As a smoker I am told on a daily basis about the benefits of quitting. I am told that in only a few short hours that my lungs begin to repair the damage that I've inflicted upon them with the horrible smoke that I continuously put into them. That in only a few short days after I quit that my lungs can break up pockets of tar and mucus that have accumulated over the years and after a few short weeks that I will no longer feel the need to smoke. I am also told that the effects of second hand smoke on others is horrible and can cause cancer along with causing irrevocable damage to those who are around me. I am told that I can no longer smoke in public areas such as restaurants, movies, or the mall. I have even been told that I can not smoke with in a hundred feet of an entrance of any business. My question is this, if I quit smoking and all of these wonderful things happen so quickly how can it effect a non-smoker so horrifically when they are not consuming smoke at the rate or quantity that I do. It's no longer good enough that if I want to smoke I must stand in the wind, cold, rain, or heat but I also have to do it far enough away from everywhere that it's a joke. I don't have a child that screams at the top of its lungs in public places and it damages my hearing so we should put a ban on screaming kids. That sounds ridiculous doesn't it, to me seeing a group of adults huddled in a circle in the middle of a parking lot to smoke is ridiculous.

You can go to a bar and drink until you are physically sick but you are no longer aloud to smoke inside. It is okay for those who are intoxicated to jump behind the wheel of their cars and cause hundreds of fatalities but God forbid they get lung cancer from second hand smoke. Before I wasn't aloud to smoke in a restaurant I had to sit in the very back next to the restrooms. Is that where you would want to sit if you were going to have a meal? I know I didn't enjoy watching people walk in and out as I tried to eat and I didn't find the sound of a toilet flushing exactly soothing. Instead of letting the owners of a business determine whether or not to allow smoking in their own buildings our government has decided to tell them that it's no longer an option. Why not let the owners decide for themselves or give them the option of either smoking or non-smoking clients. I know prohibition didn't work and this new crack down on tobacco is going to fail as well but how long will it take before we say enough is enough. I don't like the government telling me I can't smoke because it's bad for me, I don't like the government telling me I can't have trans fat, and I really don't like the government telling me how I should live my life. If I want to smoke two packs a day, eat deep fried french fries that taste good, and use styrofoam I should have the right to do so.