Smoking, the constant battle

So when was the last time a perfect stranger came up to you on the street and asked you not to exercise your constitutional rights? Well if you smoke this probably happens all the time. It never fails, every couple of weeks as I walk through the quad on my college campus someone I barely know utters the phrases that gets me steaming, “You shouldn’t smoke.”

Okay, now hear me out please. By this time many of you might want to write me off right here and spew out a few million statistics as to why smoking is harmful to anyone’s health. Save it. I know. Actually, contrary to popular opinion most smokers do actually know much of the health risks that they are dealing with when they make the choice to smoke.

What I find most interesting about this subject is the reason behind people’s statements. First, I would not like to leave anyone with the impression that I am trying to combat my freedom to smoke by challenging other people’s right to free speech. I would just like to caution people in their exercise of this constitutional right.

When people make statements like, “You shouldn’t smoke,” what exactly do they expect the reaction to be? Do people really believe that I will completely relent, cast down my cigarette, and say, “Ya know I’ve never really heard it put like that before.”

If not, then I am assuming people are simply trying to annoy smokers to quit smoking. However, I am really not sure that is going to work. People are not going to stop smoking because others tell them to. They know the health risks, they are probably trying to quit anyway, leave them alone. Furthermore, I would like to state that I am a polite smoker. I try to be aware of the people around me so that when I am indulging in my personal choices that I, in turn, do not harm or displease others in any way.

Also, and in conclusion, I would like to state that cigarettes maybe kill thousands of people each year. On the other hand, heart disease due to poor eating habits is the number one cause of death in this country (source) killing nearly 700,000 people a year, but I have never told anyone to put down their cheese burger.

So basically time and time again I am assaulted by people and generally don’t know why. Perhaps the Newsvine community can shine some light on this subject. Why do people act this way? Is it the right solution here? Why is it that people passionately defend some civil liberties and constitutional rights, but reject this one?

(Also, I don’t generally use my column to rant and rave, but I thought this would open up some good discussion and answer some questions that I have.)