Nonsense about smoking!

I was about to have a rant in the Whiner's section, but as it was a media-related rant, I thought it would be more appropriate to make a thread about it here.

Does anyone else get REALLY pissed off by the utter crap the media feeds the world with regards to smoking? Mass brainwashing is an understatement! Apparently, smoking one cigarette LITERALLY takes 10 minutes off your life. Bullshit. There is no possible way that could be proven. Everywhere I turn, I'm confronted with anti-smoking this, anti-smoking that...at school, in the street, on the radio, on TV, on the computer...I'm 14. I smoke. I'm certainly not addicted, I can go weeks without smoking and get absolutely no symptoms whatsoever. My only problem with cigarettes is getting rid of the preconceptions I've had drilled into my head regarding smoking since I was literally a baby. It's truly ridiculous.

Would it not be better to neither enourage nor discourage people to smoke, take drugs, and drink? And to give people honest information rather than nonsensical rumours tailored specifically to force guilt on people? In my opinion, making informed choices after getting honest info from unbiased sources is the way to go.

 

That '10 minutes off your life' things (I think I've usually heard 5 minutes) is a good way to fool people who don't understand statistics. It's all a numbers game: out of people who smoke their whole lives, how much shorter than their life expectancy if they didn't smoke do they live? Now how many minutes per cigarette smoked, on average, does that work out to? About ten (or five). But if you smoke one cigarette now and never smoke again, obviously it will have zero effect on your lifespan.

 

lol stop smoking now, ever notice the fact most smokers start at 14 years old then keep on going for decades. Everyone isn't addicted at some point. Smoking a few dozen cigarettes in your life will do no harm, when you're smoking 5 packs a week, 52 weeks a year after 20 years it begins to add up.

 

Yeah, all the friends and family I've lost due to lung cancer/smoking complications is soooo bogus. It's definitely just a rumor I started that they got sick and/or died. Actually, they all just drifted away to Happy Funtime Smoking Land where they live in little tobacco huts and are free to frolic and play with all the other happy, healthy smokers!

 

That's a confusing first question hahaha
Yes it's exactly what people should do; choose, encourage, and discourage based on information. the mass media is way brainwashed.

as for your smoking, don't forget ALL preconceptions that were put into your head as a kid cuz you might find them useful if you do get more and more attached. When people get addicted and stop cold turkey, disgust is what helps immensely.

Stick to weed and foget cigs

 

Did I ever say it isn't true that people die from diseases/problems caused by smoking? No, I did not. The RUMOURS I speak of are nonsensical, UNPROVEN theories and statistics with no reputable sources.

My sympathy goes out to you and your family, but please keep your sarcastic comments to yoursef. If you don't have anything nice to say, please don't say anything at all.

 

Define "nice"

For decades the government dragged its feet on doing anything in the face of mounting evidence that habitual cigarette smoking impacted peoples health and life expectancy. A little historical tour of old magazine ads would reveal among other things, professional athletes endorsing certain brands and the claim that some brands were even GOOD for the lungs.



Finally a 1966 "victory" in the form of a singular Surgeon General's warning label on each package. The tide has gradually turned against tobacco companies and the government has turned on them too- probably because shrinking revenues have limited their ability to contribute to political campaigns... which is done on the understanding that the candidate will support industry friendly legislation.

As far as basing decisions on unbiased sources... good luck with that because finding a truly unbiased source of information is at best extremely challenging and what most people mean when they say "unbiased" is really a bias that matches theirs.

Yes the government is truly concerned with public health but don't be fooled into thinking that it is in favor of everyone being healthy and not in need of interventionist medicine. If the U.S. government was REALLY in favor of better (and affordable) public health cigarettes would be illegal and we would be able to shop prescription drugs in Canada. Health issues present an opportunity for profit and by no means would the government-corporate alliance truly want to see the market for medical services dry up.

The media messages you decry are likely government sponsored. It's as much for the purpose of furthering the propaganda that the oh-so-benevolent nanny-state cares about your health as well as mine... but the truth is they do not. They are betting on continued tobacco sales by the ever increasing tax rate being applied to it... and they hope to close budget gaps through collections generated by addiction.

Truth and honesty may be better from our perspective but such fact burdened rhetoric is very dangerous for those in charge.

 

It may take 10 mins off your life, but it takes it off the end, when you are old an wrinkly and waiting to die anyway

 

You've never seen a person get lung cancer in their 40's I take it?

 

If it's so bad, they should stop selling at once, but no! All these anti-smoking campaigns do just one thing - Time to increase cigarettes prices.

 

Everyone bitches about ciggerette prices, but in the end society has to foot the bill for your oxygen tank and chemo. So I dont think those prices are totally unwarented. Say what you want about the media, but there has been plenty of non biased medical research on the topic as well

 

You can't ban something that a 1/3 of the population is addicted to and has been for centuries, not to mention is a staple export and domestic sale.

As for cigarette prices though, if health bills later in life are a legitmate excuse then fatty foods, sugary foods, or just fat people period should be taxed. Obesity costs the US health care system more then smoking, and don't give me genetic bullshit, just look at obesity rates between now and 25 years ago, most people are fat by lifestyle choices.

 

Every day I get up and take a hit from my Mometasone inhaler. Then I take a hit form my Foradil inhaler, then a hit from my Albuterol inhaler. The first two I repeat in 12 hours and the last every four hours. I wake up in the middle of the night gasping for air and take another hit of the Albuterol.

I cough up at least 2 ounces of flem every day. If I miss my medicine for a day, I pass out from coughing. Before I was diagnosed and treated for COPD I passed out while I was driving one day from coughing and wrecked my pickup.

My family has a longevity history into the mid nineties, but at 62 I will likely live only a few more years. That's 30 years of life. How much does that translate per cigarette? It doesn't matter to me.

Is this unbiased enough for you?

.

 

I agree fat people need as much if not more health care later in life, however unhealthy foods are not the only cause to this problem. Im in great shape and I still eat fast food and chips and pop exc. obviously physical fitness is another component and although you do not want me to say it genetics. You cant tell me that professional athletes do not have a genetic advantage over you and me. cigarettes on the other hand can be directly linked to health problems that are the fault of cigarettes alone.

It is true that unhealthy food is plauging the modern world but that comes with a capitalist society. raising the prices of unhealthy food probably wont do much because there is still a demand for it. I think the obesity issue is one that will be solved through better youth education and physical fitness programs. Also an improvement in the standard of living. Many people can not afford to buy better food such as organic foods or locally grown foods. They rely on cheap grocery store, genetically modified, corn syrup injected foods.

 

I think this is the biggest problem. Almost all food is fast food these days. McDonalds, et al, are the biggest buyers of food, and therefore the growers and processors are geared to their specifications. Whether or not you go to McDonalds, you still eat their food.

Genetically modified is actually good in most instances if done with health in mind.

 

Ok, I guess I've never heard these apparent unproven rumors you speak of. The extent of my knowledge is... decades of legit research have proven that smoking is bad for you and people die from it, and it especially sucks when someone dear to you dies from it. Doesn't sound like nonsense to me. That is all.

 

yeah true gentically modifying food is a great thing, i just wrote it quickly. I guess i was just thinking of processed foods and non food products that are used in foods like aspartame, msg, and a whole bunch of preservatives not genetically modified foods.

 

I don't know why some people have such a problem with that. Genetic modifications are mostly for disease and drought resistance. Hybrids are basically genetic modifications arrived at in a different manner.

 

I was smoking in this one restaurant, right?
And this granola eating starry eyed liberal douche walks up to me and gives me this nonsense about "his son has grievous asthma" and some sort of "against the law indoors" rubbish and even some bullshit about "respecting others by not forcing my dangerous habit on them".

So I screamed "AMERICA!" and punched him in the fucking nose. Faggot.

 

And then I double posted too!