Smoking on Patrol is a No Go...

Don't know if this belongs in the training room, but since it deals with health, here it goes... I have decided not to smoke while in uniform on patrol. I have two reasons for this decision:

#1. It sets a bad example for kids who see me.

#2. Unless there's an ash tray nearby, I'd be littering by tossing my butts.

During off-duty hours, I will continue to smoke, however, I will be cutting down until I quit as my insurance policy will change at the start of the fiscal year and I elected to change to a non-tobacco user. I figured this and the benefits it will have on my body as a RLSH will be encouragement to quit.

I agree with both of the reasons you provided. Personally, I have nothing against smokers, but I think we can all agree that it would be better for future generations if we set the example of not smoking.

That said, can you really change yourself over on insurance to a non-user if you already have a history of tobacco use?

My boss used to be a smoker, and said she did. I hope she's not yanking my chain. I believe that is why you have to wait until the new fiscal year begins. I may be wrong.

It just seems illogical since a lot of damage to your body is already done.

Though, I suppose if they have some way of screening your cancer risk or something prior to allowing the switch it would make sense. Let me know how that works out!

Well my insurance doesn't cover much as far as cancer treatment or anything along those lines. Mine is a PPO with a $5,000 max emergency cost. I think it mostly has to do with the fact the studies show smokers tend to get sick more often than non smokers and since I only pay a percentage, and this is only me thinking it out in my head, but I totally agree. You also have to go through a tobacco sensation program before you can change too... which is basically a psychologist telling you smoking is bad and giving you quit-aids.

I smoke in mask but I do it for different reasons. I don't care about setting a positive/negative example; I believe it makes me appear more human and easy to relate to. Until I started smoking in my early 20's I didn't know how social of an action it could be. Even out of mask I find people opening up to me more over a cig. Sharing a cigarette can be a great way to make a quick informant.

A secondary reason is that smokers in my city are openly treated or viewed as second-class citizens. Last I checked, Los Angeles is free and in my experience smokers have all respectful of the indoor smoking bans passed a few years back.

And as for littering, I agree with you Templar. I tend to extinguish my cig and pocket the butt to dispose of at a later date. My cousin teases me about that and says that I'm just paranoid of getting found by DNA evidence. I'm not quite that paranoid, just considerate of the litter situation.

I definitely agree with your point regarding smokers rights. I'm all for people being allowed to smoke if they so choose, I just don't encourage them to.

Where is Citizen Smoke when you need him?

Quitting smoking is a bitch.

No if ands or buts.

A good alternative to smoking, if you don't want to nic-rage at everyone, is the electronic cigarette.

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Ah yeah... smoking. What a monkey on so many of our backs...

If you can find a particular motivation to do more cardio, it at least helps in cutting down, because it gives you a practical reason.

I do kind of feel like it's perfectly okay to set a bad example with cigars, though. It's a genre thing, I guess. Also I don't so much worry about my influence on kids except when I'm specifically around kids. Kids who saw my comedy routine would probably be heart broken -- that is if they knew me from Adam.

I've never been one to want to try smoking and I don't think I ever will. I do have friends who smoke and thankfully they have always taken their cigarettes outside or downwind of me so I don't get the smoke blown on me.

I think that there are times where smoking would be ok and times where it wouldn't. If you are trying to relate to a group of people like Hissyfit is, I think that might work (although I'm sure that there are options as well)

However, if you're going to be in front of a bunch of kids, I think that's the time to put the cigs away and just wait until you're out of sight before you light up. Nothing against smokers, but I don't think we want to encourage the next generation to smoke.

Also, It was brought up that there wouldn't be a difference if you quit smoking because the damage was already done. Actually, Your lung capacity will improve over time and so will your health if you quit. There will still be some damage,but the rest of it does heal up, I believe

Golden Valkyrie wrote:

However, if you're going to be in front of a bunch of kids, I think that's the time to put the cigs away and just wait until you're out of sight before you light up. Nothing against smokers, but I don't think we want to encourage the next generation to smoke.

I understand what you mean, Valkyrie. Even out of mask I never smoke around kids. It's not that I care about encouraging them or whatnot, I just don't like the idea of my second-hand smoke making it harder for kids to breathe.

Even the worst chain-smoker can hold off a moment or two longer to get some space between him and kids in the local vicinity.

You could take a page from the military and make it a point to avoid "glamorizing" smoking. To be honest I don't worry about it too much, except that I'm pretty well conditioned not to physically subject people to cigarette smoke unless they're smokers. When I have a ton of influence over the hearts and minds of children I'm sure I'll worry about this issue more.

As far as on patrol... it certainly has no benefits to smoke. But on the littering subject... don't you know how to field strip a cigarette? Basically twist the butt back and forth until the cherry falls off, stomp that out, then throw the remnants in your pocket (or a pocket ashtray, which is basically a thick foil bag). And you can hold it a certain way to hide the light and move it a certain way to make the smoke less obvious -- this stuff applies more to sneaking a cigarette in high school than patroling, though... unless you patrol with a "commander" who won't let you smoke.

I was a smoker of cigarrettes for more than 6 years and know the pain in the er, well, butt it is to quit!! I want to wish Templar good luck on his attempt to quit.