5 ms·

In the US, 14% of adults smoke. In California it’s under 12%. Among households with an income above $100k it’s 7% [0]. If you belong to a certain demographic t

In the US, 14% of adults smoke. In California it’s under 12%. Among households with an income above $100k it’s 7% [0]. If you belong to a certain demographic that is prevalent in this forum (upper middle class in California), the above is pretty much true. I can’t think of any person I regularly interact with who smokes. Globally, it’s a matter of time. [0] https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/index.htm https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adul...

noduerme 5y ago
I looked up the official rate where I live (18.1%), but I find it hard to believe, since virtually everyone I know smokes, at least casually. And the few who don't smoke, vape. Why do you care? Everyone knows the risks by now. It's never going away. You should find better things to do with your time than trying to control other people's behavior. Also, I'm originally from Cali and I make over $100k a year, but I'm hardly a unicorn since all my California friends bum cigarettes from me whenever I see them, even though they all "quit" years ago. California is just a miserable habitat where you can't enjoy a beer and a smoke at the same time unless you belong to a private club. And they all lie on the surveys.
- pedrosorio 5y ago
  Why do I care? I grew up in Portugal with asthma at a time when indoor smoking was allowed and prevalent. The progress in the past few decades has been amazing for my quality of life and that of all other people (specially children with smoking parents) who were regularly subjected to 2nd hand smoke from a young age through no fault of their own. EDIT: also it’s unclear to me how you got the message that I was “trying to control other people’s behavior” from my first comment
  - noduerme 5y ago
    I'm fine with bars banning smoking based on the owner's preference, but I think there is value in having places where people can congregate to smoke and drink, and I don't believe some people who don't like it have the right to ban other people from doing it everywhere. This is also in response to the other post above who said it had negative social and economic impacts. We pay extremely high taxes on tobacco to more than cover those costs. I personally don't smoke around children. But nothing is enough for some crusaders who want to prevent me from enjoying tobacco. It's the same impulse as people who want to ban alcohol or marijuana. Adults should have the right to do as they please so long as it isn't hurting others, and no, smelling diffused secondhand smoke outdoors is not giving you cancer any more than the exhaust from the cars or the fallout from Fukushima.
    - wizzwizz4 5y ago
      > smelling diffused secondhand smoke outdoors is not giving you cancer any more than the exhaust from the cars Bad analogy (or, rather, reasonable analogy, but it's not making the point you're trying to make). And smoking's a bigger concern for asthmatics; have you taken that into account? > and I don't believe some people who don't like it have the right to ban other people from doing it everywhere If you can smoke without polluting everybody's air, then sure, go ahead. Otherwise, please don't.
      - noduerme 5y ago
        Can you fart without polluting everybody's air? If so I'm sure I can light a cigarette. But to paraphrase Kansas... everyone's a fart in the wind
        wizzwizz4 5y ago
        > Can you fart without polluting everybody's air? Nope, but I adjust my diet to minimise the impact of my farting, and it pollutes the air much less. Plus, my farts aren't responsible for respiratory illnesses.
    - Nursie 5y ago
      > Adults should have the right to do as they please so long as it isn't hurting others Business owners don't get to decide that for their staff, is why it's banned in businesses too. You don't pay taxes to cover the health effects you have on other people.
      - noduerme 5y ago
        So make the staff sign a contract and give them hazard pay. It's no worse than working in a popcorn factory.
        Nursie 5y ago
        Making people who need work sign a contract which might result in them getting cancer is not something that society has generally deemed ethical. FYI - the harmful stuff in popcorn has been identified and removed too, because we don't let popcorn workers sign up to die either.
- ornornor 5y ago
  I care because 1. I don’t want to get cancer or damage my health as a result of smokers‘ poor life choices, 2. smokers diseases costs everyone a ton of money (universal healthcare or not, the premiums have to at least cover the costs), 3. there are many children who get to breath their parents second hand smoke who will develop health problems later or even a nicotine addiction as a result of their parents‘ poor life choices. It’s not just a matter of life and let live. One smoker on a terrasse or park ruins it for the 20 others who don’t smoke but get to breathe in the stench and the carcinogens.
- wildrhythms 5y ago
  Smoking directly affects non-smokers; either secondhand smoke wafting in the direction of non-smokers, or discarded cigarette butts littered about. I remember being a child riding into town with my aunt and uncle who smoked in the car with the windows up and not being able to articulate that I couldn't breathe. Smoking should not exist.

noduerme 5y ago

I looked up the official rate where I live (18.1%), but I find it hard to believe, since virtually everyone I know smokes, at least casually. And the few who don't smoke, vape. Why do you care? Everyone knows the risks by now. It's never going away. You should find better things to do with your time than trying to control other people's behavior. Also, I'm originally from Cali and I make over $100k a year, but I'm hardly a unicorn since all my California friends bum cigarettes from me whenever I see them, even though they all "quit" years ago. California is just a miserable habitat where you can't enjoy a beer and a smoke at the same time unless you belong to a private club. And they all lie on the surveys.

pedrosorio 5y ago
Why do I care? I grew up in Portugal with asthma at a time when indoor smoking was allowed and prevalent. The progress in the past few decades has been amazing for my quality of life and that of all other people (specially children with smoking parents) who were regularly subjected to 2nd hand smoke from a young age through no fault of their own. EDIT: also it’s unclear to me how you got the message that I was “trying to control other people’s behavior” from my first comment
- noduerme 5y ago
  I'm fine with bars banning smoking based on the owner's preference, but I think there is value in having places where people can congregate to smoke and drink, and I don't believe some people who don't like it have the right to ban other people from doing it everywhere. This is also in response to the other post above who said it had negative social and economic impacts. We pay extremely high taxes on tobacco to more than cover those costs. I personally don't smoke around children. But nothing is enough for some crusaders who want to prevent me from enjoying tobacco. It's the same impulse as people who want to ban alcohol or marijuana. Adults should have the right to do as they please so long as it isn't hurting others, and no, smelling diffused secondhand smoke outdoors is not giving you cancer any more than the exhaust from the cars or the fallout from Fukushima.
  - wizzwizz4 5y ago
    > smelling diffused secondhand smoke outdoors is not giving you cancer any more than the exhaust from the cars Bad analogy (or, rather, reasonable analogy, but it's not making the point you're trying to make). And smoking's a bigger concern for asthmatics; have you taken that into account? > and I don't believe some people who don't like it have the right to ban other people from doing it everywhere If you can smoke without polluting everybody's air, then sure, go ahead. Otherwise, please don't.
    - noduerme 5y ago
      Can you fart without polluting everybody's air? If so I'm sure I can light a cigarette. But to paraphrase Kansas... everyone's a fart in the wind
      - wizzwizz4 5y ago
        > Can you fart without polluting everybody's air? Nope, but I adjust my diet to minimise the impact of my farting, and it pollutes the air much less. Plus, my farts aren't responsible for respiratory illnesses.
  - Nursie 5y ago
    > Adults should have the right to do as they please so long as it isn't hurting others Business owners don't get to decide that for their staff, is why it's banned in businesses too. You don't pay taxes to cover the health effects you have on other people.
    - noduerme 5y ago
      So make the staff sign a contract and give them hazard pay. It's no worse than working in a popcorn factory.
      - Nursie 5y ago
        Making people who need work sign a contract which might result in them getting cancer is not something that society has generally deemed ethical. FYI - the harmful stuff in popcorn has been identified and removed too, because we don't let popcorn workers sign up to die either.
ornornor 5y ago
I care because 1. I don’t want to get cancer or damage my health as a result of smokers‘ poor life choices, 2. smokers diseases costs everyone a ton of money (universal healthcare or not, the premiums have to at least cover the costs), 3. there are many children who get to breath their parents second hand smoke who will develop health problems later or even a nicotine addiction as a result of their parents‘ poor life choices. It’s not just a matter of life and let live. One smoker on a terrasse or park ruins it for the 20 others who don’t smoke but get to breathe in the stench and the carcinogens.
wildrhythms 5y ago
Smoking directly affects non-smokers; either secondhand smoke wafting in the direction of non-smokers, or discarded cigarette butts littered about. I remember being a child riding into town with my aunt and uncle who smoked in the car with the windows up and not being able to articulate that I couldn't breathe. Smoking should not exist.