Opinion: What’s wrong with smoking?
Jamie Rumbelow seeks in this piece to remove the victimisation and discrimination that smokers and smokers’ supporters receive every day.
My name is Jamie Rumbelow, and, from time to time, I enjoy a cigarette. In fact, I’m smoking one right now. I’m sitting at my desk, feeling suitably bohemian, writing this opinion piece, drinking a latte and inhaling the last few drags of a roll-up. The cigarette in question comprises of a green Rizla paper, a Swan extra slim filter tip and roughly 1/5 gram of Golden Virginia rolling tobacco. And it’s a thoroughly enjoyable smoke, if I may say so.
Does this make me a bad person?
According to the delightfully judgemental 22-year-old that serves at the third-checkout-from-the-left in a local Bath Spa supermarket, it does. And, naturally, I take great offence to this remark. I only went in there to get a packet of Golden V and a Mars bar. Why must I suffer such opprobrium?
I have made an informed, educated decision to purchase the loose tobacco. I have no uncertainty about any of the various health and social issues that smoking can cause one, and I am certainly not ignorant to the fact that it is not doing my body any favours.
Don’t get me wrong, this article is not meant to encourage people to smoke. On the contrary, I would tend to advise against it. My ultimate aim in writing this article is to try to remove the victimisation and discrimination that smokers and smokers’ supporters receive every day. My real issue stems from this ignorant attitude that smoking is plain wrong.
So, tell me this, Miss Checkout Girl, are you offended by my lifestyle? Are you planning a few amendments to the New Testament? Or are you really so ignorant that you believe you can impose your view on me through non-constructive criticism?
The last time I checked, we live in a democracy, and thus I have the inherent human right to choice. I choose to wake up when my body tells me, not my alarm clock. I choose to eat what I eat, drink what I drink and sleep with who I sleep with. I choose to smoke. And I’m blessed to live in a country where I can make this choice, supposedly free from judgement and prejudice. As long as my choices don’t infringe upon others’ right to choose, then why should what I do offend anybody else?
When I approached the counter not only three hours ago and requested a crisp, cellophane-sealed tobacco pouch, the surly eyed, ill-advised cashier immediately took it upon herself to hurl a series of doltish sentiments in my direction, holding no regard for my feelings or viewpoint. Her intent seemed to be to scare or insult me away from smoking. Like I actually gave a crap about what she said. Like I really believed that her view was of paramount importance to me; like she was my mentor, companion, like she knew, understood and influenced me.
My decision doesn’t affect her. Her parents may have smoked since she was a baby and filled the house with ‘that disgusting cloud of toxicity’. She may have dated ‘some bloke who cared more about his fags than he did about me’. Hell, she might have even lost friends or relatives to a smoking related disease. If that is the case, I am truly sorry, but even so, it is not her place to judge me based on her experiences. I made the choice to purchase that tobacco because of my own views and experiences. And I’ll be damned if some stuffy little girl will dictate to me otherwise. Put that in your pipe and smoke it (har har).
I don’t mean to sound trite, but life is for living. And I’m going to live it the way I want to. I believe that I will only live once, and that my time on this weird little planet is fleeting. So I’m going to have a fucking great time while I’m here. From time to time, I feel like a cigarette. So I’m going to have one. Anybody who tries to tell me otherwise isn’t necessarily wrong — morality is, after all, ultimately opinion — but they are ignorant of my view. Just like those who oppose gay marriage, recreational drug use or gender equality. They are infringing on my basic right as a human being to make the choices I want to make. I made this choice, and many greater men and women than me have made the same choice. As a smoker, I join the ranks of such brilliant minds as Stephen Fry, who has also written prolifically on the topic.
Do you smoke? Are you vehemently against it? But most importantly, do you believe that we all have the right to make our own choices? After all, I’m polite about my smoking. If somebody doesn’t want me smoking in their house, I won’t. There’s a fantastic Eddie Izzard sketch where he discusses how smokers are indeed polite: “Do you mind if I smoke? Oh, it’s okay, I can go outside and smoke!” and comparing them to racists: “Do you mind if I’m racist? Oh, it’s okay, I can go outside and be racist!”.
I enjoy smoking. I enjoy the simple high, the immediate relaxation and the sense of smoke whirling through my bronchial tubes. I enjoy the social aspects of it: bonding outside a pub, huddled around a shared lighter, having a spliff or two with friends (see: ‘The comradeship of pavement puffers’). It might not be good for my wellbeing, but neither is drinking alcohol and caffeine, living in a city or avoiding exercise like the plague. I’m not a particularly healthy person, I know this. But if you are vehemently set against the way I live my life, and wish to impose your views upon me, I ask, politely, for you to examine your own life. If you’re a perfect person, go ahead, judge me. If you’re not, leave me alone.
Nobody’s perfect. All of us are flawed. Some people smoke, some people gamble, some people drink. Some people argue with their friends unnecessarily, some people ignore those who need their help. Some people eat awful food or listen to awful music. Some people are hypocrites, some people are arrogant. Some people are far too stressed. Some people are writers. Many are all of the above. Which reminds me.
Does anybody fancy a cigarette?
Jamie is a writer and developer on his gap year, currently in Bath, Somerset, hoping to make the most of his life before devoting himself to education. By education he means lots of booze, books about obscure topics, Jarvis Cocker records and pretty French girls. Obviously. Catch him on his Twitter stream @jamierumbelow and his blog, http://jamieonsoftware.com.
12:58 pm 20th March, 2011
We all have the right to judge you because that smoke infringes on our health and our senses.
That’s all that’s really needed to counter this self-important ‘I’m so bohemian and informed’ rubbish. No one cares you’ve thought the decision through and tried to justify it by comparison to other unthealthy habits – until you smoke in a self-contained glass box with no airholes, we will continue to bother you for bothering us.
And just as someone looks down on an idiot who jumps off a cliff, so will non-smokers who live a healthy lifestyle continue to look down on smokers. You know, those people who’ll be paying taxes towards the lung cancer treatment of your smoky brethren which was completely avoidable. And no, of course alcoholics who abuse their liver are no better. Whatever you think, choosing to to continue a habit that damages your health affects more people than you alone. How you can do that to people you care about, I just don’t know.
1:06 pm 20th March, 2011
Firstly, I agree with your view on the ignorant checkout girl. I’m sure there are topics you could lecture her on in return. For example, if she worked a little harder in school, she wouldn’t be stuck working as a checkout girl at the age of 22.
The only issue I have with smokers (and I’m sure this doesn’t apply to all of you) is when I have no choice when it comes to being subjected to your smoke and leftovers. I fully support your right to smoke, but at the same time, you should support my right to not scrape cigarette butts from my shoes after a night out, or my right to breathe (relatively) clean air when being forced to walk behind a smoker.
It doesn’t bother me to join a group of smoking friends outside and get overwhelmed by a cloud of smoke for the sake of socialising. It’s my choice. But when it’s not my choice, that’s when it starts becoming a problem.
Imagine if you smelled like vomit after a night out, despite the fact that you didn’t get sick? Or just from walking down the street and passing a person who’s busy throwing up?
It’s fine to educate non-smokers about your rights as a smoker, but at the same time, try and educate your fellow smokers about our rights.
1:09 pm 20th March, 2011
Hmm so “young people” are not all mindless, middle-class conforming cretins or shallow street wandering hoodies. Perhaps I should be less patronising.
1:34 pm 20th March, 2011
I have the right to judge you as a smoker as soon as you smoke anywhere in public. Your smoking doesn’t just affect your health, passive smoking effects the health of other people too. It’s a well-known fact that it causes cancer, amongst other things, which, in the UK, costs the tax-payers money! All because of your selfishness.
So yes, you can smoke if you wish. But as soon as you put a cigarette in your mouth and light it, you lose your right to complain about being judged for smoking.
@Rob: Your first paragraph is a little harsh. There are two Universities in Bath and one nearby in Bristol, she could be studying and working a part-time job to earn some extra money. Maybe she wasn’t ignorant? May someone close to her died of cancer? You just don’t know.
1:34 pm 20th March, 2011
Why am I offended? Because I lost my otherwise healthy father, who made such a choice at a young age, to emphysema, long after it stopped being his choice and started being the addiction’s.
One might say that your “basic human right” to make choices also comes with a responsibility to learn from those before you rather than doom mankind to keep making the same mistakes.
But maybe you’ll be one of the lucky ones who gets off without suffering illness and needing loved ones, or the state, to take care of you.
1:54 pm 20th March, 2011
Your smoking forces me to breathe in carcinogens. You could give me cancer and other smoking related diseases, as a result you could kill me, you could kill my unborn child’s father, and my partner’s fiancé. I have no choice in the matter. You, on the other hand choose to smoke and thus you choose to negatively affect my health, and the health of everyone around you.
So if you want to bring human right sin to this why don’t you consider someone else’s?
2:24 pm 20th March, 2011
As a diner in a restaurant I detest smoking. I also shudder when young parents smoke around their children.
As an artisan with a penchant for the quirky I am partial to the odd cigar in the comfort of my own company – but never inside my own home.
2:43 pm 20th March, 2011
Surely we should ban alcohol, as it’s responsible for far more deaths per annum than smoking? It also has second-hand health effects which are just as severe as those from smoking, such as violent injury, sometimes resulting in death.
Personally, I believe that the Japanese have absolutely nailed it, with their smoking ban.
They’ve banned smoking in streets, except in designated smoking areas, which come complete with gigantic, regularly emptied water-filled ashtray. They do, however, allow smoking in bars, restaurants, and other indoor spaces, where the owner allows it. This has resulted in a fairly even split between smoking and non-smoking establishments, no smoking in the streets, and nobody’s liberties being infringed upon, as those who wish to sit in a smokey bar, can, and those who don’t wish to, don’t have to.
2:53 pm 20th March, 2011
Interesting post Jamie.
My opinions echo those of many of the other non-smokers here: namely that your right to smoke only becomes an issue when it infringes upon my rights. Not my views or opinions, my rights.
This is one of main reasons I have no time for people opposing gay marriage (for example) on moral or religious grounds: those are just opinions or beliefs.
Which brings us to the question of whether your smoking infringes upon my rights.
If I’m forced to tolerate your second-hand smoke against my will, yes it does.
As to whether you careless discarding a cigarette butt constitutes a breach of my rights, I’m not so sure. I regard it more as plain ignorance, but either way it’s anti-social and annoying.
However, the issue that really bothers me is that of long-term healthcare.
Just because you are being responsible and considerate whilst engaging in the act of smoking doesn’t mean your choices don’t affect other people, sometimes long after the fact.
As things stand, you have the freedom to smoke and drink yourself into an early grave (a right which I support), but you don’t have to take full responsibility for your actions.
Let’s say you continue to smoke regularly. You know that the chances are it will have an adverse effect on your health. I’m sure you also realise that the effect will not be sudden and dramatic: you won’t be lolling around Starbucks enjoying your cappuccino one day, and dead in the ground the next.
It’s more likely that your health will decline steadily over a period of months or years, during which time you will require more and more state-provided health care.
In other words, the state will be forced to do something that you yourself chose not to do: care for your own health. Whether or not you agree this should be the case is irrelevant: you simply can’t act responsibly with regard to this matter whilst continuing to smoke, because you have very little say in how the NHS is run.
And that is the big problem with your argument that, as long as you practise considerate smoking, non-smokers have no right to complain about your habit.
Put simply, I don’t believe that any individual who has failed to take responsibility for his or her health throughout his or her life should be afforded free treatment under the NHS.
If you’re going to smoke, drink to excess, or regularly enjoy illegal narcotics, go for it. As you said, life is for the living.
However, to expect the state to pay for the health problems caused by these indulgences is an infringement upon the rights of every tax payer.
Now this is by now means a black and white issue. What constitutes excess? Medical opinion is constantly shifting, so that’s not much help. What if you smoke for 10 years, give up, and are diagnosed with cancer 25 years later?
I don’t have the answers. All I know is that with personal choice comes personal responsibility, and that responsibility extends far beyond the here and now.
Cheers,
Stephen
3:34 pm 20th March, 2011
Jamie,
This debate is taking over my day.
Despite Sabrina’s encouragement, and your perfectly reasoned response, I have to admit to a serious flaw in my argument which never occurred to me previously.
Namely, it is not my right to decide what the NHS spends money on. My rights in a democratic society occur much earlier, during the election process. Once a party (or parties) has been voted into power, they can distribute the State’s coffers as they see fit (within certain legal constraints, obviously).
My opinion that the State should not be forced to care for those who do not care for themselves has not changed. However, I was wrong to frame that opinion as a right, particularly as I’d gone to such pains to draw the distinction earlier in my post.
Cheers,
Stephen
5:03 pm 20th March, 2011
The crowded picture of the “John Snow” pub has been used out of context. The pub pictured is the infamous John Snow pub in Soho that asked a gay male couple to leave, earlier this year. The scene pictured is from the protest that took place outside of it. These people aren’t smoking, they’re boycotting the pub for its homophobic actions. – It’s also incredibly offensive to suggest that the opposition of smoking, a public health risk, is on the same level as homophobia. Smoking is a personal lifestyle choice, as you’ve pointed out many times in your post, it’s a well regarded fact that homosexuality isn’t a choice and is in fact part of the human psyche.
Throughout your piece you demand for others to accept your opinions on smoking and dismiss all of those who don’t share them. You seem incredibly outraged that this poor girl dismisses your views on smoking and then you go and do the same to her… “Like I actually gave a crap about what she said. Like I really believed that her view was of paramount importance to me; like she was my mentor, companion, like she knew, understood and influenced me.”
12:19 pm 20th March, 2011
Lots of valid points, but honestly I struggled to get past how you tear into the girl for daring to comment on what is a totally avoidable habit that kill thousands and costs millions:
“Like I actually gave a crap about what she said. Like I really believed that her view was of paramount importance to me; like she was my mentor, companion, like she knew, understood and influenced me.”
You question her right to judge you, whilst simultaneously judging her for her position in society, is her opinion or ideals of little worth just because she works in a supermarket? If you believe in rights and freedom, her opinion has just as much merit as yours, regardless of where she is working.
The question is, if she did grow in an environment where people smoked, saw the damage it does and the lives it can needless destroy, I suspect she may have a better grasp of the situation than yourself. Then, you follow it up with lovely dash of sexism! “And I’ll be damned if some stuffy little girl will dictate to me otherwise.”
You do have the right to smoke, we have the right to make it safe for others, I don’t want to breathe your smoke but you remove that choice from me.
If chance encounter with someone who doesn’t meet with your thoughts leads to a rant of “rah rah freedom!!111!”, “How dare they?” and “You can’t tell me what to do!” I suspect you need to take a good long look at yourself.
In the mean time, I hope the government uses the only tool it has in its disposal and raises the tax on cigarettes greatly.
3:12 pm 20th March, 2011
The trouble with all these “my rights” and “my freedom” arguments is that they work for just about everything. Substitute drinking, obesity, sexual pleasures, driving, going on holiday or whatever and you can build the same case. The fact is our human activities leave a footprint and it is currently socially acceptable to attack one another on that basis.
When I was Jamie’s age we looked at the American urge to litigate against just about anything with horror and many of us vowed that we would never support such a trend in our own country. Sadly, we lost. I don’t call that “rights” or “freedom”.
8:06 pm 20th March, 2011
What’s smoking?
2:19 pm 20th March, 2011
Have much scientific data pro smoking for certain gene types. Plus there is no record anywhere of anyone dying from second hand cigarette smoke despite how much the media says so.
Amazing research can be found by doing a search on Sign of The Times – sott.net
Just a little taster for starters albeit no back-up scientific data but facts exsist to substantiate this little article.
Warning: Nicotine Seriously Improves Health
Robin McKie
The Observer
Sun, 18 Jul 2004 13:07 CDT
Remember people, it’s just another plant! They’re the ones making a big deal out of it where none exists
Nicotine could soon be rehabilitated as a treatment for schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, as well as hyperactivity disorders.
Research shows that the chemical that has addicted millions to smoking has a powerful impact on brain activity in patients who suffer from psychiatric and degenerative disorders.
Some experiments have shown that nicotine can slow down the onset of Parkinson’s symptoms; others have had revealed its power in curtailing the hallucinations of schizophrenics.
‘A whole range of psychiatric conditions seem to be helped by nicotine,’ said Dr Dan McGehee, a neurobiologist at the University of Chicago. ‘However, such benefits do not justify smoking. The lethal effects of cigarettes far outweigh any help they provide. On the other hand, our research does suggest that derivatives of nicotine, administered medically, could help to alleviate a range of psychiatric problems.’
Nicotine is known to switch on receptors on the surface of cells in certain parts of the brain, causing these neurones to release the neuro-transmitter dopamine, a chemical that is associated with feelings of pleasure. This effect leads to a person’s addiction.
‘A whole range of psychiatric conditions seem to be helped by nicotine,’ said Dr Dan McGehee, a neurobiologist at the University of Chicago. ‘However, such benefits do not justify smoking. The lethal effects of cigarettes far outweigh any help they provide. On the other hand, our research does suggest that derivatives of nicotine, administered medically, could help to alleviate a range of psychiatric problems.’
Nicotine is known to switch on receptors on the surface of cells in certain parts of the brain, causing these neurones to release the neuro-transmitter dopamine, a chemical that is associated with feelings of pleasure. This effect leads to a person’s addiction.
More than 50 per cent of people suffering from clinical depression smoke, while the figure rises to 95 per cent for schizophrenics. But smoking among the general public has dropped to about 25 per cent. ‘The assumption is that people with psychiatric conditions are self-medicating,’ said McGehee. ‘They are smoking because the nicotine in particularly helpful in alleviating their condition.’
This point is backed by Dr Tony George, of Yale University. ‘Smoking is a marker for psychopathology,’ he states in the current issue of the journal Nature Medicine.
Similarly, it has been found that nicotine can sometimes slow the debilitating symptoms of Parkinson’s, a disease caused by the slow destruction of certain types of brain cells.
‘Either nicotine stimulates other types of brain cells to compensate for the loss of the cells involved in Parkinson’s, or it is somehow providing protection to remaining healthy Parkinson’s cells,’ said McGehee. ‘Either way, the effect is noticeable.’
9:41 pm 20th March, 2011
I smoke and my do-gooder school friends judge me. Doesn’t matter that they cut themselves and openly gloat about it. Doesn’t matter that I’m getting better grades, despite my smoking. I suffer from crippling anxiety and its the only relief I have. I don’t smoke around them and I’m always sure to blow up the way as to avoid any unecessary smell. Most people see me as a good person. I’m always there when anyone is in need of help, education wise or emotional. I get on well with my teachers and have made it to my 5th year of highschool without any formal punishment. I don’t inflict my smoking on them and I always freshen my breath after a cigarette. My patents are aware I smoke and I’ve never encouraged anyone to smoke with me. Also, I’m of age and whilst their out getting drunk, I’m seated at my desk revising for my A’s. Does that make me a bad person? Apparently so.
12:22 am 20th March, 2011
”When a man thinks, there is a spot of fire alive in his mind – and it is proper that he should have the burning point of a cigarette as his one expression.” – Ayn Rand
5:17 pm 20th March, 2011
It’s a very good point. The truth is that there is nothing wrong with smoking, as long as an adult can make this decision for himself. The health risks are there, but everything we do involves an element of risk. Take driving for example; driving in British cities or on motorways is very dangerous these days.
Some will argue the effects of passive smoking are reason enough to ban smoking. Passive smoking, for me, is spurious science, more akin to creating government policy than ”science fact”. However, the government is in a difficult situation where individual rights, savings to healthcare budgets and the benefits of over-inflated taxes all collide.
I smoke 10 cigarettes a day. I would love to give up to reduce the health risks, however recently I have met numerous people (quite by chance) who keep themselves fit (sometimes unusually fit) and smoke! This may seem paradoxical to the media-weened, post-modern, PC mind set. However, this is a truism and worthy of consideration when one weighs up the risks of smoking against the risks of alcohol consumption, driving, illicit drug-use, high fat diets, etc.
Societies need scapegoats; it is human to discriminate and to attempt to gain power over others. Smokers currently fit into this niche. It is reasonable to give information about the health risks of smoking to the public, but this is all that is required. People should be left to decide for themselves. Of course, if other ”groups of people” were treated this way, perhaps parachute jumpers for the risks that they take, then there would be an outcry! It could also be argued that the emphasis on giving up smoking is a distraction from racial tensions within the UK and a distraction from the recession and its impact. However, on a governmental level there must be an idea that greater savings to healthcare can be acheived through regulating smoking, rather than through the taxes gained through smokers continuing to smoke. However, this appears to be a long-term strategy.
5:25 pm 20th March, 2011
Briefly;
I thought it was worth mentioning (as mentioned above) the long tradition of intellectuals and smoking. Perhaps nicotine aids concentration? It is also worth considering the history of smoking and its place in cultures, eg; the pipe of peace and the pressures on women to smoke to try to reduce eating by reducing hunger cravings.