Having read this entire thread, these points stick out in my head:
I also don't know the addiction, but it is confusing to me why people cannot go 12 freaking hours without lighting up while they are in the Magic Kingdom (12 hours MAX).
For those of you who do smoke and need a little encouragement to quit, my dad was a lifelong smoker starting at about the age 15. He lived to be a ripe old age of 38 from heart disease. Maybe that will motivate you.
I guess I'm still at a loss to understand why smoking is even permitted in the parks considering Walt died of lung cancer.
Disney should not cater to nicotine addicts by providing smoking areas. Smoking within the parks and the resorts should be banned. It is a serious and costly health issue.
I don't smoke. I never have, and I never will. I don't like smelling like smoke, nor do I like breathing it in, and I avoid it if I can.
However, I can't understand how anti-smoking people can be so unsympathetic towards people who do smoke. How many people on these boards have said (or thought) that people should just quit smoking? Is that not like telling an alcoholic to “just stop drinking”, or a fat person to “just stop eating”?
Addictions are just Not. That. Simple. Good for you if you don’t smoke, but understand that many people don’t have that “choice”. Spend some time researching addictions - whether you believe they are a "disease" or something else, it's hard to understand why someone would purposely cause harm to themselves if it really were a choice.
And, yes, I do believe they should smoke in designated areas, but to completely ban smoking would only serve to alienate the population of smokers who visit the parks. (I don't have any actual numbers, but I expect it would be a decent ammount of park-goers.) I don’t know too many people who go to WDW exclusively because they limit smoking to outdoor, designated areas, but I know plenty of people who would NOT go if they banned smoking outright, my parents included (they have smoked for 30+ years - I can't tell you the number of times they've quit, or tried to. So for them to be banned from WDW, over something they have little control of, would be pretty sad, imho. )
Also, some of you have confused civil liberties with moral consideration. Yes, people who smoke should obviously be thoughtful of others, AND follow any laws pertaining to where and when they can smoke. But that does not give anyone the RIGHT to belittle smokers who are following the rules. In fact, you don't have the RIGHT to smoke, nor do you have the RIGHT to keep other people from smoking if they want to.
I love what
mwc1996 said two posts ago - very succinct.
And this also bears repeating:
But for CMs it's not an easy thing to do. You can ask someone to stop smoking, but if they say no there isn't really much you can do to them. ANYTIME I see someone smoking in a non-designated area I go out of my way to tell them. On the other hand I have had some bad experiences because of this. I've been burnt on the arm already because the guest felt that he could smoke anywhere he wanted to and that "he was tired of people telling him to put out his cigarette, and he payed so much money to get into this place that he could do what ever he wanted." I've fortunately not had a lot of experiences like that. Most people I tell about designated areas are very polite about it.
Unless they are a security CM, they can do little about this problem, other than politely asking a smoker to move and/or put out their cigarette. And as an average guest, it really isn't your place to say anything, either. You still can, of course, but be prepared for less-than-desireable results.
So, that's my more-than-2-cents on this subject.
