No Smoking on Hospital Property

Open Rant...

Patients and staff have to walk a hundred yards to smoke on the street sidewalk at my local Hospital.

A few years ago when I smoked, my daughter was having life-saving surgery. It was 50/ 50 whether or not she would live. I stressfully lit up a smoke outside in the parking lot while awaiting her results.

A woman approached me...

Woman: "Sir. You aren't allowed to smoke on the Hospital Property.

Me: "My daughter is in surgery as we speak. She might not live. I don't care if I get a ticket for smoking."

Woman: "Oh..."

Then she turned and walked away. I haven't had a butt in over 6 months, but still feel if you are outside in the fresh air...and away from building entrances...it's nobody's bloody business if I puff on a legal product. And you are more likely to inhale a ton more crap standing waiting for a city Bus, than you are inhaling a tiny waft from a cigarette.

Rant Over
What happened with your daughter?
 

Perfumed women, scented products will suck the air right out of your lungs. The Chinese who are making these scents (and flavorings) are dropping like flies. Take a walk down the soap aisle in the grocery store. Smoker's revenge.
 
I’ve sure seen the change in the acceptability of smoking. When I began working out of a school district’s central office in the mid-1970’s, people were allowed to smoke at their desks. I had plenty of exposure to second-hand smoke back then. Then smokers were required to smoke outside. There were “butt buckets” on the office steps, Finally it was decided that smokers could no longer smoke in or on a school-owned property, so they began to take walks off property on breaks so as to smoke! This, of course, led to monitoring of the time that they spent on such “breaks.”

I knew a smoking school nurse who would “take her car on a walk“ as she put it so as to indulge her habit… 🙄

IMG_0107.jpeg
 

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I don't really care if someone smokes or not but it does affect me badly. I wish it did not. Not only smoke but so does most products with odors or fragrances. Multiple Chemical Sensitivities is becoming a thing in our toxic environment. More and more people are coming down with it. It makes me physically sick.

I cannot go anywhere or be around anyone who smokes. So yes, I appreciate businesses who have stopped people from smoking around their entrances. And I have a mild case. If I am around smokers, when I come home I immediately put all my clothing in a plastic bag and take a shower and wash my hair twice. It is that bad for me.
 
I don't really care if someone smokes or not but it does affect me badly. I wish it did not. Not only smoke but so does most products with odors or fragrances. Multiple Chemical Sensitivities is becoming a thing in our toxic environment. More and more people are coming down with it. It makes me physically sick.

I cannot go anywhere or be around anyone who smokes. So yes, I appreciate businesses who have stopped people from smoking around their entrances. And I have a mild case. If I am around smokers, when I come home I immediately put all my clothing in a plastic bag and take a shower and wash my hair twice. It is that bad for me.

A lady at church has this same thing. Her kidneys are compromised and odors can make her very ill. She often will be outside or in another building to listen to the church service.
 
Open Rant...

Patients and staff have to walk a hundred yards to smoke on the street sidewalk at my local Hospital.

A few years ago when I smoked, my daughter was having life-saving surgery. It was 50/ 50 whether or not she would live. I stressfully lit up a smoke outside in the parking lot while awaiting her results.

A woman approached me...

Woman: "Sir. You aren't allowed to smoke on the Hospital Property.

Me: "My daughter is in surgery as we speak. She might not live. I don't care if I get a ticket for smoking."

Woman: "Oh..."

Then she turned and walked away. I haven't had a butt in over 6 months, but still feel if you are outside in the fresh air...and away from building entrances...it's nobody's bloody business if I puff on a legal product. And you are more likely to inhale a ton more crap standing waiting for a city Bus, than you are inhaling a tiny waft from a cigarette.

Rant Over
Most of the time cigarettes smell bad to me. However, once in a while I get a whiff and it smells nostalgic, good nostalgic.
 
A lot of years ago, I was a student nurse. This was the first time I was in uniform and going to the hospital. My "patient" was walking around and ready for discharge. He spotted the pack of cigarettes in my pocket, and complained that he had to go outside to smoke, but he needed someone to accompany him. I asked the charge nurse to take him outside, OK. It was a beautiful day. We both lit up. And about 6 feet in front of us was a news crew interviewing a woman. We just stood and watched.
Later that night my classmates began calling me. I made the local 6 PM news. At 11 PM, I saw the item. Turns out the woman was the director of the cancer association, who was celebrating the National Smoke Out Day. And in the background was a nurse and a patient puffing away.
 
Bck in the 80's I knew a woman who had Emphysema.. and was hooked on Oxygen 24/7. She could barely walk far enough to get to the toilet.. her whole big farmhouse was left unused, because she lived in the one livingroom, where she slept. She couldn't have the cleaners use any artificial scents in spray polishes etc, and she couldn't have central heating or electric fires to heat the room, because of the dry heat, so she had to have coal fires.. she wore the Oxygen Mas continually, and was very disabled indeed with it... but guess what ,? this woman smoked a pack of cigarettes a day, removing the mask to smoke a cigarette before replacing it back on her mouth.

She said the cigarettes freed up her lungs.. and she could ''breathe better''.. it never made sense to any of us.. but that's what she said.

My ex who was firefighter, almost freaked out when he saw her do this the first time I invited him to visit.. the very sight of all these big Oxygen tanks right next to her, and her lighting up a cigarette almost freaked him out, and he was pleading with her that she can't smoke with all these tanks around.. but of course she continued.. but he wouldn't stay one more minute in the house in case it blew up..

She was like this for about 5 years or more before she finally died in her 50's... and fortunately the house didn't blow up
 
Here in all parts of Canada the rule is "If somebody is being paid to work here, you cannot smoke here ". So that means no smoking in any work place. Cities and towns can also enact no smoking by laws in public areas like parks, beaches, and recreation grounds. As a result the number of smokers in Canada is at an all time low. Studies here in Canada show that the higher a person's educational achievement, the less likely they are to be a smoker. Smoking in Canada is now not socially acceptable, and many people see it as a low class indicator. Jimb.
 
I had a a book from about 100 years ago (maybe more). Within it was a photo of a smokers lungs, all black. The effects of smoking have been known at least that long. But somehow even some doctors and nurses did not realize how very bad smoking was until the 70’s.

But to address the original poster, I am glad you did not get in trouble by smoking outdoors in your special circumstance. No harm was done to anyone else.
 
Gowing up both my parents smoked. My older sister started smoking when she was 13. I tried smoking a pipe in my 20's but gave up.

My parents are gone as is my sister. They all died of some combination of lung/ heart problems. I have outlived them all so far. I am now 4 years older than my dad, when he died, 3 years older than my mom, and 6 years older than my sister when she died. No surprise to me smoking does shorten your life and is likely to destroy your health prior to killing you.

It is a terrible addiction, and our society should work through a plan to stop this madness. I am not suggesting we outlaw smoking/ tobacco cold turkey but work towards that option over a period of years. I understand if we banned tobacco a black market would develop. OK, but we would still stop many teens from getting addicted to smoking....and that alone is worth the efforts.
 
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I have always been amazed at how the human body is able to work through all the abuse we give it! Smoking and Drinking alcohol come to mind first... Amazing...
 
Gowing up both my parents smoked. My older sister started smoking when she was 13. I never smoked. My parents are gone as is my sister. They all died of some combination of lung/ heart problems. I have outlived them all so far. No surprise to me smoking does shorten your life and is likely to destroy your health prior to killing you.

It is a terrible addiction, and our society should work through a plan to stop this madness. I am not suggesting we outlaw smoking/ tobacco cold turkey but work towards that option. I understand if we banned tobacco a black market would develop. OK, but we would still stop many teens from getting addicted to smoking....and that alone is worth the efforts.
Correction..A black market HAS developed. Shipping truck loads of tobacco from low tax states, to high tax states has been going on for decades in the USA. Smuggled tobacco from third world countries is also a fact of life in your country. Given the patch work quilt of 50 US States, each with it's own rules about tobacco use and sales, it is no wonder that illegal tobacco sales flourish. A Federal Act to control the sale and use of the product that would apply in parts of your country, would go a long way towards reducing the use of tobacco. Jimb.
 
I don't really care if someone smokes or not but it does affect me badly. I wish it did not. Not only smoke but so does most products with odors or fragrances. Multiple Chemical Sensitivities is becoming a thing in our toxic environment. More and more people are coming down with it. It makes me physically sick.

I cannot go anywhere or be around anyone who smokes. So yes, I appreciate businesses who have stopped people from smoking around their entrances. And I have a mild case. If I am around smokers, when I come home I immediately put all my clothing in a plastic bag and take a shower and wash my hair twice. It is that bad for me.
This was one of the first workplace smoking complaints in the U.S. Synopsis: an Injunction was sought to stop people smoking in her workplace. The Injunction was granted. I learned of it doing research in the early 90's

...Accordingly, I order defendant New Jersey Bell Telephone Company to provide safe working conditions for plaintiff by restricting the smoking of employees to the nonwork area presently used as a lunchroom. No smoking shall be permitted in the offices or adjacent customer service area...

It is so ordered.


Shimp v. New Jersey Bell Telephone Co.
 
I am a dog walker and I always pick up my dogs crap - can't really see any correlation to smoking though.

Non smoking on hospital premises, school premises etc has been the case for some time here - their property, their rules.

BTW, non smokers are not in the minority here in Australia- not sure of exact percentage but certainly more adults don't smoke than do.
 
There’s a black market for cigarettes in Canada. The easiest place to get them is on Indian land.
 
I am a dog walker and I always pick up my dogs crap - can't really see any correlation to smoking though.

Non smoking on hospital premises, school premises etc has been the case for some time here - their property, their rules.

BTW, non smokers are not in the minority here in Australia- not sure of exact percentage but certainly more adults don't smoke than do.
Same here, non (cigarette) smokers are the majority...however there is a huge amount of Vape smokers..
 

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