Should Amtrak allow smoking again?

[SaharaKumlu]

Absolutely not! No Smoking on the train!

 

[PVD]

Lead shot (and even small lead fishing tackle) is banned in many states because of the wildlife issue. Lead bullets are still around, but lead in the air is a real issue, particularly in indoor ranges

 

[Barb Stout]

It doesn't sound like too many, if any, people on this forum are smokers, but just in case some still are, I would like to share a story that will hopefully "light a fire" to motivate you to quit. I was talking with a hospice nurse and she mentioned that the worse deaths she has attended were people dying of COPD which most cases, but not all including my sister, are caused by smoking. She said those COPD cases were even worse than the ones who were dying of cancer. She mentioned the high anxiety and panic the COPD person suffers during his last days because of not being to breathe. I'm not looking forward to when my sister reaches that stage.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

It doesn't sound like too many, if any, people on this forum are smokers, but just in case some still are, I would like to share a story that will hopefully "light a fire" to motivate you to quit. I was talking with a hospice nurse and she mentioned that the worse deaths she has attended were people dying of COPD which most cases, but not all including my sister, are caused by smoking. She said those COPD cases were even worse than the ones who were dying of cancer. She mentioned the high anxiety and panic the COPD person suffers during his last days because of not being to breathe. I'm not looking forward to when my sister reaches that stage.

Unfortunately there are some people who just can't quit, no matter how hard they try. I know of two from my past.

 

[SarahZ]

The difference between smoking tobacco and eating sugary and fatty foods is that someone can sit and eat a Snickers bar or a bag of Doritos across the table from me and the sugar and fat from the Snickers or Doritos doesn't enter my body and compromise my health, unlike the dose of second-hand smoke I'd get if someone sitting near me was puffing away.

I don't think that smoking tobacco should be illegal, it's just that people who smoke should not be able to do it around other people who don't want to deal with the second-hand smoke.

You missed my point too. Please read my responses to Qapla on the same issue.

 

[Barb Stout]

Unfortunately there are some people who just can't quit, no matter how hard they try. I know of two from my past.

Yep, I have heard how people who quit decades ago still sometimes have a strong desire/urge to smoke.

 

[tim49424]

Yep, I have heard how people who quit decades ago still sometimes have a strong desire/urge to smoke.

I must be an outlier. I quit (for good) 15 years ago and have no urges whatsoever to go back. Maybe, it's because I was never a heavy smoker to begin with.

 

[me_little_me]

My experience with smokers on trains these days (prior to Covid) is that they don't stand far enough from the doors when lighting up even when there are signs and it is not enforced by staff. Worse, is when it's the conductor that is smoking.
Then there is the SCA that says "stay right by the door" and one realizes you have to stand across from the middle of the car to get away from smokers on both sides.

 

[Qapla]

You missed my point too. Please read my responses to Qapla on the same issue.

It's not that we missed your point - we just have a different point of view

Regardless, I still hold that NO Smoking on the train, in the station (and that includes in the restrooms), on the platform of even in the parking lot walking to the station office.

 

[SarahZ]

It's not that we missed your point - we just have a different point of view

No, you missed my point about prohibition in general and took it to mean I was referring to SECONDHAND effects, which I was not, but I’m tired of trying to explain it to you.

 

[PaTrainFan]

It's almost inconceivable now to think back to the days when smoking was allowed on a train, a bus or airplane, or a workplace. The thought of it now makes me nauseous. Thank goodness we have moved well beyond that. The only thing I would like to see is the ability to take as many "fresh air" breaks in the workplace as smokers seem to get!

 

[nferr]

No way it will ever be allowed on the trains again. I remember the smelly lounge cars. No thanks. And I'm an ex heavy smoker. Stopped 27 years ago.

 

[me_little_me]

I decided the smokers won the vote and the non-smokers were trying to steal the vote by bring in non-riders, stuffing the reply boxes and replying more than once.

 

[JayPea]

My experience with smokers on trains these days (prior to Covid) is that they don't stand far enough from the doors when lighting up even when there are signs and it is not enforced by staff. Worse, is when it's the conductor that is smoking.
Then there is the SCA that says "stay right by the door" and one realizes you have to stand across from the middle of the car to get away from smokers on both sides.

Here in the state of Washington smokers must stay at least 25 feet from any doors and Amtrak personnel in my experience have been good about enforcing this at smoke stops within the state. The last couple of times going to/coming from Seattle, though, it has been a moot point at the Wenatchee stop because of smoke from forest fires at the times I've ridden.

 

[Old MM]

Just no on this one. :-/

 

[IndyLions]

Hmmm...90 posts in less than 36 hours...we’ve found a topic that “lights up” a thread faster than dining!

 

[pennyk]

I am also a definite no to smoking on the train. However, back in 1972, I took my first out of state trip from Waldo, FL to Fayetteville, NC (changing in JAX) when I was young and a smoker. There was a "women's lounge" on the train to Fayetteville where smoking was permitted. I recall at the time thinking that the lounge was very comfortable and a very "cool" place to congregate. Thinking back, this was an awful set up. Any woman that wanted to use the restroom had to walk through a thick cloud of smoke to use the facilities. Yuck!! I have been a reformed ex-smoker for about 35 years and cannot stand the smell of smoke.

I find it very uncomfortable when smokers stand near the doors of the train during the "fresh air" breaks.

 

[caravanman]

As with sending kids up chimneys to clean the soot, the world has moved on from thinking smoking is desirable or healthy. Sadly, folk do get addicted quickly to tobacco, but that then becomes their problem to deal with, not other train users.

 

[Ferroequinologist]

If smoking were allowed, wouldn't smoking marijuana have to be permitted when trains pass through states that allow marijuana? Marijuana has a vile smell, far worse than cigarette tobacco.

 

[PVD]

No, unless it were made legal by the Federal gov't.

 

[AmtrakBlue]

No, unless it were made legal by the Federal gov't.

Amtrak follows the state laws regarding serving alcohol so why wouldn't they follow state laws regarding smoking marijuana if smoking tobacco is allowed?

 

[railiner]

Amtrak follows the state laws regarding serving alcohol so why wouldn't they follow state laws regarding smoking marijuana if smoking tobacco is allowed?

Federal prohibition on alcohol ended a long time ago. Federal prohibition on marijuana has not....

 

[Ziv]

I remember smoking on flights. It seems hard to believe now, but we smoked right next to people that hated the smell and we though nothing of it. The non-smokers? Not so much.
There was usually the question "Mind if I smoke?" but it took intestinal fortitude in those days to say, "Yes, I mind."

 

[PVD]

channeling Morticia Adams "Mind if I Smoke"

 

[Ziv]

For those that missed that episode...



Carolyn Jones was smoking hot!

channeling Morticia Adams "Mind if I Smoke"