Well I believe I could take 'em in a fight. I'm small but tenacious, unlike that gerbil up there. wait...threads are colliding. :)

I read a science piece at one time along these lines: "there are no such things as toxic substances, only toxic levels." That is, many many things will kill you, and certain things will kill you faster. To that end, maybe it would be good if cig companies could reduce toxins. Not that I'm a smoker or fan of smoking, but I think the world would be without one more time-consuming debate if there were a cigarette that didn't kill you.

Your real name wouldn't be Phillip Morris, would it?

I happen to agree with him(?). Almost everything we breathe and eat contains some toxic substances but at non-toxic levels.

If a cigarette could be made that people could still "enjoy" that did not contain substances at anywhere near toxic levels, I'd be all in favor of it.

Of course, if it still produced the same smell and nusisance to MY pleasant breathing, I'd still like places where I could eat, read, etc... that did NOT allow smoking.

Even though I am a devout non-smoker and cannot stand the smell, I do think that we have tended to treat smokers very prejudically, despite the fact that many are rather polite and considerate of those around them these days.

I read a convincing piece that much of the problem is the residual radiation from polonium which is a part of the calcium phosphate mined for phosphate fertilizer, critical for the growing of tobacco. Supposedly cigarette smoke contains more alpha particles than it should.

The details were in a study conducted in 1983 but I don't know why nobody paid attention. There are alternatives to get phosphates.

If smoking could be made to be 100% safe, I'd do it. After all, it makes you look cool.

Real cool. But it makes you stink like a fucking shitbag.

That's why Jenni stopped smoking - she'd come over, crawl into bed with me, and I'd roll over to get away from her shitbreath. Ugh.

I'd be the first one in line to try that danger-free cigarette. :)

Most smokers I know or have met as a whole are generally very considerate of non-smokers' feelings. In addition, they are some of the coolest people I've met. It's like a brotherhood of sorts...

One night, Mimi & I were waiting for a bus at the corner of Ashland and North in Chicago. A guy asked me for a smoke, and of course, I obliged. The guy was almost offended that I wouldn't take his dollar for it. Heh. :)

On a side note
 

What gets me going is the time and effort different groups have put into keeping cigarettes and tobacco away from kids, but then Hollywood deems it cool to smoke cigars. I remember about a year or two ago that "Cigar Afficianado" featured several different actors/actresses on the cover back to back. In fact, Guiliani was recently featured, which seems odd because I remember some time ago that he was trying to ban smoking in various places throughout New York (including taxi cabs and restaurants I believe). It's fairly obvious that kids look up to these guys and try to emulate the aura of dude-ness they eminate.
I do like what www.thetruth.com is doing. Though it's still propoganda, it's in the opposite direction.