SMOKERS

[magpie in the 80's]

Only punt with what you can afford.....

One thing you dont f##k with is your health..... If you want to put that crap into your body .... do it but dont whinge later in life when your crook!!!!! those ads on TV are great at the moment..... anyone smoking .... stop ...think what your doing to yourself!!!!!

My health is worth everything to me..... as it should be to everyone..... I love life and I love being healthy!!!!

HAHA!!!!

[Rik E Boy]

Bit harsh pie!

regards,

REB

[another grub]

I rephase that 'overweight but with no major health problems(at this stage)'

[magpie in the 80's]

I rephase that 'overweight but with no major health problems(at this stage)'

not harsh REB grub knows what i mean

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Yeah, but which electorate am I representing? I need to know that first!....

In order-
Make it illegal to smoke in cars while children are present.
Ban smoking where food is served (if the front bar is for smokers, don't serve food there then)
Make it illegal to smoke while driving.

Sheik, whilst I dislike smoking, I dislike it most when it impacts on me.
I also have an issue with smokers who are too selfish to concede that their "god given right" impacts on others, who don't have a choice.

1 night, I was talking to a smoker at a work function, & he was breathing out smoke as he talked. I went home that night with a massive headache, & woke up with the same- like I'd been drinking heavily, except I didn't touch a drop of alcohol. My sickness was from the cigarette smoke.

PS- what's so "moral" about objecting to breathing in the vile stench that has come out of your decaying lungs???

Also- I will not allow people to smoke in my car or house. I have noticed that a large amount of smokers also will not smoke in their own house, yet feel free to do it anywhere away from their home...

I told you, the Anti Moral Smokers party. Upper House, Adelaide I suppose.
Thanks for answering, was'nt that hard was it? except for smoking in cars, I think the other two are already in are'nt they?
I reckon you've gone in pretty easy there Punkster.

Banned in all public places by longreach & Grub wants it banned with the same fines, & penalties as hooch. Thanks fellas, just trying to get a couple of different views. MW, you have doubts over the study you highlighted, on that your legislation would be?

[another grub]

How much is it costing us in health bills........ the same with obeasity ..... DONT GET ME STARTED!!!!!

[scoob]

MW, you have doubts over the study you highlighted, on that your legislation would be?

I have my doubts too, as if breathing in poisonious gases would effect you brain... some people must be dumb to believe that!

Banned everywhere sheik, money they lose in taxes they make up in heath costs....

[Punk Rooster]

Sheik, I think a venue only has to have 1 area where smoking is banned with food.
I remember when it first came in, that smoking was banned in these areas between 6-8.

Like I said, I used to go to dinner with a friend every week, & they smoked- there were always ashtrays around, & despite me dropping obvious hints (removing the ashtray from our table), they chose to think of themselves.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Thanks Scoob.
Punk, I was thinking of the Hammy just before & how they can serve food at the same table as smokers in the Sports Bar at any time. What's the go with that? any idea?

[Sheik Yerbouti]

How much is it costing us in health bills........ the same with obeasity ..... DONT GET ME STARTED!!!!!

No, start grub start.
Bit off track, but what do you reckon smokers cost your general Joe extra in health payments ?

Edit - Looked it up myself, finally found a decent Australian site

http://www.abs.gov.au/Ausstats/abs@.nsf ... enDocument
Of the total health care costs resulting from all forms of drug abuse in 1998-99, approximately 80% were attributable to tobacco. In that year costs attributable to tobacco were $1094.4 million net, including medical, hospital, nursing home and pharmaceutical costs (Collins and Lapsley 2002).

[Punk Rooster]

Thanks Scoob.
Punk, I was thinking of the Hammy just before & how they can serve food at the same table as smokers in the Sports Bar at any time. What's the go with that? any idea?

yes, but if you go into the Restaraunt, you light up a durry & you'll be in a divvy van quicker than you can have your first puff- hence the 1 food area no-smoking policy I mentioned.

[MagicKiwi]

Whilst there's supposed to be no such thing as a considerate smoker, Punky your choice of friends at that table leave a lot to be desired. Probably a good thing you cancelled those dinners.

All this talk.... bugga it, I'm going out for a fag*....

[mal]

Im still devastated that one of my best mates died of Lung Cancer
in December 2006
He was diagnosed 2 years before that
I remember the card games
I remember the lunches
I remember the bbqs and parties
I remember the meditation classes
I remember the day we went out looking for cures
I attended Cancer awareness courses with him
Im glad I made a difference in those 2 years
He liked me being around I cheered him up


The last few weeks were horrendous
He lost weight rapidly
He had no hair left
He went home for those last few days
I got chicken pox those last few days + was hospitalised
I was home for afew days but could not visit him
He was incapacitated + lost his ability to communicate and could not talk on the phone
He died
I never got to say goodbye ........

[rod_rooster]

Im still devastated that one of my best mates died of Lung Cancer
in December 2006
He was diagnosed 2 years before that
I remember the card games
I remember the lunches
I remember the bbqs and parties
I remember the meditation classes
I remember the day we went out looking for cures
I attended Cancer awareness courses with him
Im glad I made a difference in those 2 years
He liked me being around I cheered him up


The last few weeks were horrendous
He lost weight rapidly
He had no hair left
He went home for those last few days
I got chicken pox those last few days + was hospitalised
I was home for afew days but could not visit him
He was incapacitated + lost his ability to communicate and could not talk on the phone
He died
I never got to say goodbye ........

mal, thankyou for sharing that. I lost my Grandfather in similar circumstances. Nothing i wouldn't give for 10 minutes more. Every second of life is precious.

[Sheik Yerbouti]

Punk requested on a visit yesterday that would I stop rabbiting on & just get to the point. So I shall.
I only entered this discussion after reading Lunchcutters post that her Dad had died of cancer & that she & the rest of her family still smoked. Some of the replys were pretty heartless, I'd say they were from people who, luckily for them, never took up the habit. The general gist was ''give it up, how can you possibly still smoke''.
It's been pretty widely reported that H has the same grip as nicotine, MW doubts this, as is his right but whatever the studies show it's an extremely very hard substance to leave. My sister in laws Father, an old Greek fella even after losing both his legs & four fingers to smoking related gangrene still lights up. Even after the hospital has warned him that they'll operate no more. Lunchcutter, even though smoking claimed her Dad still smokes. This is the sort of hold it has on some people. The point being, even though some can give up the darts in a breeze others struggle with it in a huge way. Willpower as one suggested just does'nt work in most cases.

The drain on public health was mentioned.

Apart from tax gained by quit-smoking aids currently, smokers contribute to the government coffers in this country and to
the welfare of all Australians in excess of 5 billion dollars annually in taxes. After GST and two more pre-legislated automatic
tax increases in the new year, that contribution will increase to nearly 8 billion dollars annually. Compare that figure
to the current 1.7 billion dollar annual cost of all tobacco related health illnesses in Australia.

On a pack a day, a smoker will contribute over 4k in excise to the public coffers per annum. You owe me.

If the government were serious about stopping smoking to save lives & the so called drain on the public purses, would'nt they at least offer support? Quit campaign someone mentioned, what 18 pages of what a bad egg you are, 1 nicorette, & a number that you can sit on hold for an hour for support, please. Mals post two above would save a few trees & drive the point home for a lot less cost. A doctor was suggested, what a course of Zyban?, which by the way has side affects equal to a bad dose of rat poison cut meth in some users. Hypnotist? Psychiatrist? all well & good if your Bradley Huntingworth-Jones with all the time & money to spare, bit rich for Neville Gowans of Peachy Rd Daveron Park. Nicorettes, patches & the like are all highly taxed.
No Oddesey house, social workers, support groups et al for smokers, you go it alone.

So in a nutshell whilst calling for our collective heads, in the same breath you could also offer support & some sort of positive suggestions.

As we're hopelessly undermanned, Lunchcutter, Magic Kiwi & myself can only turn to the patron saint of dart consumers & give it right back.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w9ySCcnoo3c

It is a comedy sketch remember

* Bill died of cancer 10 years ago aged 34.

[Rik E Boy]

Im still devastated that one of my best mates died of Lung Cancer
in December 2006
He was diagnosed 2 years before that
I remember the card games
I remember the lunches
I remember the bbqs and parties
I remember the meditation classes
I remember the day we went out looking for cures
I attended Cancer awareness courses with him
Im glad I made a difference in those 2 years
He liked me being around I cheered him up


The last few weeks were horrendous
He lost weight rapidly
He had no hair left
He went home for those last few days
I got chicken pox those last few days + was hospitalised
I was home for afew days but could not visit him
He was incapacitated + lost his ability to communicate and could not talk on the phone
He died
I never got to say goodbye ........

Top post mal. I lost my uncle to lung cancer, he smoked all of his life. One day he went to the doctors with chest pains and he eventually found out he had a tumour the size of a fist in his lung and that he about three months to live. My uncle was a huge bloke with a big appettite for food, booze and fun. He was larger than life in every respect and one of those guys who was well liked by everyone in his community. He was an integral part of the Shoalhaven Ex-Serviceman's Cricket Club in Nowra and there is currently a Hayden Drexel Oval named after him in recognition of his contribution to his club and community.

I went to Nowra three weeks before he died. This gregarious, huge bloke was a trembling shadow of his former self. He was up all night in pain because the boxloads of pills could do nothing for him. His normal 20 pint drinking sessions were replace by a couple of quick pots before he had to go home and suffer alone. He went to the races with my other Uncle and I stayed at home to watch a movie with my Nanna. A couple of hours later my uncle was staggering up the steps and hanging on to the screen door. I had to carry him to bed and he had all of this clear liquid shit pouring out these holes he had in his forearms..I still don't know what the deal was with that. One of the last things he said to me was 'Smoking..filthy bloody habit. Whatever you do, don't smoke' much as Yul Brunner said before him. My Uncle passed away in January 1999. He didn't have much left when I last saw him and he wasn't the man I remembered when I was growing up.

I can recommend the book Yul by his son..a great story about the man, the actor, the father and the disease that claimed him. One quote 'The pain is eating me up with a spoon'.

regards,

REB

[our_longreach]

Smoking KILLS about 20,000 people a year in Australia and yet as a nation we tolerate this.

If 20,000 people died a year on the road, cars would be banned;
We have a couple of shark attacks a year and people are petirified of going to the beach, thousands are spent on beach patrols;
We have one soldier die in Iraq and we have endless publicity, inquests, investigations, etc.

Yet we let 20,000 people die every year from a disgusting preventable habit. WTF???

Has the world gone mad? WHY do we tolerate this?

BAN SMOKING FOR GOOD.

[MW]

If the last two posts by REB and Mal don't end this debate then nothing will

[am Bays]

If the last two posts by REB and Mal don't end this debate then nothing will

I'll believe that when i see it

[mick]

Smoking KILLS about 20,000 people a year in Australia and yet as a nation we tolerate this.

If 20,000 people died a year on the road, cars would be banned;
We have a couple of shark attacks a year and people are petirified of going to the beach, thousands are spent on beach patrols;
We have one soldier die in Iraq and we have endless publicity, inquests, investigations, etc.

Yet we let 20,000 people die every year from a disgusting preventable habit. WTF???

Has the world gone mad? WHY do we tolerate this?

BAN SMOKING FOR GOOD.

The government could ban a lot of things for our own good, smokes, grog, gambling etc. They don't because they are addicted to the revenue.