Comments on: 3rd Hand Smoke Study Has Legal Implications

By: Ajax the Great

Ajax the Great — Mon, 01 Aug 2011 17:16:37 +0000

Thanks, Den. Finally, some sanity on this page!

Randall, it sounds like your building was very shoddily made. I grew up in a 4-unit condo building and my mother smoked like a chimney, but none of our neighbors seemed to even notice. Perhaps that was because we lived upstairs (smoke rises), but long after both my mother and I quit, we only found out that our other upstairs neighbor smoked when we saw him do it outside–we never noticed anything in spite of him smoking like a fiend both inside and outside (but mostly inside), and we never would have guessed that he was a smoker.

It does sound like your neighbor is a jerk since you offered to buy a whole-house filter for him and he even refused that. In an ideal world, the onus should be on him, not you. But unfortunately, that’s part of the price of living in a free society. And believe it or not, you are still free to move, albeit at a cost of a reduced standard of living. Also, have you tried installing the filter in your own unit to see if that would work?

By: Den

Den — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:08:55 +0000

I can´t help, but love Americans. A bunch of completely mixed up crowd.
Thirdhand smoke !!! Unbelievable !!! Obviously no one in New York has ever considered what comes out the back of a car/bus/truck/taxi´s exhaust pipe and they inhale that rubbish in all day.

By: randall

randall — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 18:04:56 +0000

I wish I knew what to do about a downstairs neighbor. He and his live in friend both smoke. We live in a condo 4 unit building. We constantly smell smoke in several area of our condo. Also, our stair carpeting is stained along the walls and a carpet cleaner and several other people in heating/air, carpet biz. have told us that the staining is cigarette smoke residue. My wife has allergies and Multiple Sclerosis and I am very concerned for her. I have on 3 occasions spoken with the neighbor and even offered to buy them a whole house filter. They basically have ignored our concerns. I contacted our condo. association as I thought that perhaps the smoke and residue could be considered a nuisance but the President said they can do nothing but maybe talk to them. I just can’t believe there is nothing we can do. We are retired and on limited income so it’s difficult. Anyone have ant ideas or suggestions? We can’s afford to move. Thanks, Frustrated in Wisconsin

By: Ajax the Great

Ajax the Great — Mon, 02 May 2011 19:24:35 +0000

You are a prime example of everything that is wrong with this once-great country. You actually want to sue your neighbors because you occasionally smell their cigarette smoke? Ever stop to think that maybe YOU are the problem? But then you’d have to get off of your high horse.

Oh, and before you point the finger at smokers for skyrocketing health insurance premiums, perhaps you should step on your bathroom scale and see how much YOU contribute to the problem, buddy. In the 1960s, about half of all adults smoked. Today, it is less than one-quarter, a 50% relative decline. Yet health insurance premiums skyrocketed since then, why is that? It could be our greedy HMOs, who were created by Nixon and an act of Congress in 1971. Or maybe something else changed during that time–like the obesity epidemic. In any case, both smokers and obese people may cost society more in the short run, but in the long run they die younger, and the net effect is that they SAVE society money, and pay higher taxes than if they had not smoked.

I don’t smoke anymore, and have not done so since 2005, but if I had a neighbor like you, I would be very tempted to relapse indeed.

By: smoking will be illegal

smoking will be illegal — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 00:52:57 +0000

It seems like some of you would defend cocaine if it were legal. Or heroin, or any other harmful stupidity. I feel sorry for the children of smokers, what losers their parents are. We have an 8 year old neighbor who comes over to get away from her loser parents, her clothes always smell like smoke, and yes, she has asthma – from the smoking. And no, she doesn’t have rare allergies to perfumes and pesticides – her loser parents feed her quite poorly. It is a matter of time before cigarettes will become illegal. I found this page because I am getting ready to sue my neighbors for invading my home, and my 3 year old’s bedroom with their loser cigarette smoking on their porch. And, these people have a one year old. By the way, I have a sinus headache. We ALL KNOW the harmfulness of cigarettes, and their smoke, and their gases. Anyone that has a modicum of sensitivity can feel, smell or taste their foulness, it’s not rocket science. And talk about taxing? What about the medical bills of the smokers, subsidized by the state usually, which means taxes? What about insurance premiums going up and up? I understand that people have emotional and psychological problems, but we don’t let the shoot up to escape it, or snort up, or even smoke pot. I’m done with the lame excuses. And the American Indians, well their tobacco was not laced with nasty chemicals that enslaved them to the pipe. In fact, the way I quit smoking, and the way I always tell people to quit smoking is to smoke additive free American Spirits with no filter. Then you will see how non-addictive and downright nasty smoking can be without a chemical fix to camouflage it. By the way, my dad died from smoking. Oh, wait, I smell cigs in my living room. I better go shut the windows on this beautiful spring evening so my dumb dumb neighbors can “enjoy” their cigarettes while their lost little baby fumbles around on the deck. Losers.

By: Ajax the Great

Ajax the Great — Fri, 25 Feb 2011 18:39:41 +0000

Funny, I wonder how the over-sensitive commenters would have survived even 20 years ago, let alone 100 years ago. If they were called upon to fight WWII, for example, the east coast would now be speaking German, and the west coast Japanese.

By: Ajax the Great

Ajax the Great — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 19:12:32 +0000

Yeah, 3rd hand smoke is making you cough up blood. If you believe that, I got a bridge I’d like to sell you.

Did you (or your doctor) ever consider maybe some other variables? Like the gazillion other pollutants we breathe every day? Or psychosomatic illness even? If it ducks like a quack….

But seriously, if you are coughing up blood, did you get tested for cancer? Any doctor worth his or her degree would have done so. And yes, there are other causes of lung cancer besides tobacco smoke.

“Its easy to say you should just quit your job but its really not that easy when you love the work you do and are a single parent and sole bread winner. Its easier for a smokers to quit smoking and make everyone’s lives better – including their own.”

Obviously you don’t know what it’s like to be a smoker. I was one of the lucky ones, by the way.

What exactly should be done about 3rd hand smoke then? Ban cigarettes, and create a vast black market that people will kill each other over? Further ostracize smokers, as if they are not currently social pariahs? Push them all into the sea?

“maybe we should look at the number of non-smokers to smokers – majority rules? If it were only that easy.”

LOL! Majority does rule. The vast majority of the population, including current nonsmokers like myself, has no problem with third-hand smoke. If what you say is true, it is extremely rare indeed. And previous generations (where smoking was FAR more prevalent) didn’t whine about stuff like that–they managed to deal with it. This is America, not Soviet Russia or North Korea. If you can’t handle living in a free society, perhaps you should move to one that is less free.

By: Justice

Justice — Mon, 17 Jan 2011 14:35:41 +0000

There is probably dead silence because people realize you’ll come up with every excuse arguing for and minimizing 3rd hand smoke. Fact is that there are scientific studies out there and more are currently being conducted. Fact is there are real people expressing the effects of 3rd hand smoke on their health and well being. I would like to also share that when 5 of my co-workers come back from a smoke break (usually 5 a day) I have to smell their stinky hair and clothes – I too work between 8-20 feet near them. When I was working opposite shifts things were better. No they don’t smoke in the room – smoking is banned in public places and within 9 meters of entry ways of public buildings. Despite this they still manage to bring in the smoke which does bother me. Now I am coughing up blood and my doctor advised me it is the effects of 3rd hand smoke. I never had dust allergies or asthma until I started working here. Its easy to say you should just quit your job but its really not that easy when you love the work you do and are a single parent and sole bread winner. Its easier for a smokers to quit smoking and make everyone’s lives better – including their own. Good for you Ajax for quitting – is that what makes you so ‘Great’… looks like you are the one with attitude too. Your last comment (“WAAAAHH, WAAAAHHH. Pass the Kleenex”.) makes you seem like you really are just 2 years old. GROW UP and open your mind…. maybe if your own children, sister, father mother are affected you’ll begin to see how 3rd hand smoke diminishes a person’s health, freedom, and quality of life. You are right about not being a doctor – you really need to be better at researching and just stop trying to diagnose health & psychological issues. Hmmmm…. if a certain threshold needs to be reached in order for action to take place… maybe we should look at the number of non-smokers to smokers – majority rules? If it were only that easy. GET A LIFE!

By: Ajax the Great

Ajax the Great — Wed, 27 Oct 2010 23:02:57 +0000

Wow, dead silence for over a month! No one whining about third-hand smoke recently, which is good. WAAAAHH, WAAAAHHH. Pass the Kleenex. The sense of entitlement is so thick you can cut it with a knife.

By: Ajax the Great

Ajax the Great — Sun, 19 Sep 2010 02:18:36 +0000

Breathingeasy, although I am a bit skeptical about the idea of nicotine treating disease, I have to agree with the gist of what you say. Banzhaf and his ilk coming out against the e-cigarette makes PERFECT sense now given his apparent vested interests. Don’t forget to also add the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to the list as well. They fund a HUGE portion of the junk science out there about second-hand smoke and probably also third-hand smoke by extension. They are also affiliated with Johnson & Johnson, maker of various smoking cessation devices as well (which interestingly I did not really need to help me quit–I used Quest cigarettes in the “switch down and quit” method, which worked for me). As an aside, the RWJF is rather temperance-oriented when it comes to alcohol as well, just like the groups they fund (MADD, CSPI, etc.), and are junk science lovers in that area as well, especially in terms of the 21 drinking age, which I personally oppose as being hypocritical and discriminatory, as well as ineffective. But I digress. As for overregulating our foods, that is likely the next step the neo-fascist nanny staters will take.

You may be interested in checking out my new political party, the True Spirit of America Party (TSAP). We are moderate, somewhere between Green and Libertarian.

LIVE FREE OR DIE!

By: breathingeasy

breathingeasy — Thu, 16 Sep 2010 11:42:27 +0000

You are missing the point of the article. BANZHAF is the founder of ASH. ASH receives massive donations from Pfizer (google it, google Banzhaf) Pfizer manufactures smoking cessation products earning billions a year for products with a very low success rate, and VERY dangerous side effects. Banzhaf is actively campaigning to have ecigs banned completely. Banzhaf personally emailed several large online companies such as paypal and amazon with threatening letters and outright lies and successfully getting the life saving electronic cigarette products banned. Think about it, if people switch to ecigs, they won’t buy smoking cessation products, or traditional tobacco products. The taxes on tobacco fund our healthcare system. The major tobacco industries funds the FDA (fact-google it)and one major cigarette manufacture co-wrote the new tobacco policy. (again, fact, google it)
It is a FACT that ecigs have over 4000 less toxins and approximately 60 less carcinogens than traditional cigarettes. If Banzhaf is so anti-SMOKING, why is he not supporting the smoking harm reduction movement? Easy, electronic cigarette smokers are NOT harming others and cannot be sued. The FDA ALREADY has complete testing results on an electronic cigarette, Nicotrol. The test results are available online for anyone willing to google it. Nicotrol is FDA approved and tested extensively.
Fact-nicotine is not a carcinogen. Although it is said to be addictive, much like caffeine, it is also used to treat many diseases such as ADHD, anxiety, Alzheimer’s disease, and depression, to name a few. The question to be asked is this: Which is less harmful, a traditional cigarette with over 4000 toxins, 60 carcinogens, second hand smoke from the combustion or…….an electronic cigarette with very few ingredients and NO second hand smoke. That is right, NONE. Remember, the effects of the vapor emitted from an electronic inhalation device, Nicotrol, already has FDA approval.
Check the signature on virtually every anti-ecig article published, you will find it is that of Banzhaf on his paid for by big Pharma anti health campaign. Nothing more than big pharma advertisement.
He is also attempting to introduce a new campaign, the death penalty for those exposing others to second hand smoke. Lovely. Ok, if that is the case, let’s just completely ban traditional cigarettes as they are already PROVEN to cause cancer and other fatal diseases. If ecigs are banned, why aren’t the zealots attempting to ban traditional cigs? Simple, they cannot bite the hand that feeds them.
No, I don’t smoke anymore. I vape, and I can breath, taste, smell, and feel 10 years younger. My family is thrilled, and my home no longer stinks of cigarettes. I spent two months researching all the current testing and FACTS about the electronic cigarette, traditional cigarette, and the chemicals. I also used that time to research to people behind the anti-ecig movements and their ulterior motives. I made my own mind up and never look back.
Ban traditional cigarettes, I don’t care. It’ll never happen, but go for it, but at least take the time to actually research the issues. The anti-ecig movement is all about money, as usual. I save a TON by not smoking traditional cigarettes which is why I switched to begin with, the feeling better and improved health are just bonuses, but that too will end. Once the FDA begins regulating them, the price will be sky high and people will go back to traditional cigarettes as planned. If you don’t understand the difficulties of quitting, well………..I am happy for you, but once they begin regulating our foods (already in the works and campaigned by same zealot), you just let us “smokers/vapers” know how you feel about being told how and what to eat.

By: Ajax the Great

Ajax the Great — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 16:27:05 +0000

Wow Mamer, attitude much? Calm down, remember I said I no longer smoke, nor do I intend to resume doing so.

First of all, third-hand smoke (the real subject of this article) has NEVER been scientifically proven to kill or otherwise harm anyone. And even the studies about second-hand smoke are sketchy to say the least.

Secondly, smokers have been kicked in the teeth year after year, taxed nearly to death, and there are fewer and fewer places they can legally smoke, so you should be happy that there are fewer and places that intolerant folks like you need to avoid. Previous generations have had to put up with a LOT more without whining about it–you never had it so good. I have no problem with indoor smoking bans in public places other than bars, but going any further than that is un-American tyranny IMHO.

Thirdly, do you drive a car or other motorized vehicle? Those pollute the air much more than smokers, and I don’t see you railing against cars. Come to think of it, we all have vices of some sort.

Finally, if you can’t handle the mild nuisance that smokers may give you in the rapidly dwindling number of places they can still indulge, I suggest you take advantage of the best kind of freedom that a free society can offer you: the freedom to leave.