Smoker Friendly, Nederland, CO - Camel Lights - $3.90 per pack, $31.90 per carton.

Taxing smokes for other uses is funny to me. Politicians say it will help some quit, but use the money for schools, roads, whatever. If everybody quits, how will we continue to fund these programs?

I also like the smoker-haters, they tend to be really crazy. Some of the comments I have read from these people are out there.

I have a buddy, Kip, who quit cold turkey when his doc told him he wouldn't see his son graduate if he didn't. His wife kept putting the money from his one to two pack a day habit into a hidden savings account and after two years, she bought him a brand new Polaris 500 H.O. ATV. They don't have a lot of money (he drives an old Chevy truck with 223,000 miles on it) and to say that he was "shocked" that he would have smoked that away was an understatement, to say the least.

just saw a sales ad in the paper yesterday.....down in clearbrook VA, there is a place where most of the big name cigs are less then $30 a carton.

Everyone know smoking is bad, but if it's your choice to do it, then fine it's your body your life. Smoke it away. Just don't like the whole tobacco advertising to kids.....

This was a billboard ad in the move Idiocracy....

If you don't smoke Tarryltons... Fuck You!

awesome movie... oww my balls!

I roll my own and have been doing so for 10 years. The cost is $0.70 per pack. They are better and burn way longer than a Marlboro. They look perfect.
I never wake up and say "Shit, I'm out of smokes".

Awesome? More like sadly prophetic. The first 5 minutes or so of that movie say a lot about what's happening in America today.

Anyway, I don't care if anyone smokes...as long as they're not near me. I support bans on smoking in public, but efforts to ban it outright or in people's homes, while logical, seem like a reach.

What amuses me is what I discovered about irrational fear during my airline career.

U.S. smoking-related deaths per year: over 350,000
U.S. airline accident deaths yearly: approximately 120 (none in 2007)

People who smoke like chimneys: many. People terrified to fly: many more. Makes sense, doesn't it?

Actually, it does....

1. They aren't in control on the airplane.

2. A death by plane crash *looks* more horrific than death by cancer. (Even though (at least for me) most would rather die the quick death in a plane crash than a long drawn out one of cancer.)

X2. turbulence on take off and landing still kinda freaks me out. an individual might not realize the consequences of his or her actions until its too late, when it comes to smoking

Sorry, not buying it. The hazards of smoking are so well known that no one can say, "Oh, I didn't realize smoking was so bad for you."

You guys should have been around during my father's last hours. If you saw what cancer does to people before they die, you might never smoke again. Same for emphysema. Horrific diseases and both KNOWN to be caused by tobacco use.

As for the 'not in control' when flying argument, that's true, but the people who ARE in control are highly-trained professionals who don't want to die any more than you do. Your odds of going a lifetime as a frequent flier without getting so much as a scratch are clearly far better than the odds of living a long, healthy life while sucking cancer sticks.

Smokers stink - literally. If you're a smoker and you think otherwise, it's because you're used to the stench. I know this because both my parents smoked and it was only after I moved out that the realization hit me that they and their home reeked. To their credit, they both ultimately quit.

It's also BS that in an 8-hour workday smokers are taking 4 or 5 extra breaks of 10-15 minutes each. That's at least an hour a day so figure half a workday a week outside puffing while others pick up the slack. Utter horses**t.

And ever notice that women may be shown in ads or movies holding cigarettes but are rarely shown taking a drag? That's because the ugliest woman in the world is one with a cigarette in her mouth.

I mean no offense, and I understand it's not just an easy choice to quit, but that's the hard truth, at least from where I sit.

well the state of maryland just placed a smoking ban on all restaurants and bars. they thought it would hurt the business, but its actually made it better IMO. its so nice to be able to go in and have a few drinks and when you go to leave, you dont smell like smoke. but when someone does go outside to smoke and then comes back in, when they walk past it makes you cough because they reek of smoke. one of the reasons i got rid of my ex, she started smoking.

But you've hit the nail on the head right there - most people haven't been in that situation - including smokers.

I saw what it did to my oldest friend's mom. But it doesn't matter how much I tell people about it - they weren't there.

You can tell people how horrific war is...but unless you've been there...you have no idea.

Definitely a valid point.

Of course, there is that Google thing...

You're right though, the difficulty of learning through others' experience is a shortcoming we all share.

Yeah, I know how dangerous smoking is. Yet I still do it. Paint me a fucking idiot.

That aside, banning smoking and all that is the chic thing to do right now, just like the whole gay marriage thing was a couple of years ago. Want to ban smoking in government buildings? I got no problems with that. Want to ban them in private businesses? That should be left up to the owners. Period.

There have been numerous articles here about smoking bans hurting business around here. Sure, it's great for non-smokers, but the owners are losing money, and they don't like it (and rightly so). The thing is, you can't even open up a smoker's bar (cigar bar) here anymore. What's next, you can't open up a bar that allows people to drink?

Crucify smokers all you want. What's a joke is DUI's and how we treat them in this country. Talk about a person dying at the hands of another.

Tennessee passed a non smoking law recently. You can be a smoking establishment if your 18 and older only. A bar near my work did that and hasn't seen any loss in business. BW3s on UT campus banned smoking and it has hurt them. In response they are building an outdoor bar on the patio to tend to smokers. They'll still see some loss but not as much.

I smoke, and will quit at some point but right now I'm not ready. $10 a pack? I'd quit for sure!

You're absolutely right about DUIs. If some long prison terms were handed out it might make people think twice.

As for smokers, I don't want to crucify them, I just don't want them smoking around me. Fair enough?

BTW, what do you guys think about employers refusing to hire tobacco users? Supposedly one of the suburban governments here in Atlanta is planning to adopt such a policy. I'm all for it, but it's arguable that obesity also causes increased health costs, etc. so what about that?

We got that impression too. Lot's of people that should be breeding, aren't. Lot's of people that REALLY shouldn't be breeding, are. Still, the movie was funny!

It's just another form of discrimination. It opens a whole can of worms. Soon it will be people that drink, people with diabetes, people with arthritis...once it starts it won't stop until we get to the whole Demolition Man dystopia.

More like Gattaca with its genetic screening for suitable jobs. Demo Man was more about social order & censorship.

Isn't it only valid to call it discrimination when the characteristic is involuntary? For example, people can't choose their gender or race but they can choose whether or not to smoke.

the reason for companies to not want to hire smokers is quite easy, it costs the company more on health insurance to cover a smoker than a non-smoker. thus they choose not to do it.

Nope.

Guess you missed my whole post, huh?

I think the most obvious example that fits your theory is obesity. Doesn't seem like as great as risk as smoking but it's arguably at least in similar territory for long-term health implications.

Still, I favor tobacco-free environments simply because it's far more pleasant and more fair (see my earlier post ref smoke breaks). Plus I tend to agree about taxing the s**t out of cigarettes with proceeds going to cancer research or something similar. (Don't worry, no risk to virtual smoking. )