Reply #84: I am constantly amazed regarding this issue

[NoBushSpokenHere]

There are so many more toxic elements in our environment that are 1,000 times or more dangerous than walking past or sitting near a smoking section. I have always been amazed at the energy put into the conservative movement to ban smoking. I am equally amazed at the liberal Democrats buying into this forced governmental control issue! If this same energy could be put into working on real environmental pollutants, we may be able to clean up our world!

Yes, I am a smoker. I know my health would be better if I quit smoking, but it would also be better if I ate healthier, exercised more and had cleaner air to breath or water to drink as a result of tighter control over corporate polluters.

I know several non-smokers who died of lung cancer or contracted asthma. These cases were attributed to carcinogens in their work environment. Just wait until we are all forced to stop smoking and the cancer rate continues to climb. People will realize then that it isn't the cigarettes it is the environmental problems coupled with inherited traits that are the largest contributing factors to cancer.

I realize non-smokers do not like the smell of my smoke, but to a smoker, the habit is just as much a part of them as hair or eye color. Asking a smoker to refrain from smoking is like asking a person to blindfold themselves or to cut off their ears for a few hours while others converse. I know it is difficult to understand the addiction, but believe me when I tell you, it is a rejection of a person when you say, just don’t smoke in a restaurant or bar. Right or wrong, cigarettes are just as much a part of the person as each of our senses.

I refuse to eat in restaurants that do not permit me to smoke. I do not expect my non-smoking friends to be exposed to my smoke and refrain in their presence. I refuse to utilize hospitals which do not have smoking areas for friends and family of their patients. I refuse to purchase vehicles without a smoker’s package. In fact, I have walked out of car dealerships because I learned the owner did not permit their sales force to smoke on their property.

I do respect others rights to not have to smell my smoke, but this issue has become much more than ridiculous, it has become another noose around the necks of our liberties. I personally have allergies to chemicals including perfumes and colognes. Do I ask department stores not to spray samples in the air? Do I ask them to remove their perfume or chemicals from their stores?