Law, Crime & Justice

» Tom - Crime?

Interesting reading, but none of you have actually touched on the criminal aspect of smoking, at least not from the point of view I have in mind.

Scenario: A lunch counter in a small café that doesn’t have enough seats to require a non-smoking section.

A spaced out hophead trying to make sense of yet another uninvited sunrise - he’s sitting there sucking up cigarettes and sipping his coffee, contemplating on how he will manage to make a few bucks on this particular day.

In walks a fellow on his way to work, to have a bit of breakfast. Only seat available is next to the hophead. The fellow, a non smoker, sits down and glances at the hophead with a look of distain. He orders his food, and when it comes he politely asks the hophead to please refrain from continuing to blow smoke in his direction while he is trying to eat. This angers the hophead and he blows smoke in the guys face.

This has actually happened to me!

Assault with a deadly weapon?

Cigarettes can kill you, I know, they killed my wife.

Just a day or two ago the US Surgeon General came up with a report bolstering a previous report stating that passive, or second hand smoke, is a definite killer. Lots of states in the US have banned smoking in all public places, although mine hasn’t. The legislature in the state of Pennsylvania would rather make money from special interest groups than protect its citizens.

Worst part of the story is this; I smoked cigarettes and cigars for over 40 years. I quit in 2001 – cold turkey. My wife laughed at me – told me I’d never do it. Two years later when our doctor told her she had stage four terminal lung cancer, she didn’t laugh, and neither did I.

Still, I’m glad I quit; it’s one of the smartest things I’ve ever done. I’ve never felt better or been healthier. I can still get lung cancer, anyone can, whether they smoke or not. It has never really been proven that cigarette smoke actually causes cancer, but in a sense, I think we all know it does. Let’s put it this way, even if it doesn’t, the fact that your lungs are shot from smoking certainly doesn’t make the lung cancer any easier, even if it doesn’t cause it!

If you smoke, find the strength to quit. If you don’t smoke, don’t ever start!

Tom Sampson - - Human Rights




All animals are equal...except some animals are more equal than others


George Orwell...Animal Farm - 1944

-- posted by Tom