"Experience is a hard teacher. She gives the test first and the lessons afterwards." If you bring up the subject of smoking to nearly any person upon this planet, they will undoubtedly share with you the fact that they are aware that "Smoking can kill you, smoking is dangerous, smoking is unhealthy," etc. and so on. As for ME, I know "I" have grown up with these statements resounding in my ears, my eyes, nose, mouth and lungs for that matter, as my mom used to smoke 3 packs of death a day. Here
are just a few of the disturbing facts which have been gleaned from the
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) website: Cigarette smoking is
the
single most preventable cause of premature death in the United States.
Each year, more than 400,000 Americans die from cigarette smoking. In
fact,
one in every five deaths in the United States is smoking related. Every
year, smoking kills more than 276,000 men and 142,000 women. About
10 million people in the United States have died from causes attributed
to smoking (including heart disease, emphysema, and other respiratory
diseases)
since the first Surgeon General's report on smoking and health in 1964,
2 million of these deaths were the result of lung cancer alone. Every
year in the United States, premature deaths from smoking rob more than
five million years from the potential lifespans of those who have
died. On
average, smokers die nearly seven years earlier than nonsmokers. Hmmm...now if THESE above statements aren't enough to get you to think about giving up smoking perhaps you are in need of hearing a little bit more. I, of course, make no demands upon anyone to do anything, but I DO hope that all of my talking will cause you to THINK about your choice to smoke or not to smoke. It
is my belief that the majority of us tend to view ourselves as being
unselfish
people. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty well certain that we ALSO like
to consider ourselves as being good, responsible caretakers, family
members
and friends to our loved ones. When
it comes to the raising of our precious children and/or the care of our
treasured animal companions, according to various statistics that are
out
there, seeing as those most affected by secondhand smoke ARE our
innocent children, I would appreciate it if you would pay close
attention
to this because since their pure bodies (in this case childrens') are
still
developing, exposure to the poisons in secondhand smoke puts children
in
danger of severe respiratory diseases as well as can hinder the growth
of their still-developing lungs. On top of all this, the effects can
last
a lifetime! Now knowing what you have just read here, do you STILL believe you are
being a good,
responsible
person when it comes to the welfare of our children and our
animals? Now
I am quite well aware that there are many, many people who hold onto
the
argument that trying to stop them from smoking is in violation of their
right of a precious freedom of choice. Please understand that it
is not that I am AGAINST a
human being having a free will of choice, oh NO!
but what I AM
against
is if that SAME free
choice somehow violates my, my loved ones or any OTHER innocent
bystander's freedom of choice (i.e. our right to live as long and
healthy
a life as we possibly can) then I begin to become distressed because
suddenly
it is not just YOUR life
and choices that we are talking about, but OTHERS'
lives and choices as well. This last sentence naturally brings me
to the topic of smoking in any public place...of course by now you
already
must realize how I feel about THIS issue
and if you said that I am for a person's right to smoke in their own
private
"smoking area" you would be absolutely, unequivocally, positively CORRECT!
By "smoking area" I mean a nice, large room that has all the comforts
of
home, in which a person can relax while enjoying their smoke. I
honestly
do not understand why it is so very difficult for public
establishments/institutions
to create such a room in order that those who choose to smoke may do so
without persecution. After all, I wouldn't want somebody who loves
asparagus
to try and push one down MY throat
now would I? Well
I guess that I've shared everything that I have come to this page to
share.All
I can do now is point you to my FAVORITE LINKS page
and direct you to the category of SMOKING. Whether
or not you decide to either never START smoking, CONTINUE smoking
or STOP smoking
is entirely up to YOU. Oh and by the way, my mom DID stop smoking (cold turkey no less) 30 years ago and her loved ones are grateful that she decided to do so!.
|
