enough.

== Containing Smoke ==

Smoking is unlike any other personal habit, health issue, or practice normally seen in public (i.e. spitting, cursing, halitosis, gum-chewing, breast-feeding, etc.). These can usually be kept to a minimum, if not completely out of sight and/or earshot of other people. However, wafting smoke is extremely difficult to contain after the smoker is "done" with it.

In a perfect world, secondhand smoke would be in an enclosed room or otherwise completely separate from smoke-free areas, and this "smoking room" would have proper ventilation that siphons the smoke to a non-populated outside area, like the roof.

== Why Start? ==

Your smoking friends, relatives, office mates, and fellow commuters probably have a variety of reasons to explain why they started smoking. Here are just a few:

Fitting in - Smoking is a way to be cool or fashionable, especially in high school. You must be in a hip, slightly rebellious group, or otherwise be ostracized.

Making friends - Similar to "Fitting in," smoking is a tool for meeting people. It is something you automatically have in common with lots of potential buddies.

Relieving stress - During a particularly traumatic time, you wouldn't pop a baby's pacifier into your mouth, would you? Many smoke to deal with anxiety.

Giving pleasure - Many have a daily regimen for relaxing at the end of a long day, such as family, pets, music, or TV. Others suck carcinogens into their lungs.

Relieving boredom - Some view smoking as simply something to do. You feel dull and listless, so instead of finding a hobby, you stay busy with a cigarette.

== Please Stop ==

One thing that a vast majority of smokers have in common is the incredible difficulty of quitting. They have to WANT to quit, as with any personal vice. It's extremely tough to stop a habit that is sometimes decades old, and the entire concept must be approached with care and diplomacy.

When non-smokers ask smoking friends or loved ones why they continue the habit, it's not a flexing of political muscle or some sort of social upheaval, it's a genuine concern for the smoker's health. A heart-to-heart talk or a family intervention may get the smoker to think about it, but the smoker must make the decision to quit and stick by it if s/he is ever to succeed.

== Bar Ban? ==

As our society continues to move towards a more healthful climate, bar and restaurant owners (and other venues and facilities) need to deal with government imposed smoking bans. More air filters or "smoking rooms" may help, but some venue budgets force owners to see these as unattainable luxuries. They are forced to think of another way to keep their smoking clients if they still want the most potential customers.

As abhorrent as smoking is, a ban on all interior public smoking is still not fair. Surely, there are less freedom-limiting ways to inform and educate, so that an individual can be more responsible for his or her own life and health? The smoker should not feel ostracized, but should WANT improved his/her health by quitting.

== Final Word ==

The unfortunate reality is that many people on both sides of the fence don't see shades of gray; they harbor a mentality that sees only one side of the argument. If these self-proclaimed heroes cultivate a more understanding attitude and strive to work together, smokers and non-smokers can be much closer to an agreeable co-existence.

Then again, if it weren't for a certain industry, none of this would be happening in the first place. Forget about smoking bans - perhaps tobacco companies should be banned!

Learn more about this author, Len Morse.
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