Since when is someone's personal choice to enjoy a legal product substance abuse! And what in the world is any mental health service thinking? Smokers are NOT mentally diseased! How much money did these people get to push this demonizing propoganda? Cut the funding for this hogwash!

Marbee, I appreciate your feelings. In fact, having recently suffered the experience of Layoff, I am acutely aware of the need for social reorientation of society as well as the possible need for lite intervention for the victim of the Layoff. You can know it has nothing to do with you, but the heart struggles. Certainly, this goes beyond a simple trigger. Smokers are not and should not be considered pariahs. When society begins to understand they are as much a part of the problem as the bearer of the symptoms, perhaps society will look at the damage it has wreaked and the havoc it condones, much like a dysfuntional family.

The unemployed are, by and large, the uneducated-- cigarette smoking rates among doctoral degree holders are under ten percent. 1. If I may speculate, maybe education-- all that reading and writing-- besides helping one get and secure a job, also makes the mental work easier and less stressful, so that the worker doesn't need to turn to nicotine to help concentrate the mind and get through the assignments. Somewhere I read that over two thirds of prisoners are cigarette smokers.

well... DUH!!!! Caught us! We are SMOKERS, and we have been on STRIKE for YEARS : ) Hubby 'early retired' about 18 years ago, from his 30 year career as an engineer at IBM, when the plant in S. FL went 'smoke free'. He was ticked,,, said if they thought he was going to stand outdoors in 95 degrees, 90% humidity, and thunderstorms every time he wanted a cig, they could shove this job (3 guesses where?). I'd quit my job as a computer programmer at the same company a couple of years before due to the Fed. Income tax (long story). But I did NOT return to paid employment after hubby quit - as I also REFUSE to work in a 'smoke free' environment. We bought 300 acres in the beautiful Cumberland Mountains of Kentucky, and have been ENJOYING our 6 kids, and (so far) 8 grandkids ever since. Guess what??? We DON'T CARE if you get Bangladesh when you call a computer support line. And, I even get a giggle out of thinking of American Con..cancer Society, American Liar..lung Association, American Hypcocrite..heart Association, and/or RWJF and their other bought and paid for SCAM orginizations getting Sri Lanka whey THEY call one I KNEW we were not the ONLY SMOKERS ON STRIKE www.hosanna1.com/RESUME www.libertyvan.com

Gee maxwood, you need to get out and talk to people more. I know many professionals (educated) who will NOT work under smoke-free rules and have quit! So how many of the brightest and best has the professional world lost due to the preference of those less educated? Do some digging and find out the truth! www.forces.com www.thetruthisalie.com http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/

I have been running into folks for YEARS who have changed jobs due to smoking restrictions. Folks working at rest areas (I travel a lot) often tell me they used to work in factories before they went smoke free. On this most recent trip, just a couple of days ago, I talked to a smokin' woman working at a CONVENIENCE store (in Haggarstown, MD) to told me she was a CNA (certified nurse's assistant) until she couldn't take their anti-smoking restrictions anymore. I know the economy isn't in great shape right now, but have heard the health care industry is one area that has been adding jobs at a good rate. Smell the coffee, people. There are tens of millions of folks who are NOT GOING to quit smoking - because we DON'T WANT to. Matters not how many more hundreds of millions of tax dollars, or billions of drug company dollars are poured into the propaganda and lying campaign. In fact, I think they have reached the point of diminishing returns. The more they hammer, and the more ridiculous the claims they make, the less their credibility, and the more folks just plain get pissed off, and decide they WILL NOT quit. Yup, we're going to get rid of tobacco the same way we got rid of ALCOHOL. We're repeating history. We didn't learn a thing from Al Capone.

Those 10% who hold doctoral degrees may just leave, and many have. Then some of the brightest and best are lost due to the preference of those less educated. Do a little digging and find out the truth before saying smokers are uneducated! www.forces.com www.thetruthisalie.com http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/