Public Smoking, Delicate Matter

Since you have finished your exams and all I thought I'd hit it off with a hot topic that could stir it up and get the forum back on track.

To begin with and just so you know I'm not talking about banding smoking completely just publicly. And I mean by that only in public confined places like cafes, restaurants, state buildings, university campuses, airports, buses, and needless to say hospitals.
In other words in environments shared by non-smokers and smokers.

You may ask about reasons why should we ban it publicly? I tell you

1/Lung cancer, larynx cancer, esophagus cancer, bronchitis, emphysema, asthma, pneumonia, impaired blood circulation, coronary heart diseases and addiction.

According to the latest credible statistical surveys conducted by various prestigious organizations: about 450 thousand people die each year from illnesses caused by smoking, not in the whole world, but only in the United States, a country of a population of 300 million.
Globally-speaking, these figures might jump up to 10 million. Take a moment to absorb this number. Ten million human beings are being killed each year directly or indirectly because of smoking which is apparently more than the number of people die each year from drugs, wars, and criminal acts all together.

The point is when you prevent the smoker from smoking during the time he spends in public places undoubtedly you're reducing the number of cigarettes he/she is consuming daily whether he/she liked it or not.

2/Irrefutably secondary smoking is almost as bad as primary smoking is and entails just the amount of harm and risk the primary does.
This means, if you were a non-smoker whatever the hell you're gonna do you're gonna inhale the smoke and the nicotine willy-nilly unless smoking becomes banned publicly.

3/The governments are spending substantial amounts of money for treating patients with illnesses from smoking which can be usefully used in other components of the healthcare system.



Now let's be reasonable, objective, and unbiased. Let's take it easy. Those who oppose such actions have some pretty persuasive facts and justifications that make prohibiting smoking publicly unfair.

1/The tobacco industry including tobacco cultivation, cigarette factories, transporters, dealers all the way to the cart owner is a major industry that contributes huge amounts of money to the economy of almost every country providing a massive number of jobs. Banning smoking publicly will inevitably make millions unemployed and officially thrown to the edge of poverty. Not mentioning the profits countries made from levying taxes on this industry.

2/Undeniably, smoking makes people relaxed, less stressed, and more concentrated and sharp. That's why people tend to smoke before exams or job interviews or even after a heavy lousy meal. And we shouldn't prevent people from enjoying something they like.

3/It's up to them. If you ban smoking publicly obviously you're trampling on their right to choose their options. People are drinking alcohol, eating high-fat-content junk food, purchasing firearms, and other harmful stuff and you're not doing anything why should the smoker be the one who has to pay??

I have talked a hell of way too much but I had to in order to cover the issue. I want you to think it over and vote in the poll.

Take a lot of care my friends

hi all thanx 4 this subject,
akeed i'm against smoking in public places coz its so (t9*awij) and also coz of the reasons that u list, i hope everyone thinks about his health before smoking and let him imagine that he is smoking a paper of money rolled around tobacco coz its really (istinzaf) for money and health , thnx again 4 this nice sub.

Fahad

In addition to what you said , truely, doctor
i think the one who smooks in public he is selfish...he wants to hurt the others and they even want to smell his oder !!!
sorry dear somkers

hi

well, smokers can simply smoke in the balcony. smokers have the right to smoke but they don't have the right to hurt non-smokers by smoking near them.

it's funny how many doctors smoke and not only that but they smoke in the hospital in front of the patients, how ignorant!

when i read the title ,wanted to write this,not only cuz i really hate smoking,but cuz i saw this too&the last time was in our mids,one of our (doctors)was smoking while we were examining,in a closed room!
i really think this is selfishness..if he wants to hurt himself,no need to hurt others..

i think lots of our friends&collegues need to stop smoking in public

Hi there


I think it depends on the place I mean if u r in area next to a pregnant lady or a kid with asthma or ANYBODY who is not a fan of smoking I don't think it's right to smoke I think there should be a sign with NO smoking in hospitals , airports ...etc


in the other hand

I think it's ok to smoke in public like in gardens( private , public) , streets and balconey I think it's part of the personal rights I know smoking is not good to health but u can't just simply forbid people if they r not convinced .

bottom line I don't think it should be prohibited coz when u forbid people from doing anything the issue will grow bigger and they will start talking about their freedom and rights and even the no. of smokers will increase coz as u know ( kol mamno3 mar'3ob) .

we must all admit the danger of smoking and how it is life threatening especially to elderly, but no one admit till there is great damage, i consider it lolly pop for elderly , but instead there is the lovely hubble bubble that all like espeacially medical students cause we smoke it after exams after great effort, i just want to say i experienced once a condition that after smoking hubble bubble for 4 hours and after walking for 5 min i had intermittent claudication i thought i will pass out i think it was buerger dis. if anyone have an advice or explaination for this i will be thankful.

hi every one nice topic ........(welcome back healthy from Mid Year exams )

it is quite a pardox to see how doctors are participating in the in worsening the health ......patient will lose their trust in their physicians

but i simply don't agree on what u Said[SIZE=7] Hanan[SIZE=7] about people shoudlen't be denied anything just because they'll be more attached the the prohibited .....

if that was the case then people should do anything ......especially in the case of smoking or other similar stuff


[COLOR=red][SIZE=14]Freedom doesen't mean self destruction [COLOR=red][SIZE=14]




and it's up to the law and society to protect one's self from his own self sometimes

-in the past regimen ther were things that were banned like (mobile,Dish ,and some books )that were banned just for political reasons .......that what i disapprove

but if they were because our well being ...i would've supported it 100%



Case Dismissed ..

Dear Aws

I respect your point of view but I have some comments to make my opinion clear

firstly i think that is a bit exaggurated for many reasons ,to strat with as a doctor am not going to advise any person to smoke cause simply everybody knows the harmful effects of somking .

secondly as a doctor my job is to express options to my patients not banning them from doing things cause simply that is the way it is you do not have the authority to prevent a saine ,adult person from doing anything he/she likes whether that was smoking,drug abuse ,piercing, alcohol intake ...etc. and even if that means they will get hurt.


other thing "personal freedom" am totally against restriction of one's own freedom whether this will lead him to bad outcome or good one as a doctor you only have the right to advice and give options and expressing risks .
personal freedom should be respected and you should start by asking yourself who am i to prevent others from doing anything ?

for me that is what is called pardox and i think it is not your right to choose the things that you like so it is ok to have it or do it and the things you don't would be forbidden .what you believe should be applied on yourself you have no right to force single thing on a saine adult.

besides the thing you listed "mobile,Dish ,and some books "could be harmful in some way and sometimes it could be more harmful than smoking .
and if you ask others they might say these are the things that should be prohibbted

emphasis on this phrases "as a doctor we have the right to advice ,showing the options for the ppl but not allowed to correct their ways and we do not have the right to do so"

" all what is going in iraq is because of this a person assumes he /she knows better than others and make choices for them!!!"


Salam

I don't know if it's ok to intervene but I gotta say that I strongly concur what Hanan said.

You see my friend Aws, you're unwittingly saying that someone (a doctor for instance) can prohibit others from doing what they want to do which is just out of line.

You can advise, disapprove, criticize, condemn but you simply can't cross the line and prevent sane people from doing something they wanna do or something they think is alright principally because people must have the right to be wrong as hammodi says

After all it's a matter of personal discretion that's why we haven't heard someone calling on closing McDonalds or Burger King or even candy companies like KitKat or others whose products ultimately leads to obesity which is just as harmful as smoking is.

Have a wonderful time mates