Let smokers smoke.

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I quit smoking the day my mum was diagnosed with stage three cancer of the lung and throat, 2 weeks before Christmas at the age of 52. She died a miserable death three months later under my care. Smoking is the single most ridiculous thing any human being can do.
You don't even get a buzz from it, it's f*****g pointless and expensive.

For you maybe. Keeps me clam, and if I want to get a buzz from it I smoke faster and get a nice little head rush for ten minutes or so.

Beacuse keeping clam is important. If you're going to f**k your chances of seeing your life expectency, at least smoke weed.

Smoke spliffs.

Everyone knows that smoking can cause cancer and if you don't smoke, you're living healthy and have a greatly lowered cancer risk. Right? Wrong.
One of the biggest causes of cancer are free oxygen radicals. How do they get into your body? By breathing. That's right: Breathing can cause cancer. Another common cause of cancer are oxidative processes in the digestive tract, which occur whenever you digest food. Which means that eating can cause cancer.

But everybody needs to eat and breathe, so let's focus on cancer risks that can be avoided. Here's one: Human papillomavirus infection. The virus has been linked to skin cancer as well as cervical, oral and throat cancer. Experts estimate that between 50% and 80% of all humans are infected with HPV, which is often transmitted through sexual activity. Some estimates are as high as 90%. Condoms offer little to no protection, because any skin contact with an infected area can transmit the virus. Which means that sex can cause cancer, even if you use a condom.

But it doesn't stop at sex. You can also contract HPV through any other kind of skin contact, or contact with any object that an HPV-affected person had skin contact with. What does that mean exactly? Shaking hands can cause cancer. Hugging can cause cancer. Kissing can cause cancer (oral HPV infections are very common). Touching a shopping cart handle can cause cancer. And so on. You get the picture. If you touch anything without disinfecting it first, or make skin contact with another human being, you're practically begging for cancer. Just like a smoker.

Let's move on from HPV to other avoidable risks. Such as processed food. While eating any kind of food is a moderate risk factor, many preservatives and additives that are commonly used by the food industry greatly increase your natural cancer risk (such as sodium nitrate a.k.a. curing salt, propyl gallate, aspartame, natamycin, BHA, BHT, and many food colorings). And let's not forget the carcinogenic chemicals that are leaking out of plastic wrappers and packages. So, processed food can cause cancer. Even bread can cause cancer, thanks to the carcinogenic flour improver potassium bromate.

I guess it's time to start baking your own bread and cooking your own... actually, you might want to quit baking and cooking. Why, you ask? Because smoking can cause cancer. If you don't see the connection, let me explain it to you: The carcinogenic effect of cigarette smoke is caused by hydrocarbons, which are released when any kind of organic matter is burned. Such as wood or incense. Which, on a side note, means that attending a Catholic mass can cause cancer. And visiting a Buddhist temple can cause cancer as well. Sitting around a campfire can cause cancer too, and of course a summer barbecue can cause cancer.

But what does that have to do with cooking? Scientists have discovered that hydrocarbons are also released when organic matter is merely strongly heated. It doesn't have to be burned. You can see where this is going: Cooked food can cause cancer. Baked food can cause cancer. Fried food can cause cancer. Roasted food can cause cancer. Grilled food can cause cancer. Food that was heated up in the microwave can cause cancer (not because of microwave radiation, but because of the generated heat). Looks like it's raw food for you from now on.

Of course the above also applies to burning fossil fuels. On top of carcinogenic hydrocarbons, car exhaust fumes also contain the equally carcinogenic chemical benzene. There is no denying that driving a car can cause cancer. Car owners are not only endangering themselves, but also other people who inhale their exhaust fumes. Living near a road can cause cancer. Using the sidewalk next to a road can cause cancer. Being anywhere near car traffic can cause cancer. If you drive a car, you have no business lecturing tobacco users on the risk of second-hand smoke.

The only piece of modern technology that is as ubiquitous as cars are cell phones. Many earlier studies on cell phone radiation and cancer risk were inconclusive, but last year, the World Health Organization found that there is indeed an increase in glioma and acoustic neuroma brain cancer among cell phone users. A team of 31 scientists from 14 countries has gathered enough evidence for the WHO to announce that cell phones can (probably) cause cancer.

Another thing that's an omnipresent part of modern life are carcinogenic plasticizers, which are either absorbed through skin contact with plastic and rubber items or by inhaling their fumes. Have you ever noticed that many cheap plastic items have a horrible smell? What you are smelling is very likely carcinogenic. And I've read that when you hold the rubber handles of cheap tools for ten minutes, you might absorb as many carcinogenes as if you smoked several cigarettes. So, touching plastic, rubber, or faux leather and fur can cause cancer. And breathing in a room full of plastic items can cause cancer.

The list goes on and on and on. Sunlight can cause cancer. And fine dust can cause cancer. Particulate matter is ubiquitous from both natural and man-made sources. The concentration is especially high near urban areas. So unless you live in the countryside, you'll have an increased cancer risk. One of the riskier types of fine dust is talcum (talc is closely related to asbestos), which means that even baby powder can cause cancer.

I almost forgot one of the greatest cancer risks: Obesity. Being overweight can cause cancer. And, of course, having a genetic predisposition for cancer can cause cancer, even if you're a total health nut. Bottom line: If you are a bit overweight, eat a lot of processed food, live in an urban area and had sex at some point in your life, your cancer risk is probably on par with that of a smoker who is slim, eats healthy, lives in the sticks and is still a virgin. It might be even greater. In the end we all get to choose our poison and no one will live forever.

well crap I'm going to hide in a sterile room and never touch anything than.

As long as they do it in private, I don't care, but I'm asthmatic and being near people who smokes can and often does trigger an asthma attack for me. And I'm fairly sure that my dad having smoked since he was eighteen and being thirty when I was born has something to do with it [he didn't have asthma when he was a kid, but he does now. My mom doesn't have asthma, and no one on her side has asthma].

That, or him smoking when I was a baby managed to screw me over. I doubt he smoked in the room, or in the house, but you never know what happened before your earliest memory.

^ My Mum smoked when she was pregnant with me. I don't have asthma. I did get glue ear, though and God knows what else is wrong with me because of it.