he was going through a lot and turned to drugs and things but he actually pulled through and a few years back I asked him to stop smoking as a Christmas present for me and he worked so hard to that he actually did. Which was awesome. Of course, he got realllly extremely cranky during the process because it was something his body was used to having. So Jezebel, I wish you luck and hope you're able to quit. It's hard getting there but it's totally worth it :)

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  9. Haha thanks! I wish my english teacher thought the same xD

    And yeah, when my boyfriend tried stopping one time, he got really cranky too, and he's always really chill lol

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  10. Yes, their choice. However, they probably didn't expect to be enslaved by them through the hundreds of chemicals that are put in cigarettes for the purpose of addicting people. How many people do you know who aren't enslaved by tobacco, alcohol, and/or anti-depressants? One or two? None? It's population control really.

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  11. Enslaved? That's a funny word to use. They have the warnings that it's likely to cause cancer and other diseases, and the other major warning is that it's addicting. If anyone starts smoking and thinks, "I can just quit when I want," then they're just stupid. Still not the tobacco company's fault for that.

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  12. People continue to keep smoking because they are addicted. At that point it's hard for them to stop, and usually when they started they were idiot teenagers who don't really care about they're future at that point. I'm not saying smoking is good, not saying that at all, but people who smoke in todays society get so much crap because they made a few bad decisions. And I definitely agree that drinking is just as bad an issue.

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  13. People continue to drink because they're addicted, too. Drinking is just as bad, if not worse. At least from personal experience and then some.

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