Smoking is Bad but Smokers are Not
Well Not All of Them Anyway!

Smoking is bad for your health and the smoking facts support this statement.

However, many smokers think that non-smokers judge them to be a bad person because of cigarette smoking. Addiction, however, is not a measure of character.

Ignoring the health effects of smoking cigarettes and making the choice to take that first puff is a bad choice, not an immoral one.

Cigarette smoking is an addiction to a psychotropic drug and not a moral failing.

Smoking as an Addiction vs Smoking as a Moral Failing

Historically tobacco smoking was not well received by all Europeans when introduced to the public by the explorers who brought back tobacco leaves from the Americas.

The history of tobacco reveals that once the tobacco plant made its way to Europe it was not welcomed by all people right away and in fact, its use was made illegal and punished severely in some countries.

In Russia for example in the 1600's if you were a smoker you could be whipped, sent to Siberia or even executed if you were caught. By comparison some of the modern bans on smoking in public places seem rather mild!

Early restrictions on smoking tobacco were based on beliefs about the use of tobacco being immoral or a nuisance such as when King James 1 suggested that the habit was "vile to the nose".

Cigarette smoking is still viewed by some as a morally corrupt act and not as an addiction, and there are still places in the world where many would make the assumption that a woman who smokes has low moral character. Men don't usually suffer from the same judgments.

Today tobacco is a legally available product and smokers defend their right to smoke based on the legality of the product and the individual freedom to choose to use it.

If you are a smoker you must recognize smoking as an addiction and not a measure of your character. If smoking is bad for you it does not mean you are a bad person if you smoke and there is nothing in the arguments for banning smoking in public places that even remotely suggests that you yourself are bad.

Banning smoking in public places is meant to eliminate smoking - not your pleasant company. If you cannot enjoy the company of friends and family at a restaurant or bar simply because they do not allow smoking there, then you are indeed tied to your smoking addiction.

Smoking bans are based on the priority of health for all people. When smoking bans are in place, your company is welcome, but the effects of smoking cigarettes are not.

If you want to have the freedom to choose, you can choose your cigarettes over your friends, but your loss is great. The tobacco manufacturers who profit from your choice will never be interested in a personal relationship with you.

Smoking is bad but smokers don't have to be!

You see the real smoking facts about moral character and smoking as an addiction is this...

The true measure of your character is how you treat other people. When you treat people with respect and consider how your own actions affect others you have a good character.

When you consider only your own personal freedoms and not the responsibilities that go with them, others could easily judge your character to be less than stellar! Especially when your actions harm others.

Non-smokers have the same responsibilities by the way. The only difference is that smoking is bad for you and those around you but non-smoking is not. Therefore the least harmful approach is the one that benefits the most people and that of course is the rationale for public smoking bans.

Go back to Smoking Bans - The Effect on Businesses When Anti Smoking Laws Stop Smoking in Public Places

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