@atlauren Sorry about your parents. Hope it wasn’t too hard. Cancer’s a bitch.

@atlauren …and now if you’ll excuse me, Starbucks is closing and I need to go out for a smoke. :-)

@atlauren My thinking? Life is short. Enjoy your damn drink.

@atlauren In my family, the heavier you smoke, the longer you live. At least that’s the track record. But probably too few data points.

@atlauren Feh, not really. Saves me a little money. But w/out knowing what dosage will kill me, don’t know if this is “better”.

@atlauren I’m impress he’s down to one or two. I’m ~half-pack a day, down from a pack/day. Lower than that is difficult.

@atlauren I haven’t seriously tried, I just know what it feels like when I don’t get around to having one for a day or two.

@atlauren Also punishes addicts. I have issues with that part of it.

@atlauren It wasn’t until I lived with a smoker ex-girlfriend that I got hooked, and that was 20 years ago.

@atlauren Right. As a once-in-a-while thing, you can take it or leave it.

@atlauren …and I suspect that kids would smoke more if it were illicit for longer.

@atlauren I smoked occasionally in college w/out getting addicted. Quit for three years after. It matters how much dosage you take…

@atlauren I’m unsure on that. The more you push the age up, the more attractive it becomes to the 16-20 set.

@atlauren My theory: in 20 years, GMO tobacco will make it safer and odorless. Maybe even beneficial. Then it all comes back.

@atlauren Yes, cigar bars frequently get exemptions. I think in Philly, they have to be “private clubs” or something like that.

@atlauren They tried to ban in Atlantic City casinos. Lasted six months until the city realized that all the gamblers were going elsewhere.

@atlauren Yes, but oddly, in places where the industry is important, 2nd-hand smoke is okay for workers. It’s shocking. ;-)

@atlauren If a place has an outdoors, I don’t mind. Main issue (here) is going out into subzero weather or rain.

@atlauren Ban it entirely? Set up a heated outdoor area? That strikes me as the way to do it. End up with smoking and nonsmoking bars.

@atlauren Still seems to me, for adult establishments, it should be up to the owners. Install good ventilation to be friendly to you? …