Reply #74: Where do I start... [View All]

[Starbucks Anarchist]

There is such a thing as a "whiff" of cigarette smoke. If I'm walking past you on the street and smoking, you will literally catch a whiff of smoke. Unless you are hooked up to an oxygen tank, a whiff of smoke will not kill you.

The overwhelming majority of people dying of secondhand smoke die due to prolonged exposure to it in enclosed areas, not a one-time exposure to it in the open air, or even repeated exposure in the open air.

You mentioned that smoking within 100 yards of anybody should be criminalized as a felony, something that is both unenforceable and, well, impossible unless you live in the middle of nowhere. And if you can smell cigarette smoke from 100 yards away (a football field, mind you), then you must be some sort of alien life form.

A drunk driver has to hit you once to kill you. Someone who physically assaults you, baseball bat or otherwise, can also kill you, or at least cause severe damage. Proportionally speaking, drunk drivers and people who assault others are much more efficient than smokers in terms of causing harm to others.