I think it would be nice if each able bodied adult in our society would have a degree of responsibilty for their actions, where possible, if something should go wrong so as not to irritate, offend, inconvenience, embarrass or cost others money, but since this is unrealistic, some form of regulation or intervention is required.

Just a comment about smoking since I believe I suffered lung damage from second hand smoke.

Smoking, by itself, is a serious addictive, costly problem. It is a controllable habit, where if someone really wants to stop, they will. I believe that no intelligent, well-informed, caring person would make a choice to smoke. There is no question that it is a slow-motion killer...that in itself should be enough to convince anyone to quit or not start. People that smoke irritate others and don't even know it or don't even care.
People in my office smoked and I found it highly offensive. Regulation by the company made the air breathable and increased productivity. I'm for regulating smoking in public places, anywhere where there is flamable materials or gases, and in enclosed work places.
Gregorio

I agree on smoking. I 'd like to ban it in all public places, including outside. I was at a graduation party last week and got exposd to the first second hand smoke in months. I'm allergic - so it alwys bothers me - but since had been so long I had a real coughing fit. Practically peed in my pants. The women's husband asked me if it was the smoke - I said yes. Not only did she not put it out - she had two more after that. Even outside if you are in the immediate vicinity of someonet is BAD. (We were outside in the back yard.)

I am thankful that Ontario has banned smoking in any indoor public area. Now I can go to sports-bars, gay-bars and strip clubs without worrying about secondhand smoke. I hate smokers.

Susan...that is exactly what I mean about an uncaring smoker.
That woman should have apologized to you and put out her cigarette.

If I'm sitting in my vehicle at a traffic light with my window down and someone is smoking in front of me in their vehicle with their window down, I can smell that smoke. If I leave a restaurant, and there are a few smokers outside, I must walk thru a cloud to leave. So, like you, I know it smells even outside. To smokers, they are only aware of this AFTER they quit.

Steve made a point to say that he hates smokers. What I think he really means is that he hates uncaring, rude smokers who invade clean air space. A smoker can be a good person who respects others.
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Assisted suicide....I believe that assisted suicide is a good thing for those terminally ill patients, who by their written will, stated they do not want to be kept alive by artificial means and would like to die in peace rather than suffer. Why should anyone suffer? This should be done by a licensed and qualified physician using designated power of attourney over medical authorization.
Probably not going to happen in our lifetime LEGALLY because it steps on too many scientific and religious ideas...like out of the blue if some miracle should happen, we could have saved him or her.
Gregorio

Assisted suicide is legal in Oregon, the Netherlands and a few other places. What has resulted is widespread abuse of the law, especially in the Netherlands.

Assisted suicide whether legal or not happens all the time. Additionally people can sign DNRs amd other documents so that no heroic measures to save them are done. We have hospices which help people die humanely.

When people think of assisted suicide they think of people in pain who do not want to be in pain,but the reality is, for the most part if a person is in pain, it is because of the negligence of the doctor. Pain can be medicated away - and in the process of that sometimes comes death (a legal form of assisted suicide everywhere.)

But the reality of who actually requests assisted suicide is very different. By and large they are people who have lost their ability to self-care when they urinate or defecate. We are such a sex exposed media society and yet one of the greatest shames a person seems to feel is having to ask someone to help them when they need to shit or pee.

The other main reason people request assisted suicide is due to finances. They either worry that all the money hey have saved for ther grandkids will be swallowd up in health care costs or their medical care insurance is refusing to provide the services they need to live well enough to want to live.

BEFORE we can legalize assisted suicide country wide we have to clean our house ---- we have to diminish the stgma of disability and needing help AND we need a health careplan in place that assures that no one needlessly live in pain or without the assistence they need to live with digity.

Added later: In both Oregon and the Netherlands the rules setup have been broken. The only people who are supposed to be approved are people with terminal illnesses and with an estimated 6 months to live.There are people who were approved for assisted suicide in Oregon who changed their mind and are still living 3+ years later according to one report. Some just wanted the approval as a safety net. This is abuse of the intention of the law.

When Kervorkian had his suicide machine he admitted to killing over a hundred people with it. One thought her cancer had returned, but enlisted the help of Kervorkian before she got the results that were negative. Another was sure she was going to die,but an autopsy found nothing wrong with her. It is estimatd that at least 60 of Kervorkian's victims did not have terminal illnesses, but had just learned they had disabilities (such as MS.)

The stigma of disability in this country is too great. It is not the end of the world to be disabled - which most people discover after they have had some time to adjust to the idea and move on with their lives. But permitting assisted suicide NOW, means too any people will never discover the rich lives they could still have.
Susan

I have to say, I like this thread.

Frist, thank you susan! Everytime I mention to someone that public smoking should be banned I am accused of hindering somkers rights. Well...what about my rights? I am illurgic to cigerette smoke. I have actually been to the doctor and have been given an inhailer for it. The inhailer helps my body to keep taking in air, but does little for the coughing fit that it causes.

I am fortunate to live in ontario, so I no longer have to worry about going out to a club or to dinner and having to leave early b/c I can't breath.

Unfortunatly, when ppl walk past me carrying a smoke, I can't breath. I have no warning. It takes my inhailer like 15min to work, so I have to take it before going out somwhere. Those little sneek attack are so very painful for me.

I also know what you mean about rude smokers. And I'm sorry and fustrated to say that my mother is one of them. I don't go home any more, and it hurts me inside b/c I love my family. But after being home for a weekend where my mum is smoking like a chimney I am physically ill.

Frankly, drinking in public is agaist the law. Alcohol is a drug and is taxed heavely by the government. Tobacco is a drug, and cigorettes are heavely taxed by the government. So why doesn't somking have the same laws as drinking?

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And my two sences on assistant suiside. Assistant suiside is murder imo. Suiside is murder, and it's agaist the law. If you fail at a suiside attempt you can be charged. I have no understanding how it could ever become legalized.

If a person is suffereing. If a person is dying slowly and painfully. If a person is depended on machines to life. If they want their life to end because it really isn't a life at all, then we should have a law to give the doctors the power to do it quickly and without pain.

I was with my cat as he was put to sleep. He had a tumor in his stomach and was in a great deal of pain. The procedure took 2min, and we were all with him. He wasn't scared, we talked and pet him and he was purring. The vet put the needle in his arm and gave him something to put him to sleep. Once my cat was asleep the vet gave him enough of the medican to stop his heart.

I don't understand why it can't be that way for humans. Why force humans to starve to death, to suffocate? Why can the doctor just give them something to put them to sleep and then alittle more to stop their heart.

Is this different from assistant suiside? I'll admit, not by much. But it takes the responsibility off of an untrained person and it makes it more legal imo.

sorry for the long rant =P

I can't be around smokers either because i get massive headaches and get nautious when i breathe in ciggerate smoke. Nasty! Yucky!