Guest guest Posted March 8, 2009 Report Posted March 8, 2009 I live in LA. Your celeb smoker list is very, very short! Obama is the most famous cigarette addict, but the most shocking was Cathryn Zeta-Jones photographed smoking-while-pregnant. She sued & pulled the photos off the net. Smoking is " back " in a big way among younger folks. A friend designs clubs & bars & says it's mandatory to build heated outdoor lounges where patrons can smoke freely w/o breaking indoor smoking laws. I've noticed a terrifying trend of 20-somethings smoking like maniacs. I worked in Santa Monica where almost none of the adults over 35 smoked, but all of the 20-35-y-o smoked. It shocked me. They all told me they would quit " some day " . These were far from poor people or gang members. My personal theory is that they are stressed out because most are looking at a hundred grand or so of student loan debts. Last, one tough story I tell to people to encourage quitting is the sad way a dear friend chose to end his life. He smoked non-filtered from age 14 [he was French] and at age 50, in such agony from lung cancer, he asked doctors to overdose him on morphine. He lived in Spain, and in the presense of 3 doctors, a priest and his wife, he was euthanized with the permission of the government. To me, that would be a powerful incentive to anyone to quit. --- On Sun, 3/8/09, Nancy Curtis <nancihank wrote: > Nancy Curtis <nancihank > Re: Re: OT cigarette taxes > > Sunday, March 8, 2009, 4:26 PM > I agree with everything you said except that > " now-a-days, very few > upper and upper-middle class people smoke. " > > I think that is a misnomer. I believe a lot of the > upper and middle class people > who smoke just have a tendency to hide it better, or care > about hiding it better, than people who care less about what > everyone else thinks about what they do. > > Witness first of all that the President of the United > States " supposedly " had given up smoking only > recently....and had this to say right before the election: > > During his interview with NBC News' Tom Brokaw over > the weekend, President-elect Barack Obama acknowledged that > he has had some trouble kicking his smoking habit but > promised that the White House would remain a smoke-free > zone. > > " There are times where I've fallen off the > wagon, " Mr. Obama said when asked if he had stopped > smoking. " I've done a terrific job, under the > circumstances, of making myself much healthier, " he > continued. " And I think that you will not see any > violations of these rules in the White House, " he said > of the ban. > > The Associated Press notes that Obama told Men's > Health magazine in an interview before the election that he > had smoked a couple of times on the campaign trail. > " But I figure, seeing as I'm running for president, > I need to cut myself a little slack, " he told the > magazine. > > I certainly don't think we can consider Obama either > poor, or lower class and my guess is that he is still > smoking but does not want that information out to the > public. > > Not to mention all of the Hollywood types who also smoke: > > Leonardo DiCaprio > Kate Hudson > Mary-Kate Olsen > Kevin Federline > Ben Affleck > Jack Klugman (smoked until he was diagnosed with throat > cancer) > Patrick Swayze ( who still smokes despite his battle with > pancreatic cancer) > Michael Jordan (smokes cigars) > DL Hugley > Ex-President Bill Clinton ( I found several photos of > Clinton smoking a cigar) > Whoopie Goldberg > Keith Richards > Elizabeth Taylor > Kate Winslet (who prefers to roll her own cigarettes) > Nicole Kidman > Holly Valance > Mel Gibson > Britney Spears > Shakira > David Carradine > Russell Crowe > Avril Lavigne > Meg Ryan > Pat Benatar > Bob Dylan > Al Pacino > Claudia Schiffer > Arnold Schwarzenegger > Jerry Springer > Diego Maradona (one of the best soccer players in > Argentina) > > This is just a partial list of people who I found > pictured (in private life, not while > acting in movies) who smoke and I would say that not one > person on this list would > be considered poor and I don't think we could even > consider even one of them to be > middle class people. > > As it becomes more and more unacceptable to smoke in > public, more and more > people will continue to smoke at home or " on the > sly " .....just because they don't > want people to know they are still smoking. You have to > remember, just because > you don't SEE someone smoke, doesn't mean that > they don't smoke. > > The cancerous tumor in my mother's upper right lung > lobe, that was the size of a dime, when discovered, had been > there most likely, the oncologist told me, for at least > 10 years when something triggered it's growth and > spread. My > mother lived 5 months and 22 days after the initial > diagnoses even with chemo and radiation treatments....she > was > 58 years old. Carol Burnett's daughter, Carrie, > died at 37 from lung cancer....she started smoking when she > was > 15 years old but had quit months before she was > diagnosed. > > > You also might want to check out this website about movie > stars and smoking in the movies and how it effects young > people: > > > http://www.mascotcoalition.org/education/movies/hollywood.html > > So, once again, I have to totally disagree with your > statement that only a few middle and upper-middle class > people still smoke although I do > believe that more and more people today are quitting and > are trying to quit......Thank God for that. > Nancy C. (I guess I am a true oddity in today's > world......I have never smoked cigarettes never felt the > need to either.) > East Texas Quote
Guest guest Posted March 8, 2009 Report Posted March 8, 2009 I'm 27 and I'd say at least half of my friends smoke when they go out, so, when they drink -- these are 20- and 30-something lawyers (and law school grads have, on average, $150k in student loan debt). I don't know if that's any better than a pack a day or not -- or if some of them just claim to only smoke while drinking. I've never smoked. Audrey S. On Sun, Mar 8, 2009 at 6:12 PM, judith bell <judithb wrote: > Smoking is " back " in a big way among younger folks. A friend designs clubs > & bars & says it's mandatory to build heated outdoor lounges where patrons > can smoke freely w/o breaking indoor smoking laws. > > I've noticed a terrifying trend of 20-somethings smoking like maniacs. I > worked in Santa Monica where almost none of the adults over 35 smoked, but > all of the 20-35-y-o smoked. It shocked me. They all told me they would quit > " some day " . These were far from poor people or gang members. My personal > theory is that they are stressed out because most are looking at a hundred > grand or so of student loan debts. > > > Quote
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