What? Do you at least agree that smoking causes cancer? Ok. There have to be some potent carcinogens in it to cause cancer then. The cigarette is filtered to reduce these, but it doesn't do a good job at all. What makes the secondhand smoke so different from the smoke that the smoker is breathing in? Its still the same substances in the cigarette. Its not some magical substance that releases black pixie dust that causes happiness. Its the same stuff. Following your theory, it is not as potent, but the carcinogens in the cigarettes still are being transmitted to the nonsmoker in a lower concentration. It still increases the nonsmoker's risk of developing cancer, and thats enough of a reason to not allow it.
That doesnt mean anything. There is no evidence that shows that anything happens to you when from second hand smoke. Thats just how it is. Carbon monoxide from cars and cows butts, and a million other things are bad as well, hell, even carbon dioxide is bad in high doses, but there just isnt anything to support the THEORY that second hand smoke CAUSES or INCREASES serious bodily harm. There will be stories about the poor waitress that has cancer of the throat now. According to the non smoking orgs its cuz of all the people around her that smoked. How can this be proven? Would she have gotten cancer if she was a librarian? Was it the smoke that caused it, or was it the pancakes she ate for breakfast. Fact of the matter is, no major organization can prove that second hand smoke CAUSES ORRRR INCREASES the risk of cancer.
So, somone around you is doing something that makes you cough. That means you have the right to ban it because you are in discomfort? Fat people in tight clothes makes me vomit. Can we ban that too? What about fast food? It is a personal choice to decide to sit in a smokey area. Just like its a personal choice to eat the sugar/fat-filled nastiness they sell at burger king.
It is in a companies best interest to have non smoking and smoking sections due to business increase and catering to both sides. But for private use, as in bars, as in pubs, as in any other place where you CHOOSE to enter, it is YOUR decision to stay, and if you are uncomfortable, get the funk out.
I'm all for keeping people healthy, all around. If any evidence comes up that shows that without question, second hand smoke can cause serious health effects, I'll jump on the non-smoking bandwagon. Just, at the moment, there isnt any.
I think you are a bit confused about what a cigarette contains, and what a carcinogen is. It is not just smoke. Carcinogens increase the risk of cancer by causing mutations in the DNA. Theres no "threshold dose" where theres no effect. Theres always the same chance of a mutation. The question is whether the body can repair the damage it receives. If the mutations happen in just the right spots and are not repaired, then you will develop cancer. The more you are exposed to carcinogens, the greater this chance becomes.
Yes, smoke from cars and factories is bad, but that's why the government makes an effort, however small, to reduce this smoke containing these bad substances. "Emmission inspections take away from my rights. If my car is spewing out more crap than 20 cars, I should be able to keep on driving it." "I'm a company that can't dump chemicals into rivers. Poor me, my rights have been violated."
If it affects the public as a whole in a negative way, then it should be regulated. Its not like cigarettes were banned completely - they were banned in public places. Oh, didn't see last post. You agree with me. Never mind.
Calling an abortion 'casual' is the most moronic thing i've ever heard. Only someone with no experience with the modern female species could say something like that.
Ahem........Roy Castle, ever heard of him? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roy_Castle
Died of lung cancer caused by passive smoking, and you say theres no rist.....just a little cavalier arn't you.
And as for the OP going on about women who might have an abortion because of their caeer path etc.... Well, that's just rubish. I'm in training for a career as a teachers, i'm almost half way through my course (it's 2 years), my boyfriend does have a reasonable job and his own house, and maybe at a push we're mature enough. However if i was to fall pregnant now i don't think i'd be in a good enough situation to provide for the child, yes both sets of grand parents wouold probably help out but that's not the point. In todays socioeconomic climate having a career for myself is almost a required thing, with the extra money i could bring in to the family i'll be able to make sure that there is resonable food on the table and that my kids will have decent cloths etc.
I hardly think that anyone that goes for an abortion is being casual about it. Any woman that is using an IUD that doesn't have the hormonal element can still get pregnant, but it would be ectopic and in the wrong place. An abortion would be needed at that point to prevent harm to the mother and damage to her reproductive organs, also the fetus would be highly likely to not survive and/or be damaged if it's growing in the wrong place.
It's not always avoidable. That's the thing. Now I wasn't stupid enough to not use protection. But when your very inexperienced and you don't know how to put a condom on properly, that's the same thing.
Thankfully she was just late on, due to stress.
But if she had have been? We'd have aborted it. 15 year olds aren't ready to raise babies. We both still had to finish education and I still had to get my blackbelt. Neither of us had a job then.
So what did you expect us to do? To me it would have been cruelty to give birth to the kid because we sure as hell couldn't have raised it right.
Ive got to agree with siphus on the passive smoking issue. Ive been reading up on this subject and there is no real evidence that passive smoking causes cancer at all. There is however a lot of misinformation from the anti smoking lobbies.
Not all heavy smokers get cancer, ive met lots of people that smoke and are still alive(old ones too). You have a far greater chance of dying from atmospheric polution caused by cars/industry/planes etc but our government cant even reach its emission targets. Smoking in public was banned because its an easy target and makes the government look like they care.
"Even on a conservative estimate, air pollution is killing 10 times more people than road accidents every year. As individuals we must all take responsibility to reduce our contribution to pollution."
As for abortion, ill have an opinoin on that the day that I am able to carry and give birth. Its none of my business what women do with thier bodies.
Can you show me a link to a credible study that says categoricaly that second hand smoke has no risks? I would like to see one that was not skewed in some way. I have seen ones for the other side of the argument that were skewed in some way but often steps had been taken to correct the skew in data.
In my personal oppinion the issue of abortion, just like the issue of having a child in the first place, should be between the two partners and no outside influence should be able to have a say in it. Whether that be the church or the government.
Its the partners responsibility to decide if they can cope with taking care of the child emotionally and financially and if they're ready for it. And in that case abortion should be an option because bringing a child into this world without having a clue on being a mother/father or not being able to provide for it financially (and it gets worse once it comes to the high school/uni stage)can only make it worse ones the child is born. I often see chavs outside and I think actually alot of their attitude is down to their parents. They don't pay them any attention so their kids go out and do what they want.
Even though through abortion you are in effect taking a life (something I'm opposed to actually), its probably better in the long run as this child won't suffer from parents not able to cope with it.
I agree completely, regardless of the reasons surrounding it, it's going to be one of the hardest, most harrowing decisions a woman's ever going to have to make.
Either abortion is wrong or it isn't. Using rape or incest as an excuse shouldn't be an excuse in my mind, warped though it may be. I had a discussion with a minister once about this subject, he used the rape and incest angle and my reply was, so murdering a fetus IS okay in some cases in Gods eyes. He never replied.
My personal feeling is, who am I to judge what another person does with their body. If whatever they are doing doesn't affect me, why should I even care? Jeez, I can barely take care of myself let alone worry about some other persons personal life. I do have one comment, you always see alot of people picketing places that perform abortions and I wonder how many babies are they willing to take in if all these women have them instead of aborting?
My friend at columbia u. told me once before they left that they get 1 free abortion per year or something like that. Its included in tuition or something. I think that they were lying, but that kind of thing is what I'd call casual abortion.
I guess I agree with you people. If you don't have morals and have sex before marriage, then why should I care if you don't have morals and abort a baby. At least my thoughts on it based upon my defintion of morals... If it were me, I'd at least take responsibility for my actions. Of course, I wouldn't get into that situation in the first place.