(The science had been deliberately "tainted" in the manner of todays AGW debate). YES............. and we can also add this thread to the "Freedom of Speech imposes a Duty of Responsible Journalism/advertising/ The Simpsons/and all the movies that the big guy seems to get his product on..mmm..one that seems to come under.........Are humans playing each other off, in the all too good hunting for the almighty dollar?

Makes you think:)

Jaws theme in the back-ground:)

LEAP

Lol Leap :) You have a way with words :)

I don't believe it is a disruption of smokers rights to insist they only pollute their own lungs- all by themselves.

They should accept non-smokers rights to NOT inhale second hand smoke from them though.

The biggest drivers of the anti-smoking machine are the Australian Medical Association.

They can't be accused of doing anything other than trying to save people's lives and/or enjoyment of life, given that smokers presently pay them probably the most in doctor's fees than any other group.

Give up smoking for your family's sake, if not your own.
You are forcing all the non-smokers in your family to smoke along with you...

Thanks for the link grputland...but alas I think they have little chance of success. The vested interests are just too loud and influential (very high cash flows in drugs!)
The semi-controlled nature of tobacco is actually causing similar problems to the fully banned substances: black market tobacco has increased massively since the recent tax increase. "Chop chop" tobacco is huge business and has resulted in murders in the tobacco growing regions.
And folks *have* actually suggested banning tobacco without any thought as to the downside. Not many I'll grant you, but even those who like the idea of small government, minimal market intervention, etc just *love* maximum social engineering via unworkable laws.
A "crime" is generally understood as one persons actions *against another*. The reason that passive smoking has been pushed so hard is that it justifies seeing smoking as a crime...not a personal choice. Whilst I agree with most of the smoking restrictions designed to minimise the impact, such as banning smoking indoors, I think we have to be careful to set limits on where the Law can and should apply.

pedestrian
I don't watch Madmen but I can imagine the scenario. A friend of mine lives in an apartment and can smell the smoke from the apartment beneath because his wife won't let him smoke inside so he puffs out the window. The smoke goes right up into her apartment. She has opted to keep her bathroom window shut when she knows they are home. Sometimes you just have to adapt, that is part of life. It would be intrusive to promote the idea of any regulation within the privacy of one's own home.

There is always a risk of regulation going OTT on any issue. However, to ridicule the rights of non-smokers by likening or reducing the argument to leaf blowers and garlic inhaling as though they are the same thing won't win anyone over unless they already sit in the pro-smoker's camp (ie. smokers rights over all others).

RObert's comment: "Legal intervention should be at a level that strikes a balance between "public good"(whatever that is) and personal freedom" is closest to my position but who determines or how does one find agreement about what constitutes "public good". In this case it comes down to medical evidence and public health.

Most of us have put up with our fair share of smoke inhalation in the workplace and in enclosed spaces, do smokers ever think it might be their turn to turn a blind eye or to tolerate someone else's needs. I developed adult onset asthma (now only mild) and it happened after working in highly smoke filled workplaces. There were no protections for non-smokers at all and we had to just lump it.

You will never get rid of smoking, it isn't possible but the devil is in the detail of how to ensure those habits which are intrusive on other's are dealt with fairly.

pelican - I do not smoke.(anymore)
Most Australian apartments are built to very poor (well below Europe) standards re
noise and other intrusions from other apartments( the one we lived in -every time any of the neighbors had a pest controller in we would be invaded by exiled cockroaches) The odd bit of smoke is just one of the drawbacks of the lifestyle.

Body corporates have virtually no real power - we could not stop apartments being used as defacto backpacker lodges . And as for noise-- very few apartments are built to contain the 5000 w outputs of most home entertainment systems. Compared to the endless Saturday afternoons filled with the endless car crashes and gun fire of most popular movies these days,that we endured, a occasional waft of smoke would have been bliss.

PS The fine particulates in diesel dust are bad for asthma ,carcinogenic and also provide a 'carrier' for other toxins ( e.g heavy metals and aromatic hydrocarbons) to pass deep into the body, I would stay well away from main roads if possible, it is roughly equivalent to smoking 2-5 cigarettes a week.

Yes Sue, your quite right. Common-sense is no compensator for good health:) However others have rights also......let I explain the true histories of the almighty tobacco planet.

( I,ll put in my own words ) Its better that way:)

Tobacco/planet matter has been enjoyed for 1000,s of years:)

Sue....I think that wins the peoples choice awards for the best story of all time:), dont you think?

"It's a well-known strategy of men. Church leaders declare Christian schools give kids a quality education and that religion serves the poor and needy, when really the end-game is indoctrination. A husband offers to duck out to the corner store adjacent to a TAB for some needed household groceries, five minutes before his hot tip jumps in the sixth at Randwick."

Sue! is this why the gov,s have to import workers? What century are we in again?:)

And as we go back in time, we see that tobacco, like religion....was once the corner store of all reality, but..............lets go back even further......drum roll.........Now people, I think by accident we have brought something from the past that doesn't correlate with our evolutionary speed trip.....and something tells me that bad habits are in-fact the way we make our money:)

H.G.wells...The time machine, does show who and how the Morlocks had gained the upper hand.......was Mr wells trying to warn us of our impending dangers?
I dont know:)

As long as the surface-people dont mind............I guess its alright.

I love this saying......Its your life.....well! thats what the Morlocks told me. He he he:)

Sorry....This was just a bed time story that my grand-father used to tell me.

Good luck:)

LEA