Is it normal to despise smokers

Its Ok to hate smokers. We hate you back.

hate the tobacco not the smoker.
Tobacco addicts faster than any other drug.

A kid just trying it a few times to impress his friends or just to be in the group will soon notice that he now craves a smoke, and they will smoke even when they're alone.
If you were around during the days when doctors came on TV recommending that you smoke for good health, you would understand how your parents and grandparents got the way they are.

On my 14th birthday (1954), my father gave me a box of 50 cigarettes for my birthday present.
He said that now I am a man I should act like one. He was a good dad and believe tobacco was okay. There was no one voice any where, any media, any pamphets, nothing that said tobacco was unhealthy.
Aside from tobacco companies profits, goverments made (and still do) billions in taxes, so everyone was happy.
Then one day an American surgeon general told us it was a hazard to the health but tobacco companies said that was false and smoking is good.
It's only been the last 15-20 years that it's become an evil product.
Had this column been around twenty five years ago the question could not have been asked because altho non smokers existed they did not despise smokers. It would have been like posting that you despise people who have ears. It just would not have been an issue

Do you get your jollies from judging people? She's offended because your comment applies to her family, i'd call that loyal.

No it aint normal. I mean what about all the alcoholics....or all the people who don't do exercise...or all the fat people? Do you despise all these people too?

I smoke occasionally (cigars, shisha), but im in great shape, healthy, and moderate. I'm a lot healthier than some guy who doesn't smoke but that doesn't do any exercise or overeats or drinks.

in todays society perhaps it is normal (unfortunately). is it justified? no way! at best your thoughts on the matter are hateful and intolerant and in my opinion being hateful and intolerant is not something to be proud of. for the record, i am not a smoker. i experimented with smoking as a teenager and ultimately decided it wasnt for me so my opinion is not that of a biased smoker.

first ill address the financial argument you bring up. i would be willing to bet that smokers cost society less in the long run if you factor in:

a) the amount of tax revenue generated solely from smokers (about $70 million each and every day in the usa, around 25 billion each year)

b) the fact that nonsmokers generally live longer and on average require an additional 8 to 10 years of benefit payouts and medical care.

those two factors alone likely cancel out the cost of smokers vs nonsmokers, if not making smokers the less expensive option. keep in mind that not all smokers even die from smoking related illness. you don't have to take my word for it though, according to the new england journal of medicine, a society comprised entirely of nonsmokers would be more costly than our current society of nonsmokers and smokers.
"http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/short/337/15/1052"

now that the $$ argument has been addressed, i would like to speak to the hateful attitude you have expressed. i dont believe the money is the biggest factor driving your hate. i believe you are likely looking for any reason that you can find to justify preexisting negative emotions towards smokers. maybe its because of your experience you mention regarding your dad, which is very unfortunate, but that was his choice and it is no other smokers fault. it appears as though you would hate smokers for no other reason than their choice of habit. if what i suggest is not the case and you are really only concerned about the burden they cause you at work (although i suspect that's what you get paid for so no sympathy here on that) and/or their cost to society than why dont you get on about obese people, or heavy alcohol users? i think you should be happy you have what is probably a decent paying job in this economy and do your best to help those people without being so judgmental and resentful towards them.

thats like hating fat people for eating.

I've been a smoker but i quit like a year ago. You are SO ignorant. Smokers that end up in rehab centers or in hospitals probably have paid more than 4 times what the care they need costs with all the taxes that come with cigarette packs. And, if you apply the same thing to everybody you should also criticize obese people who after eating too much end up having heart strokes and other health problems that in many countries are covered for "free" paid from everybody's taxes. So think, learn, and then speak.

I am far from perfect but the tax payer doesn't have to pick up the tab for my inperctions. That's the difference . The last comment was right on. Morbid obesity is a bigger killer than cigarettes. They cost the taxpayer a butt load of money, too. But they don't live long. My sons friend died at 33 from complications of morbid obesity. Very sad. He was a genius.

Smoking isn't any worse then all the overweight Americans hurting their bodies eating fast food.

It must suck to be so perfect and despise so easily...no that's not normal.

Just smoke weed. It cures things, not hurt things.

I smoked we just can't help it we get into it some reason and it becomes a addiction well some can help it but it's hard to quit but I can't understand why you think smoking is descusting cause it is an alot of smokers think that too

I stopped smoking on new years!

If you "despise" smokers, why do you give a shit if they die? Let's face it, you probably just dislike the effects of smoking.

I don't smoke, but I don't give a shit if others want to. Smokers are just people and nicotine is just a vice. We all have them and most of them can harm others in the process.

I didn't read any of the other comments, but haven't smokers already paid for their health care, since the price of a pack of cigarettes averages $10 CAN?? Some people smoke 3 packages a day. There's a lot of profit there, but yeah at the expense of human life, energy, effort and helpful resources too. Addictions are very bad.

I think you are perfectly within your rights to despise smokers because of the pressure they put on healthcare.... as long as you spread your hate to alcoholics and drug abusers too. Don't single out your hatred. What kind of world would this be if people just chose one group of people to be repulsed by?

...It's a shame text doesn't convey sarcasm.

I love the pro-smokers reasoning. It's sad and ignorant.

You really should change jobs. It sounds like you are frustrated and are taking your angst out on others. Have some compassion - they're dying from their addiction. PS - I smoked and quit decades ago - the smell is disgusting but the people aren't.

I am a smoker, I hate it and I worry constantly about how it will give me cancer etc.... Unfortunately addiction is called addiction for a reason. Trying to quit, again.... Wish me luck... Too bad they won't just make them illegal so I couldn't even buy them! Your views are kinda harsh don't ya think

I've been a smoker myself for 6 months and ive recently stopped , but before you say smokers are disgusting tell yourself that sometimes you feel desperate and do things very bad like smoking , life isnt always easy and perfect

i hate smokers too. theyre disgusting.

somking will never go away no matter how hard we try somebody somewhere will be somking sadly...people are so better off with out them but they don't belove so,sorry about your dad bro

If everyone just stopped drinking, taking drugs, smoking, and took up lucid dreaming instead, this world would be a way better place.

Smokers end up paying for their own healthcare in a lifetime. Where I live, a pack of cigarettes is about $8, when they used to be like $5 even cheaper. They also pay taxes like everyone else. You are very ignorant and should worry about yourself. Yes smokers chose to smoke, but when they were teenagers. Ever made a dumb mistake when you were young? You also don't know some of the stress these people go through. One of my freinds lost her mother when she was 13, another's mom is jail, and many more sad stories of why these people smoke. Have a little compassion and instead of desping them realize the struggle they go through everyday!

I completely understand! It would be one thing if smokers were just poisoning themselves, but their second-hand smoke hurts us non-smokers too! And second-hand smoke does more damage! It's not fair to us!

becky's right though, don't hate (all of) the people, hate the cigarettes themselves and the tobacco companies! Annnd....the jerks who blow their smoke right in your face!

Hating smokers and hating cigarettes/smoking are different things. It's normal to hate the latter.

smoking and stuff like that is bad. And people do just despise people that smoke- i would say that it is normal, it may be becuase of the way you were brought up or maybe it is just something you despise.

It also applies to my family.
I see
no reason to be happier paying the tab for her family.

So did I. My dad died of head and neck cancer. You sound like a real charmer.

I help people all day long. I go above and beyond the call of duty. I am hardly cold. You don't see what I see. Any normal person would be disgusted.

Exercise will never overcome the harmful effects of smoking. You are setting yourself up for oral ca. You're going to miss your tongue. You are also lying to yourself like all smokers. Even if you don't inhale, the smoke is absorbed into your body under your tongue. The difference is I see the end result on a daily basis.

Sorry for your need to express sarcasm. I have more contact with smokers in the hospital than dopers and alcoholics. I have had more tragedies in my family b/c of smoking. Life is about choices. Unfortunately, the people that make the right choices pick the up the tab for the ones that make the wrong choices. Sorry texting cannot convey common sense.

I have many reasons for hating smoking;
1. My 45 year old nephew has throat ca. His medical bills have reached 400,000 and he will have to file bankruptcy.
2. My other nephew who is 38 had to have a cancerous kidney removed
b/c of smoking.
3. My sister-in-law was a heavy
smoker when she was pregnant. Two were
born with respiratory distress. The third was born with a whole in
his heart. He lived 6 days. The cigarette pkg clearly states that cigs cause fetal damage.
4. I had a pt on disability b/c he destroyed his heart by smoking. He's
had 2 strokes. We arranged for him to have great rehab and all he does is criticize that help we give him. Yet he keeps
puffing away.
The warnings are in writing everywhere and yet people don't herd
the warnings and keep on. I really don't think I'm the ignorant one.
I treat my smoking pts just as I treat all the others. The drain on society and a damn waste. Same with morbid obesity and alcohol. There's help out there- get it.

As do obese people...why haven't they been mentioned yet? You don't need to have compassion for the smokers, especially since smoking cost your father his life...but why don't you blame the government? They're the ones who make it legal. Yet marijuana isn't legal and it doesn't carry all these devastating health implications (just a load of negative stigma and scare-mongering). It's a crazy world.

Taxes paid on a pack of cigarettes in no way pay for nursing homes, chemotherapy heart surgeries, medicines doctors fees and rehab. The hospital staff never has to interrupt their day to take a fat person out to eat..

It would be a shame if I quit my job over the two smoking pts I have now. However, the hospital is full of them. They are admitted over and over until they end up in a nsg home. We have to pay for that, too. They are high-maintenance and high cost. They have no idea how I feel.

I mean I can understand not can't my bad

I smoked for 2 years and then came to my
senses. I wish every one success that tries to quit. I think with education, the rate will decrease significantly. If smokers only knew the suffering they are in for.

I hate them too, mostly because I know it was their choice to begin with.

I can't stand being around the smell of smoke and feel bad for kids that have parents who are addicted.