I've never heard that...

If second-hand smoke is so deadly, why aren't smokers dropping like flies?

but, the thing is... it depends on the restaurant you go to... i think no one would be as idiotic to go and smoke at a McDonalds... but if you're at Ruby Tuesday's for example, that's why they have a smokers and non smokers section...

Because it's long term. Smoking targets your lungs and affects your breathing gradually until you develop a disease or die.

Have you ever seen a smoker's lung?

Not recently. A couple years ago the doc thought I had early emphysema, but that wasn't the case (yet).

Damn it.. I didn't see this thread early enough. As I said in the IRC Dave, smoking is bad for everyone.

If you have kids, and you smoke.. you are hurting them. They don't have a choice, and yet.. you make them inhale your smoke. They are young, and it is much more damaging to them.

In the city I live, smoking in restaurants is illegal because there is no difference btwn the smoking and non-smoking sections as sk8 said. Inside, it's all smoking or it's all not.

Dave,

Yes, second hand smoke is bad.
No, I do not agree with you on 'supply and demand' for whether it should be allowed. It's downright harmful, and nonsmoking sections are never fully clear of smoke.

Christina,

Yes, I agree. Smoking is very unattractive.

sk8ndestroy,

While I agree with the basic premise of what you're saying, there are benefits to smoking, like reduced stress and apetite. They don't balance out the whole dying of cancer bit for me, but for some people they might. The best argument is one that is completely true.

You smoke?

ok... i certainly know smokers will be with me in this...

i've got reasons to smoke: pay attention...

first, i'm elping to make this planet a better place for my children, or lets say the children of the children of the children of my children, since, the more cigarrettes i smoke, the more the cigar industry grows, and when a market grows, it means more production... and with more prouction, there is more tobacco... and with more tobacco, there is less food for tobacco... so, what will happen when the soil runs out of minerals for tobacco? it will not be possible to keep growing tobacco, and there will be no more cigars in the world... and, some might say, why not just buy the cigars and throw them away? well, that's because i'm not throwing away my money, so if i buy something, i use it...

second: i am preparing myself to extreme conditions... how do athletes prepare their body for competitions? going through heavy sessions of exercises... so... the same way athletes exercise their muscles for extreme situations... i prepare my lungs for extreme siuations... say, someone's house is burning... a non-smoker would not be able to survive all that smoke caused by the fire, but, a smoker, since has been preparing his lungs by providing them doses of smoke IS prepared to receive that smoke from the fire, and enter the house and save, say a child that is trapped, hiding under the dinning table... lol...

what do you think?

Smokers are dropping like flies. It's the leading preventable cause of death. Christopher Reeve's wife died of second hand smoke.