Originally Posted by
Thellian
In response to OP: I can't tell whether you think we should just outright ban smoking or not.
My personal view is that people are free to do as they please as long as they are not ostensibly hurting others. So, people should be able to smoke privately. Publicly, however, it should not be tolerated because it affects the health of others.
Another thing that shouldn't be tolerated is parents who smoke around their children. You have the right to harm yourself as much as you want (short of suicide, but that's a different discussion), but you don't have the right to harm your children.
I'm not saying you should ban smoking, in my personal opinion id rather just not have any smokers in my presence often. I agree with your last statement, its a sad thing to know that people purposely smoke around their children(even the ones in a stroller). As Oracle said, asthma and smoking is a bad mix, and smoking around children could cause just that, since their lungs are still developing.
Originally Posted by
Arglax
Sure, but this is about passive smoking. I'm not taking away anybody's right to smoke, I just think you shouldn't smoke in anyone's presence.
I agree fully. Its just common courtesy.