smokin teens. thought it was down

Well, school is out! yeah! Less traffic on my sidewalks. less cig. packs in my yard. garden. less butts in my driveway. I thought teens were wising up and weren;t smoking> Guess not. Seems like more than ever. What a shame.

Here many girls are smoking, even more than boys :/

Such a disgusting habit, in addition to being so dangerous. I had hoped the time was near when it would be almost if not totally eradicated. Why anyone, especially a woman, would want to smell like that, is beyond me. Some of the most intelligent people I know are addicted, and some are so pig headed about it when I try to explain that the mere residual tars give me a bad headache. I have to take my car to a mechanic who is not the one I prefer, because when I go into the office to pay the preferred one, the stale air, loaded with cigarettes past, gives me a terrible headache and causes my joints to ache for days. I know better than to make an issue of it, because like most smokers, he is convinced it's "all in my head". Some of my children smoke, and I cringe when they visit because a hug is toxic. My young grandson was constantly under care for chest congestion and inflamed ears, and the pediatricians repeatedly told the parents, both heavy smokers, that their smoking was causing most of the problems. She even smoked right through pregnancy. What a terrible addiction, that can cause a mother to risk her own child's health, a father to continue to ignore the indisputable. How pathetic that a lovely, fresh skinned young lady thinks she needs to have a roll of dried leaves in her lips to be attractive. What a needless price is paid by all of us!

you know. With HMO's the way they are. Smokers shouldn;t be able to get the same things as non smokers. They should be on a total seperate policy. Maybe non smokers rates would go down.I have been smoke free for almost 20 years now. So glad.

Mimi, I was a broker during the time legislation was being written for exactly that purpose. Many people complained because they couldn't get the lowest rates as a result of tobacco use in one form or another. But all of my companies made a big distinction between smokers and nonsmokers, as well as those who used other forms of tobacco. Some policies were written especially for people who didn't use tobacco, and they were not available until a good result from the lab was on file. Statistics showed to my satisfaction, and to the satisfaction of the actuaries, that users were potentially more of a liability in several ways. If a positive result was returned, most companies held that you weren't eligible for the preferred policy until a year later. Even then, you might be required to submit a second test in 30-90 days to show that you were indeed tobacco free. It was found that users had more claims, and their rates reflected it. We didn't penalize users, they had normal rates. We rewarded non-users by discounting from the standard rates.

interesting.
now that I see you are from Texas. i have a ?????/I was in houston a long time ago. They were passing around a thing to sing to leagalize drinking and driving. Wondered if that ever went through. This would of been like 1985ish.

WOW! To legalize it??? No, it is now a perennial issue to make it illegal to even have any alcoholic beverages in a vehicle, open container or not. I haven't kept up with it, as I had my own concerns when the last legislature met, so don't know where it stands, but it will surely be just a matter of time before it is illegal for anyone to drink in a moving vehicle, including passsengers. I think we have some of the nation's best laws concerning smoking in public buildings and there is now talk of even extending that ban to bars, the last holdout. Most businesses have those nasty little stands at the door, and people gather around the entrance to grab a last puff, which means I have to hold my breath until I am past the affected area. Some stores have begun posting signs requiring smokers to extinguish smoking materials before reaching a point about 100 feet from the entrance. I don't know if there was legislation or it is just by popular demand. But I still see people in violation, and employees are in a delicate position to try to enforce that. I suspect the drinking in vehicles will be as difficult to enforce. Those good ole boys are just hidebound. Some will sarcastically spit out a wad of tobacco at the door in rebellion. Barf. I always look at the women with them and wonder if they just don't know they don't have to tolerate that. Kiss what, you say????

yes! the arguement was that you cansee so far ahead of you ...why not. That if you were driving drunk. you would have plenty of time to get out of someones way. HONEST> I was at the Galleria in Houston then. We were watching Richard Simmions. He was there for a guest appearence. ANd they had tables set up and were trying to get people to sign up.

I believe I have never heard anything more ridiculous. It was some weirdo group, right? And did anyone sign?

Had to be...............Richard (barf) Simmons was there!!

"eyes"

a ton of names. Everythings BIG in TEXAS!lol.
Dh had just been sober for about 18 months then. They asked me to sign it. I just looked at them (in horror I am sure. ) Was so proud of myself for keeping my mouth shut.

Our local hospital's policy is that no one smoke on the grounds. But they have ashtrays outside the doors. Go figure.

they stand at the Front door of our hospital. It took an almost act of congress for my boss to not have smoking anymore in the salon. it was so stupid. come. get your hair done and have it smell like smoke. MEN! Ofcourse....he just found out he has emphazima.

This message was edited Thursday, Jun 6th 11:12 PM

Several years ago, I placed a sign near my front highway gate, nailed to a tree, with the lettering, "Smoking Area", and a hand pointing to the highway. When I was having a yard sale, a man walked up to me and said he had fixed my sign, it was twisted the wrong way. I thought he meant the yard sale sign, but it was right where it had been, so I looked puzzled, I'm sure. He pointed to the Smoking Area sign. I saw that it was now pointing to my front yard gate. He had actually removed it and placed it on a fence post to get it angled right. He was standing there looking so smug and self satisfied! So I told him to put it back the way it was, I had it that way for a reason. He took out a package of cigarettes and proceeded to light up. He knew full well what the sign meant, and had decided to openly challenge me. I asked him, in a quiet voice, to leave, and he blew smoke in my face. So I began to shout at the top of my lungs, "This man is attacking me, someone call the police!" The idiot argued with me! He declared that if I was having a sale and expected the public to come, I couldn't ban smoking. This was some time after the ordinance had been passed banning smoking in stores. Most of the people just ignored us and the commotion, but one man strode over with a real mean look, and I thought I would surely have to call for help. He reached out, slapped the cigarette from the idiot's mouth and stomped it, then ordered the smoker to get in his truck and leave. By then, someone had apparently called the police, as they pulled into the pasture just in time to see this. Old smokey just sort of snarled and left.