In response to gflie, yes there is more to smokers than the cigarette in their mouth. But to be a smoker you must have started smoking, and you gain NO benefit from smoking your very first cigarette. Hence in starting smoking, you were either too stupid to know the consequences, too arrogant to think those consequences would apply to you, or too weak-willed to resist whatever pressures were pushing you to smoke. And in continuing to smoke in the street, you are continuously subjecting other people to discomfort and harm, showing a disregard for them. By being a smoker, you are showing that you possess qualities that I dislike. The only way I could associate with someone who is a smoker is if they made a mistake in starting to smoke and are trying to quit, and in doing so don't smoke in public places, in which case I wouldn't necessarily know they were a smoker anyway. So, if I see/smell someone smoke, they are showing disregard for other people. Therefore I dislike them.

In that case, if you choose not associate with a person that smokes, it's not my problem, or any smoker's for that matter, but yours. You're so closed-minded, I'm sure the feeling is mutual, then. That's just a mistake on you part. You don't know what you're missing out on, since many smokers can and may be very fun and intelligent people other than the fact that they smoke. Judging from your response, I'm estimating that many are even more intelligent and mature than yourself.

No. If someone is intelligent AND mature, that leaves no reason to start smoking.

AND that's where you are wrong. Imagine you met a wonderful person, you liked everything about them. You could hold up a conversation well, they had a good job, went to a good college. You enjoy this person's company until you find out that this individual smokes. Then, you ditch him/her? Just because he/she smokes? THAT's the immature thing to do. When people mention "full of yourself," they are usually refering to indivduals like yourself, asshole.

GFLiE, it's not a mistake to refuse to associate with people who do something disgusting and harmful. If someone smokes I can't associate with them even if I want to, because my sensitivity to cigarette smoke means I feel very ill and unable to breathe if someone smells of smoke. However, this is unimportant. Everybody chooses who they do and don't spend time with according to their own set of criteria, and smoking is no different to any other criterion. The problem is that one cannot choose not to associate with smokers in some capacity, unless you go everywhere in a giant hamster ball or never leave your house. Some people don't even have their house as a safe haven, and I think it can be considered a form of child abuse for parents to smoke a lot in their house, and when pregnant women smoke.... that's basically asking for your child to be born mentally deficient. Do you know how smoking affects the biochemistry of the brain? Basically, it ***** it up, so a smoker has to smoke regularly to achieve the same level of happiness and stress as a non-smoker. Smoking doesn't relieve stress, but not smoking makes smokers more stressed. The only difference between a smoker and a non-smoker is that the smoker is poisoning themselves and others and paying for the privilege.

It's still no reason to hate someone for it. In you previous post, you mentioned how smokers are stupid, arrogant, and weak-willed. Since stupid and weak-willed cannot be helped, you are simply hating them for something they have no control over. That in itself is a dick move. You also assume that smokers smoke without stopping. That is also where you are wrong. Maybe you should hang out with smokers more often, then. There are different levels. If someone is extremely addicted, then yeah, they will smoke incessantly. Also, I truly doubt that if someone simply smells like smoke, then you will feel ill. You may feel ill when they are doing the act of smoking, but not afterwards. It's probably a placebo affect since you've developed such a hatred for these people. If you are friends with a smoker, a true friend won't smoke around you. I have many friends that don't smoke, who don't impose their beliefs on me, but ask that I don't smoke around them. I respect that, and I can go without smoking for that time period. I'm sure if you got to know some smokers and didn't pre-judge them because of a habit they have, they would do the same. However, the way you are acting is just asking for a quick exhale to the face. Of course smoking affects the biochemistry of the brain. That's the nicotine in it that the companies put in boagies to get you addicted. There are other addictions out there as well. You may have a few yourself. ALL ADDICTIONS "**** up the brain so you have to do that activity regularly to achieve the same level of happiness as someone who doesn't have your addiction." Stop spitting your incessant DARE bullshit. Most of the time they feed you lies anyway. If your illness is seriously that bad, I truly feel sorry for you. You must never have experienced a fun campfire with your friends or a delicious cookout/barbecue. You are missing out.

How clear do I have to make it, other types of smoke do not affect me at all. The reason being that normal smoke is pure carbon. Normal smoke, from a campfire or BBQ, is only irritating to many people because it is particulate matter. Cigarette smoke ***** me up because of all the very nasty chemicals in it. And yes, I have felt very ill and had trouble breathing before because a person came into the room smelling of smoke, and I had to leave very quickly. If you continue to argue against me by saying that you doubt cigarette smoke affects me as badly as it does, you only betray the precariousness of your position. Cigarette smoke hurts me a lot, even in small amounts. I don't have an 'illness', my lungs just cannot handle cigarette smoke. What is DARE? I assume it's something from the US. Please try to remember that not everyone lives there, and that there are other places in the world. Besides, I get my information on smoking from my studies, and some of the top scientists in the world, and I doubt they have any reason to feed me lies. And no, I don't have any addictions apart from food, oxygen and water. Those are the only three things my body needs to keep functioning properly. Finally 'the way I'm acting is asking for an exhale to the face'? Wow. Breathing poisonous chemicals in the face of someone who is effectively allergic to them. What a little bundle of goodness you are. What a mature and intelligent way to deal with conflict.

I think you misunderstand what an addictive chemical is, GFLiE. Nicotine is the bit of cigarettes you LIKE. That's the bit that makes you like it. Any so-called addictions you have mentioned earlier are simply habits, and as such have no chemicals which attach to receptors in your brain. Other drugs (most of them beinbg illegal), have the same effect on your brain. Things like fast food or gaming don't. They have no chemical basis. To have a chemical addiction, YOU must have chosen to start it, because the chemicals involves are not ones the body comes into contact with naturally. You have chosen to let a chemical control your body, by binding to your neural receptors, making the presence of the chemical necessary for you to function on the same level as other people. That is why you can't compare your smoking to all those 'addictions' you're so certain other people have as well.

Hm, slightly misphrased my first paragraph. To clarify: Things like fast food and gaming DO have an effect on the brain, but only through the chemicals that are already in your body. It triggers the realease of more endorphins which make you feel good. On the other hand, drugs, by definition, introduce new chemicals into the body that bind to more receptors faster, replacing the endorphins and requiring that chemical instead. And as it binds to more and more receptors, you need more and more of the chemical to reach the same level of feeling good.

If you don't live in America, you have no reason to tell me to stop smoking because I am not affecting you in any way whatsoever. I had enough of your constant bullshit and this argument isn't getting anywhere. You can continue to cause grief to the smokers around you and that's fine with me, at least I won't have to deal with you ever again.