Smoking rates higher among gays

Men and women who are gay or lesbian are more likely than their heterosexual counterparts to smoke, according to findings from a review study carried out by the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

[tomas]

What a bummer! I thought gays and lesbians were smarter than that...?

[generalsn1234567]

I wonder why I never see gays standing outside in front of a gay bar smoking?

[Daniel P from Long Island]

this doesn't surprise me. I noticed this a long time ago.

I never smoked a cigarette, or any tobacco product, in my life, although both my parents and all my siblings did at one time.

I got into the habit of going to my local gay bar every Friday nite for many years.

After a nite out, I would return home, and hang my clothes in one of the bedroom closets before bed.

In the morning, when I opened the closet to get clothes to dress for church, I would be hit in the face with the stench of cigarette smoke, even though I don't smoke.

I complained to one of the bar owners whom I was friendly with and told him he should prohibit smoking in the bar. He laughed at me, told me I was crazy, and I should go somewhere else if I didn't like the cigarette smoke.

So what happened ? About 3 years after I had this discussion with him, which he said was one of the craziest ideas he ever heard, New York outlawed smoking in bars.

[Confederate1989]

A cancer epidemiologist, who conducted the largest secondhand smoke study ever done, the UCLA Study, completed "too late" to be included Surgeon General Carmona's 2006 report, wrote a letter, at the request of Keep St. Louis Free, to the St. Louis County Council, that ended with these two paragraphs:"I should say that, personally, I feel strongly that non-smokers should not have to be exposed to cigarette smoke. While the available evidence does not suggest that average exposure to environmental tobacco smoke is an important cause of heart disease or lung cancer in people who do not smoke, cigarette smoke is irritating, can trigger allergic reactions in some people, and can exacerbate asthma and other chronic respiratory conditions. Yet, since the available evidence suggests that the effects of environmental tobacco smoke, particularly for coronary heart disease, are considerably smaller than generally believed, lawmakers may therefore have greater latitude than generally believed to consider the segregation of smokers and nonsmokers and the use of air filtration as adequate and responsible ways to address the health concerns of ETS in workplaces such as bars and restaurants. If it is possible, through segregation of smokers and nonsmokers and the use of air filtration, to reduce all components of environmental tobacco smoke in establishments where smoking is permitted to the level of the air in non-smoking establishments, there is reason to believe that any risk would be undetectable."

[Confederate1989]

As for secondhand smoke in the air, OSHA has stated outright that:

"Field studies of environmental tobacco smoke indicate that under normal conditions, the components in tobacco smoke are diluted below existing Permissible Exposure Levels (PELS.) as referenced in the Air Contaminant Standard (29 CFR 1910.1000)...It would be very rare to find a workplace with so much smoking that any individual PEL would be exceeded."
-Letter From Greg Watchman, Acting Sec'y, OSHA, To Leroy J Pletten, PHD, July 8, 1997

[OkieDarren]

There are a lot of political movements based in absolute selfishness in our country today...refusing to properly fund our schools or provide decent health care for every American because the rich want another tax cut. People starving while billionaires buy another speed boat. Moral outrages.

But nothing's quite so selfish as those pretending they have a "right" to kill others because they want to smoke in this room and not outside.

Smoking in public, in restaurants, bars, bowling alleys, ANY public place, should be banned nationwide.

[generalsn1234567]

Outside bans are next, according to page sevens "inside-out" ruling
http://www.no-smoke.org/pdf/CIA_Fundamentals....

Then come the bans in private homes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch...

[Daniel P from Long Island]

Smoking in public SHOULD be illegal.

[Daniel P from Long Island]

Confederate1989 wrote:

<quoted text>....we got a cure for people like you........mass graves....sadaam did have a few good ideas

You don't like Yankees ?!

:(

We kicked your butt in the 1860's !

You LOST the war.

Get over it !

[Confederate1989]

Daniel P from Long Island wrote:

<quoted text>
You don't like Yankees ?!
:(
We kicked your butt in the 1860's !
You LOST the war.
Get over it !

We didnt lose anything..........we are your worse nightmare.
yankee

[BleuJei]

Daniel P from Long Island wrote:

Smoking in public SHOULD be illegal.

Fellow Long Islander here.

It only took "one" gay, careless flight attendant to spread the AIDS virus, through his promiscuous behavior, to the US and Cananda; launching a very deadly epidemic. During the 80's and 90's AIDS was taking many more lives than tobacco.

My brother succumbed to AIDS 7 years ago due to his needle use. He contracted HIV in the late 80's and managed to survive for many years.

Do you think more drastic measures should have been taken to attempt to isolate the virus? It sort of gives new meaning to "carrier" where air travel is concerned.

As for smoking: NO. It should not be made illegal. People simply need to learn how to accommodate their own comfort levels. By having separate smoking AND nonsmoking establishments, everyone retains their vaulable freedom to choose.

[BleuJei]

CANANDA???!!!! I don't know where that is but I meant "Canada"....please excuse the typo? Heheh.

[seek]

seek the Lord Jesus

[Confederate1989]

gods a republican..........

[Daniel P from Long Island]

Confederate1989 wrote:

gods a republican..........

God's obviously a Libertarian.

:)

[Shadow Dragon]

Confederate1989 wrote:

<quoted text> We didnt lose anything..........we are your worse nightmare.
yankee

ATTENTION WH*RE!

[Confederate1989]

i DIDNT REALISE YANKEES were such....who====res

[Chelmsford Kid]

Wow Confederate is still mad that the North won the war? Of course the North won.....this is where all the smart people are.

[Free_America]

Daniel P from Long Island wrote:

Smoking in public SHOULD be illegal.

Again you show that you are not a libertarian. You just pick certain parts that suit your gay lifestyle. If you can't embrace all aspects of libertarian principles then drop Libertarian from your avatar. One of the core principles of libertarianism is property rights so what you call public is in fact private!

Government exists to protect the rights of every individual including life, liberty and property. Criminal laws should be limited to violation of the rights of others through force or fraud, or deliberate actions that place others involuntarily at significant risk of harm. Individuals retain the right to voluntarily assume risk of harm to themselves.

And don't assume that the Libertarian party is in favor of gay marriage, they are in fact against the government involvement in relationships period. We want the government out of the relationship business.
http://www.lp.org/platform

[Daniel P from Long Island]

Free_America wrote:

<quoted text>Again you show that you are not a libertarian. You just pick certain parts that suit your gay lifestyle. If you can't embrace all aspects of libertarian principles then drop Libertarian from your avatar. One of the core principles of libertarianism is property rights so what you call public is in fact private!
Government exists to protect the rights of every individual including life, liberty and property. Criminal laws should be limited to violation of the rights of others through force or fraud, or deliberate actions that place others involuntarily at significant risk of harm. Individuals retain the right to voluntarily assume risk of harm to themselves.
And don't assume that the Libertarian party is in favor of gay marriage, they are in fact against the government involvement in relationships period. We want the government out of the relationship business.
http://www.lp.org/platform

Opposing public smoking is completely in keeping with Libertarian principles BECAUSE the smoker is inflicting his dangerous drug addiction, thru second-hand smoke (a proven carcinogen) on people such as myself who choose NOT to smoke.

This is in contrast to a heroin addict whose ingestion of heroin in no way personally affects me.

Smokers on the other hand inflict their drug addiction on those around them.

It IS a Libertarian position to oppose public smoking.