By definition. They're addicted to a drug that't more addictive than marijuana.
Well frig, Coffee is more addictive then Marijuana..... all those co-workers who gotta have their coffee fix in the morning have to be junkies by your reasoning as well.
Then again, the Coffee and Smokes don't affect your work all that much do they?
And as I see it, a junkie is someone who allows a narcotic to completely take over their lives, their work, their ability to function properly in society. If people can work and do their jobs well, and not have to smoke during the entire time they are working, then that's not a junkie.
And if it is to you, then the world must be one big sh*tty place for you to live in because you're outnumbered. Just about every single person on this planet has a vice.... be that coffee, alcohol, tobacco, weed, chocolate, food, cars, women, sex or any of the hard drugs..... and if it's none of that, their vice is the continual avoidance of those things. None of them are healthy or have any valid benifits for your life, except something to call your own away from all the other crap in the world.
But to each their own..... it's just too bad some people don't follow that.
You care about your health. If he really wanted to quit, he'd quit. If he walks into the office and on the question 'are you a smoker' answers 'not anymore, I quit for good upon walking through this door, and I mean it', then maybe we can consider it.
And what's stopping someone from saying they quit, only to just not smoke while on the job? I care about my health as well, just because I smoke, doesn't mean I don't..... I just have different priorities towards my health and well being, both mental and physical. Just because I'm not doing what others think are the right things (Even though there are no laws to dictate one way or another) doesn't give them the right to label me differently from anybody else.
While someone who pigs out on food constantly is seen as a sympathy case who's got an addiction and medical condition.... someone who's actually doing something, as you even said, more addictive then food..... there's no sympathy, they can quit, they shouldn't get jobs, might as well shoot them and rid society of the likes of them.....
Yeah, and the fat ass could quit eating so much too.... oh but that's different, I forgot.
I've witnessed a restaurant in China ask a cutomer to leave with his cigarette and come back when he's finished smoking. If a friend smokes, I go for a quick walk till he's finished. So if we do this even to friends, trust me, we do it to customers too. We'd rather be that much poorer but live in a breathable environment than have a little more cash but go home feeling nauceous.
That doesn't even compare to what is being talked about.
If your friend is smoking in his own home.... too bad, it's his home, not yours and if you have to go for a walk while he smokes, then that's your problem.
As for the guy who smoked in the restaurant, you're not allowed to do this period.... it doesn't matter if you're working or eating somewhere.... that's the law. Nobody smokes while they work and if they smoke on their breaks.... it's their breaks and by law the company has no real control over what someone does on their breaks, so long as it's not illegal..... since smoking isn't, it's not an issue.... still.
Once you walk through that door to get help, you leave your smoking behind. If you want help, you have to reach half way and try too.
And it's medically well known that some people can't physically just stop without some form of assistance or help in doing so.... some people's brains and how they deal with addictions are much different from the next person. My girlfriend has smoked for a few years now..... myself, only for two years now. In her family, they have a hard time quitting things that cause the brain to be addicted to things..... for me and my fathers' side of the family, if we want to quit.... as you said, we simply stop and leave it behind..... she goes through withdrawls and side effects..... I don't.
Everybody is different, therefore the same approaches don't always work for everybody.... that's why there's gums, patches, books, and companies like this one out there..... and if they had half a brain in what they were doing, they'd know this.
A person who'd never smoked before knows how to avoid it. Obviously a smoker doesn't. An ex-smoker knows how to quit. Obviously a smoker doesn't. Common sense.
That common sense is missing some points to hold it together. A smoker could have quit and avoided smoking for years or decades, then decided to start up again. My dad used to smoke all the time when I was growing up (I wonder why) and then quit and hasn't smoked for about 15 years. He started back up about a year and a half ago.
Many smokers know how to quit and keep off smokes for a long time.... just because later on they choose to smoke again doesn't mean anything except their ability to choose remains solid. In the short period of time I have been smoking, I have stopped for a couple of weeks, a month, two months, and then I chose to smoke again.
And when you revolve your whole life around avoiding something you once were addicted to, then the addiction is still controlling your life, isn't it?
Hey, I'd be all for contorolling nicotine and making it a restricted drug obtainable at drug treatment clinics only. Now all we need is the political will power on the part of politicians.
And that's the big kicker right there..... the government rakes in way too much money from the taxes they get from smokes and smokers to even fathom making it restricted or even illegal.... that's why it hasn't happened yet and probably never will.
In fact many of the things you take for granted in this country has been paid from the taxes on smokers.
You're welcome.
And I'd probably even quit if smoking became illegal.... but if the government doesn't have the willpower to pull itself from it's addiction on the money they get from it..... why should I have the willpower to quit? If it's legal, then I'll quit by my own choice, not by someone else's based on their moral issues.
I get enough of that crap from the religious fanatics..... I don't need it from fear mongering health nuts.
When I was a kid I dreamt of smoking when I grew up because I saw adults do it. Luckily enough, my dad quit before I was legal age, and that sent me a message. No smoking adult is setting any worthy example for the kids in his local community, let alone his own kid if he has one. What kind of community member is that? And if he has a kid, what kind of parent is that?
Oh Pa'leeze..... you're now going to finger point and judge other people's parenting abilities based on if they smoke?
My entire family smoked growing up.... that was the times.... it had no effect on their parenting abilities.... I have never been arrested, I have never broken the law, I haven't be put in jail.... I never killed or crippled anybody in my life, I treat others with respect when respect is earned, and they helped me and still help me in times of need, just as I would for others if I could.
Smoking doesn't turn you into a satanist murderer and it doesn't spawn evil children.
Just because you got sucked into the whole wanting to smoke because it was cool, doesn't mean everybody else does.
As mentioned before, my dad smoked most of my childhood. Many in my family smoked..... I never had a desire to smoke.... not once while I was a kid. To me, it was unhealthy, it was a bad habbit and I decided not to take up smoking while the rest of the people in my school did. I never started up smoking until I hit the age of 26..... and I started smoking because I made the decision to. I started smoking because I didn't see the logic in me finger pointing and telling others they shouldn't smoke, unless I went through what they do and understand it completely. I live for experiences in life, both good and bad. I try to put myself in other people's shoes.... so I decided to start smoking..... and when I am ready, I will decide not to.
But I sure as hell won't let someone else dictate to me what I can and can not do..... I don't do it to other people with what they personally choose to do in their lives, I'd expect the same. If not.... then they can kiss me arse.
