by Armywriter

Created on: December 12, 2008

Why not? This is America, the land where it is okay to have an abortion for any reason and never receive approval from the father. Why not allow smoking in public areas? Why should smokers be discriminated against?

Listen, I believe that there should be places where smokers cannot smoke. However, why are we dictating to businesses what they can and cannot allow in their establishment? I mean we allow people to get completely inebriated and we allow fights on television that can some times be so graphic that I don't care to watch myself. And I am a soldier, not one to shy away from a little violence.

Yet all these fact aside we condemn those who smoke to be out sided, to stand alone in the cold or the heat or the rain, we force them to stand so many feet away from certain buildings and then it is okay to harass them and let them know how unhealthy and gross that decision is. Well I smoke and I don't care to hear how my habit is unhealthy from someone that gets an abortion. I smoke but I don't drink and I don't care to hear it from someone that drinks too much. I smoke but I don't care to hear how unhealthy it is from an obese person. I've smoked for over seven years and while I do plan on quitting I haven't yet. But I raise a little girl by myself and do a good job of it. I defend my country and have deployed twice. I exercise 5 times a week and am in incredible shape. So why should I be discriminated against? Why is it legal to get drunk and act stupid in a public area but not smoke?

Finally I think it should be up to the establishment. If a business chooses to allow smoking in their place than that should be that. Non smokers should go elsewhere if they don't like it. Just like smokers should go elsewhere if they don't like the non smoking places. This is fair, this is right and when compared to the other idiocies out there this debate should seem like a joke. Seriously if women have the choice to murder their unborn child then why are smokers not allowed to smoke without running away from everyone like they are a disease?

In closing I feel that not only is it a hypocrisy but a violation of the constitution. This is a popular media induced argument that seems to be easy for lawmakers to jump on. However, if every smoker in the US quit smoking tomorrow our nation would really go into a bad recession because there are so many different programs funded by the tax on cigarette sales that it isn't even funny. If a smoker knows there is a chance of getting lung cancer when he smokes then let him smoke. There is a good chance a woman who has an abortion will get cervical cancer yet that is allowed for free all over the US.

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