What Do You Tell Them?

[Lumpold]

I actually did some maths last night to further my argument with anti-smokers.
This just covers tax raised by cigarette smokers.

Approx 1/5 of the UK population smokes.
With 62million people, and allowing for children, this makes me put the number of smokers at around 8million people.
Tax on a packet of cigarettes in the EU should be at least 66%.
At an average of £5 a packet, this puts the tax income at around £3.50 a pack.
If we nicely say that British smokers, each, smoke a pack every other day.
This makes a single contribution to the tax coffers of £640, or just under, for each smoker in the UK, with a total of £5,110,000,000, with around £3,000,000,000 or so going to the NHS for treatment of smoking related illness.
Said treatment, by their own accounts, cost the NHS approx. £70,000,000
That makes an overpayment of more than £2bn.
The NHS is apparently losing money on a daily basis.
Imagine how poor the medical service for non-smokers would be if the health tax on tobacco was reduced to an accurate level.

[sikk50]

My favorite is to explain that everybody has to die, and if I'm hightening my chances by doing it at least I know it as opposed to mirical pills or diets that the effects are only seen years later.

[Smokin Gator]

I don't every remember anyone, other than my wife, saying anything negative about me smoking cigars. If they did I think I would just chuckle and walk away. As for the wife... I just don't pay any attention!!

[blugill]

I usually sit in my front yard and enjoy a cigar and a drink. No one else around while the wife is inside. I don't really have people stopping by on the street and express concern over my health

If they did I'd probably offer them one and a seat and we could chat about it

[benedic08]

I do it like this:

[hotreds]

Damn! When did they discover that?!

[thebayratt]

I tell them "there has been no study shown that Cigar smoking causes cancer/death. You don't inhale cigar smoke, its natural and not laced with chemicals like cigarettes. More people have probly died from obeistiy than from cigar smoking"

[maninblack]

Tell them to piss off and then blow a big ring of smoke in their face. Puff on this biatches!

[OLS]

I tell them not NEARLY as detrimental as I can be to THEIR health if they don't bugger off. "You've stolen
every other pleasure I had and taken every smoking place I used to love, so if you are bothering me in one
of my LAST places, you are treading very near finding out what detriment means."

[replicant_argent]

I have used this one once or twice.
"Madam, I smoke these wretched things because typically they perform the noble duty of keeping harpies such as yourself at a greater distance."

I am usually nowhere near as eloquent.

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by replicant_argent

I have used this one once or twice.
"Madam, I smoke these wretched things because typically they perform the noble duty of keeping harpies such as yourself at a greater distance."

I am usually nowhere near as eloquent.

You said "harpies".

[Volcodom]

To my family it's some argument about how alcohol does more damage than some narcotics, and that on the current list even cigarettes rank lower so my all natural stick of delicious tobacco is way better than that glass of wine.

As for other peoples it usually goes "No this isn't the leading cause of a quicker death, that title goes to breathing" this followed by a nice big puff.

Everything good in moderation.

Hey, replicant_argent,

The thought of this squawking at you while smoking a cigar brought me laughs:

[icehog3]

Originally Posted by Nathan King

Everything good in moderation.

Hey, replicant_argent,

The thought of this squawking at you while smoking a cigar brought me laughs:

Pete would just sic Buzzy on that Harpie!!