Originally Posted by
Nikolaos
Let me get the opposite side to spark up the conversation a little bit!! I note that i will talk about smoking and not pot, following the cigar story!
My question is: Are we quite oversensitive here? Not smoking at the balcony?? Or at the street?? What's the argument here? You are bothered by the smell? So what if i am bothered by your perfume? Or your loud voice when you talk on the cell phone or the cry of your baby..
It's one thing to respect the rights of non-smokers and another to think that smokers have no rights at all..
Cigarette, and in particular cigar smoke make me cough. It is not a conscious reaction to the smoke, it is my respiratory system rejecting the stuff. In addition, my eyes start burning, and my contact lenses get dry, even if a smoker is in the room wearing clothing reeking of smoke. Again, this is not "something I don't like," it is a physical reaction to the smoke. And I don't have asthma.
People who actually have asthma can have more severe reactions to smoke. It can set off an attack and send them to the emergency room.
I don't object to people smoking when outside, as I am not forced to stay near them and can escape. However, activities such as someone smoking on a balcony next to the room I am forced to be in don't afford me the opportunity to escape. However, given that the smoker is trying hard to avoid causing problems by avoiding smoking inside and trying to minimize the impact, I, and I think most reasonable people, don't make a huge fuss about it.
I think one of the biggest misconceptions implicit in your question above is that smoke is merely something "people don't like" when in fact it does cause physical reactions such as coughing, burning eyes, etc.