There are 9 visitors online, 682 total debates, and 3614 debate responses.
Smokers are Treated Like Second Class Citizens
Smokers are treated as second class citizens in the United States and this needs to stop NOW! We as smokers are just like everyone else, but are secluded from bars, restaurants, airports, racetracks, casinos, etc... This is constitutionally wrong! I understand not smoking in a hospital, airplane, or other confined areas, but there are fewer and few places each and every day that we can smoke.
Also, some businesses and companies refuse to hire employees that smoke. This is discrimination. What if I didn't want to hire an employee that drank a few drinks after work at night, or someone of a difference race or gender? That is discrimination, yet places can legally \"exclude\" smokers (examples include Cleveland Clinic and other large places).
Stand up for Smokers Rights Today!
This debate is over...
The Winner is:
Pro with ( 44 ) responses
Login to WeDebate.it
PRO (13)
I agree. It is wrong that they are treated less equal that those who choose not to smoke.
Posted by Bee
283 days ago
That's quite true, sames goes for the country I live in.
Posted by rxzor
283 days ago
Even though I do not smoke, I must agree that smokers are viewed as second class citizens. It is apparent everywhere you go.
Posted by Mr X
283 days ago
Smokers are human beings too.
Posted by Johnnnny
282 days ago
Posted by sandi
281 days ago
Smokers are the most discriminated group of people from my time in America. I feel bad that you can't light up without being thought of as criminal.
Posted by BMW
279 days ago
Smoking is dirty and unhealthy. Don't give me your cancer.
Posted by Roo22
279 days ago
i think that smokers contaminate the air with second hand smoke now what about our children and our lungs as well we do not want to be affected by the choice you smokers make in life if you want to mess up your life go ahead just stay away from us smoke free citizens.
Posted by dkings17
253 days ago
In America, anyone can do anything as long as it does not harm any other individual. That's why society makes laws. Well, it's been scientifically proven that smoking effects all those around you, even in open air. Over 400 carcinagens have been identified in just one cigerette [that is mind boggling to me]. No wonder I get horribly sick when exposed to just one whiff of smoke. Before all the laws you mentioned were passed I could not eat in most restuarants or had to leave bars or had to take sick days because many people smoked in the office or had to move my seat in the middle of a movie because the person behind me lite up and so on. Wasn't I in effect being denied the right to be where I wanted to be because I was born with an allergy? Yes, you have the right to expose yourself to the harmfulness of tobacco, but when, in effect you seriouly compromise the health of other human beings, and children are the most harmed, it is no longer a right but a threat to the welfare of others. That's what laws are for-to protect the general good. I felt liberated and grateful when they did pass all the laws restricting smoking. Your analogy of you facing discrimination by an employer because you smoke is the same as an employer not hiring someone because of race and/or gender is like comparing apples to oranges.
Posted by Allergic to tobacco
249 days ago
I agree and i will say that it is a good thing. People should not be able to smoke in public places because secondhand smoke can kill just as easy as smoking the cigarette. Smokers that want to smoke in public and harm other peoples lungs and possibly send them to the hospital is selfish! You deserve to be a second class citizens. I have never heard from any other selfish people in my life. You should be ashamed of yourselves.
Posted by RJR
186 days ago
smokers are arguably marked with a social stigma and discrimination within society as the fact that they smoke effects the way people look at them . it is a free country and freedom of speech and action should be practised . if someone wants to smoke let them be !
Posted by eleana
169 days ago
smoke crack instead
Posted by deans
169 days ago
I'm a smoker myself and i know exactly how this is.
Posted by Sparky
167 days ago
AGAINST (9)
I am a smoker, but I understand why there are so many places in which we cannot smoke in. Even though we have this habit, it is true that it is a habit that is horrible for us. Other people shouldn't have to breathe in all of the chemical crapola that our cigarettes generate.
Posted by JohnBrown
279 days ago
Tobacco smoke contains some of the most harmful chemicals known to mankind. Second- hand smoke kills about 50,000 people each year in America alone, and it is estimated that someone dies of smoking every 6 and a half seconds. Of course smoking shouldn't be allowed in public. You would willingly expose children to this? Not only is it harmful, but the smoke smells awful and generally makes for an unpleasant experience, especially for non-smokers.
However, those of you who are standing up for smokers' rights have no logical arguments. Smokers are not treated like second- class citizens. That is fallacious. They are, however, instructed not to pass their health issues to the general public, and I see no problem with that.
I believe some people have posted on the wrong side, contradicting their arguments.
Posted by ponyberry
229 days ago
Maybe if you didn't cause harms to other people because second hand smoke can kill more easy than first hand. So why don't you just quit smoking and you would be treated like a normal member of society and maybe you wouldn't post this if you saved your bran you fried from smoking.
Posted by RJ
219 days ago
I personally have never viewed a situation where someone who smokes has been treated unfairly. I think you are a sad lonely individual who has decided to complain about nothing.
Posted by Piggy dog
214 days ago
They legally exclude smokers because it's legally killing you....
Posted by Studmuffin
193 days ago
I do not agree that it is discrimination,and I do not believe it should be put in the same category as race and gender.
If my race and gender physically impacted the health of people around me ,it would be a different story
But me being female does not impact the health of people around me,smoking does.
Posted by edzlyons
187 days ago
Smokers are not excluded from these places, they're merely not allowed to smoke in them. There's a huge difference. And there's a reason that they're banned, too : second-hand smoke can still create lung cancer.
Posted by nicolean
182 days ago
I'm from the UK, and similar laws are here. It's becuase of second hand smoking that you're not allowed to smoke in publice areas. Eg. You smoke in a restaurant, a mum and a baby walk by and breathe in your smoke. If they stay around you even just for a minute, the smell and smoke will stay on their clothes and they'll be forced to breathe it in, and that's hardly good for the baby now is it? There is reasoning behind the politician's madness sometimes. Oh, by the way, if you don't want 'to be treated like a second class citizen', stop smoking and face the concequences of your actions.
Posted by Chelsea
182 days ago
I can't believe that smokers have the audacity to say that smoking can be treated like race or gender. You are harming people around you and it is unfair to the rest of society. Stop whining and stop smoking!
Posted by I am disgusted
181 days ago