New smoking regulations have hit the campus at Ball State University, and now smoking has been restricted to only 13 areas of the campus. This is only the beginning of the problem, the social smoking circles are also seeing the damage.
The new rules have been in effect since the 17th of March and most smokers have been following the rules. By following these rules smokers are sacrificing the conveniences and the social lives they once had.
Those college students who smoke find many positive aspects in smoking. It is a great way to make friends, if you don not know someone you just need to ask them for a light and you have a conversation going. Once they go to a certain smoking area a couple times a day they can become close to their peers quite quickly.
Freshman Allyse Walton said, "It's like a smoking family," about her circle of smoking friends.
Sometimes these friends and smoking circles are the only way that an student can get through the stressful days of college or university…
[Via: forces.org]
The economy has been fairly bad and alcohol taxes are high and this has put a lot of pressure on business owner Cary Rigatti, owner of the Creighton Hotel in East Deer, which used to be quite a popular restaurant with good revenue.
A lot of changes have taken place, with many of the dining habits of guests changing. Diners are taking more time to eat their food as they are taking more trips outside to smoke, which means that she has less tables free at one time. Those who drink at the bar are not spending as much time there as they can't smoke.
All Rigatti has to say is, "Some die-hard smokers aren't coming out at all. The economy sucks as it is. Everyone knows that Allegheny County got hit with 10 percent drink tax. We've been hit with a lot of things this year."
[Via: Pittsburgh Tribune-Review]
Every situation has its extremes, especially a recent event where a Malaysian couple were killed as a part of stop-smoking campaign on behalf of their families.
During a ritual that was meant to help the man stop smoking they were beaten to death with broomsticks and motorbike helmets. Ku Chin Wah the head of the city's crime investigations department said this all happened at a family gathering.
The son's of the couple and three other relatives are now being held in custody, while other member that had been detained have been released. Those detained say that the beating ritual was suggested by a nephew when the man said he was not able to quit smoking, while the woman complained of having liver problems.
This is an extreme example, but during the prohibition years of the United States many lost their lives in the fight against alcohol and who's to say that as anti smoking laws get tougher the same won't happen with tobacco users?
[Via: cigarrights.org]
Clark Gable, Spencer Tracey, Joan Crawford, John Wayne, Bette Davis, Betty Grable and Al Jolson were stars of the golden era of film in days gone by. They used to actually get paid to endorse smoking on screen, with tobacco companies paying them up to $75,000 in today's value.
Actors, actresses and singers were put on contracts and they were sometimes paid millions of dollars in endorsements for Lucky Strike, Old Gold, Chesterfield and Camel cigarette brands. Though it was known at that time that cigarettes were harmful to health they still did it willingly.
From the 1930's to the 1940's nearly two thirds of the top 50 Hollywood actors took part in cigarette endorsements and nearly 200 other performers.
Today, though, smoking is rarely shown on film, smoking on-screen is still seen as the cause of teen smoking. However, in the United States nearly 60% of the population is overweight and nobody seems to want to point fingers at the over-endorsement of fast food restaurants…
[Via: The Jerusalim Post]
