I have to admit that I have not read every word of the above posts, but I feel like I need to put a little science into the discussion. I am a physician and I really don't see a double standard because cigarettes and alcohol are absolutely not the equivalent.
People who drink in moderation live longer than abstainers. Small amounts of alcohol can have benificial health effects that we don't fully understand. Maybe people who drink responsibly are just less uptight than those who don't drink at all, or maybe the effect on cholesterol is enough to explain the mortality benefit. Most people can drink responsibly. About 10% are prone to alcoholism. For them, avoiding all alcohol is obviously the best choice. For the rest of us, it is OK. If someone at the next table is drinking quietly and not acting like a mean drunk, then there is no impact on me.
ALL smoking is bad for you. There is no safe amount of tobacco. I realize we all know people who smoked until they were 90, but statistic show that half of all smokers die prematurely. I am sorry if it upsets you, but those odds suck. I can not think of any other voluntary human activity with that kind of mortality risk. Still, if you want to smoke, I don't care. I will take care of you to the best of my ability. Just don't keep whining about how you don't understand why you can't get better and you are always short of breath......all with the cigarettes still in plain view in your shirt pocket. What those of you who don't smoke don't understand is how bad you smell, or how annoying your second hand smoke is to the rest of us. In my opinion, your smoking in public is the cultural equivalent of holding someone down while you fart in their face. The safety data on second hand smoke is controversial, but who cares. It is just plain disgusting and that should be enough for any civilized person.
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I was there to see beautiful naked women. So was everybody else. It's a common failing.
Robert A Heinlein in "They Do It With Mirrors"
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