Second hand smoke....The smokers' lungs make a great filter.

I smoke occasionally as I used to smoke when drinking but someone else mentioned the headache associated with it.

I also see where medicinal whacky tabaccy might help folks but the smoke will eventually harm the lungs.

I don't smoke at all now but maybe a Backwoods cigar from time to time.

Perhaps even moreso, say, if a meteorite strikes you on the head or a cyanide truck happens to overturn nearby while you step outside.

Seriously - statistically you have to look at the cumulative effect of all the time spent breathing smoky air versus not, not the contribution of an instantaneous or momentary exposure. But even in a transient exposure scenario, the proven carcinogenic smoke in the hypothetical restaurant air represents a higher risk environment versus the extremely low probability of a random carcinogen happening to be present in presumed "fresh" air.

Yep; the much more common (virtually certain, given enough time) outcome for smokers or the smoke-exposed, or those occupationally exposed to airborne toxins, is some form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), i.e. chronic or intermittent bronchitis, and/or emphysema. A potentially much longer, slower and more miserable decline to death than lung cancer...

Hmm, this thread is depressing me. I think I'll stop reading.

(3 weeks smoke-free now.)

And in that same attribute, how about the carcinogens coming from the diesel exhaust from trucks and busses that drive by you on the street?

It's all about the ppm's here. The fact that studies are truly inconclusive, yet everyone stands around and screams about how bad second hand smoke is, when no one truly knows the actual answer as to how small of an area is required, and how densely smoke populated it has to be.

It's all about control. People see something they don't like, and start pointing fingers and placing blame, so that they can get control over the situation. So, let's make it illegal to smoke in public places, so that people don't have to 'die' of lung cancer caused by smoking.

Yet...... How many people, if any, have ever died from second hand smoke? Any inconclusive proof of this?

Everyone is all about beating up on smokers, when it's the smokers that are killing themselves and not other people.

You want control, ban alcohol. As that truly does kill innocent bystanders and non-drinkers.

I think it's all bad...the physical effects on everyone's health, the stale smell it leaves on clothing, the bad breath it produces and the litter left behind in public places.
I read several comments about people not having trouble quitting....some may have even quit 4 times last month! ha Seriously, not everyone has the will-power to curb their appetite, to keep physically fit and especially to quit addictive substances. If you are one of the few people with such will-power you are an exception to the rule in my opinion.
I've never smoked, but have seen it's adverse affects on many people I love and even more I once loved and are no longer with us.
My advice would be to quit while there's still a chance and stop making jokes about your weaknesses.
And hey, look how many ugrades for your Porsche could be purchased with all the money you save on tobacco!!!

I think that any type of gross polution in enclosed public or work spaces should be banned.

What would most people think of someone burning tar next to them in a restaraunt or at work?

If not that then why should they be allowed to burn leaves instead?

There is of course conclusive proof that tobacco smoke is carcinogenic, but since it is a cumulative exposure issue, no dose-response relationship has been, or maybe even can be, established. SO, its use in a confined space like a restaurant is a controllable variable of probable greater significance than a truck driving by in the open atmosphere.

To put it in the words of someone wiser than me, your right to swing your fist ends at the end of my nose...If nonsmokers are forced to be exposed to second-hand smoke, is the smoker then not deciding for them what health risks they are taking?

Well, I have to report that I backslid. Had my first smoke after a month of none. The trigger was a stressful discussion at work about my job security, or rather lack of same. Probably will have another (discussion) tommorrow and probably will have another smoke tommorrow. Then planning to get back on my non-smoking track. Yeah I was weak.

Edit: Sorry I had to post this. I do feel badly about it.

No point in feeling bad, just don't do it again. You proved to your self you can do it, so do it. You were almost through the worst of it, and a smoke or two won't kill your current progress.

But, toughen up man! You know damn well you're strong enough mentally to simply never have another, so don't! Make up your damn mind, "I will NOT allow myself another!".

Relapse is not unusual for recovering addicts.