Sssssssssmoking...

So it's been a while. About 5 months if I were to be honest with myself. It's not that I haven't had anything to write about, I just haven't bothered. Having kept busy with my time at university, I've decided to return on a subject that I mentioned I would eventually discuss (Here).

Smoking. The modern day evil.

Smoking has recently become a huge taboo in our culture, almost worldwide at this point. Not only is smoking banned in most restaurants, bars, clubs, pubs, venues, whatever; governments are also placing bans on smoking in public places. While I understand the basic ideas (cuts down on smoke in the area, cut down on litter, cut down on people loitering), I can't honestly say I support it.

Firstly, consider your average college campus (I use it because of my experience with it). Smoking is banned in all dorms I know of, with good reason, fires are a serious issue as is smoke damage. As such, all smokers go outside to light up, which I have never heard a smoker complain about, no matter the weather. Recently however, there's been a push to make it against school rules to smoke within 20 feet of a doorway or window. This has come from the Colleges Against Cancer group on campus. They argue that students entering or exiting buildings are being forced to inhale secondhand smoke and are basically walking into huge smoke clouds. Not only is this not true, its rather unfair. Firstly, I lived in a dorm with 4 doors. 2 had ashtrays by them and as such were where the smokers could be found. One was accessible through the basement, and to be fair was oft locked. So we have a door left, one without ashtray nor smoker within 10-15 feet on either side. As far as I can tell, most dorms have at least one way out that has no ashtray near it. Is this not enough? Smokers stand outside rain or shine, snow or hail, and now they're to be asked to go 20 feet from the doors of their dorms? My dorm was lucky, we had an overhang covering one of our doors, where people were sheltered from the elements. Others don't have this luxury, often they can be found hiding in one of the areas that provides a bit of protection from the 'storm'. All of these areas are by doorways.

A few years ago, the government of Hong Kong (where I live), banned smoking in all public areas. Great for the libraries and City Hall, which had open areas that people once smoked in, but this hit the public parks as well. For a while, I worked in a restaurant in a well-traveled and known part of the city. On my way out of the area towards one of the major bar districts in the city, there was a little park. Nothing major, just a bit of land that couldn't be used for anything else, so the government turned it into a park. A few benches, ground was padded for the kids, some plants. Basically the best way to get to my drinks. I was walking there with a few friends, several with cigarettes in hand, when a cop walks out the other side. Upon seeing the smokers, he pulls them aside and issues them tickets for smoking. TICKETS! For smoking in an open area at 2 in the morning on a Tuesday night (Wednesday morning really). The argument is that smoke doesn't dissipate, that its mere existence poisons people. Dirty lies.

While I'm pretty liberal, this is the one issue that pisses me off. Smokers deal with enough shit as it is, they really don't need more. Every smoker I know recognizes the fact that they are hurting themselves by smoking, they understand concepts such as second hand smoke and even things like the smell of smoke. That being said, most countries have things like basic rights and freedoms. Forcing smokers to move, have to quit or even penalizing people for smoking (all actual events) is not only unfair to those smokers, it is in fact incredibly unethical. Organizations against smoking make the point that smokers violate the freedoms of non-smokers, but wouldn't making these laws and rules violate the freedom of smokers?

But at the end of it all, I'm just some 19 year old kid who thinks non-smoking activists are a waste of time, space, and my smoky air.

Also, my apologies for the cheesy Jim Carrey-esque title. It just had to be.