However insignificant the minority, and however trifling the proposed trespass against their rights, no such trespass is permissible.

-- Herbert Spencer
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Are we going to allow for the exile and humiliation of smokers?

Absolutely not. Part of BtBWI's mission is to break down the negative stigma and stereotypes that are plaguing smokers thanks to the insidious efforts of the anti-tobacco movement.

 

Should smokers be forced to feel guilty for making a choice? Should smokers be condemned to the shadows where they smoke alone? Or should smokers be exiled like modern-day lepers and forced to feel humiliated and alone?

 

One of the greatest foes we face right now is smoker guilt and apathy. Through the efforts of the herd mentality and the general publics' innate desire to feel superior to another, smokers have been made to feel like lesser beings.

 

People should take pride in their ability to make decisions and do what they want. Smokers are no different - in fact the smoker should take exceptional pride in their ability to buck popular opinion and do something that they enjoy.

 

The point is, smokers are people too and nothing can make marginalizing or terrorizing another person for their choices acceptable.

 

It's time to make some changes, and we aim to lead the way.

"Once the smokers die of lung cancer they won’t be able to complain about the ban anymore. Yippie." -- Anonymous commenter from Pennsylvania

Smoking is not a cause - but anti-smoking has become a crusade. -- Jennie Bristow

I saw them again the other day, shivering in the cold, in the rain, without jackets or coats. The looked out, expressionless, as the great world, busy and purposeful, hurried by on the street. They were lined up along the wall of a business office. At their feet were a small mountain of cigarette butts and litter.

They are the punished, the shamed. They are the Smokers. As they stood there--I imagined a wreath of smoke curling round their shoulders like the wooden collar of the stocks of the 17th century--I thought: Why don't we stop this?

-- Peggy Noonan

Points of Interest

 

The debate reflected the increasingly childlike character of political discourse. Children understand moral issues in terms of black and white: the average 12-year-old is capable of being as censorious as a Jesuit and as implacable as an Old Testament prophet. (This is one reason why many parents of young children occasionally find respite in a cigarette.) It is a reflection of the degradation of public debate that political and medical authorities are now reduced to invoking the simplistic morality of children to make them feel good about themselves. While they bask in the warm glow of righteousness, smokers, those suffering from smoking-related diseases - and their families - are cast into the darkness. -- Dr Michael Fitzpatrick, MD

Smoker's guilt is wrong