... and in establishments where people under 21 can enter.

I'm noit afraid to state my opinion on this:Good!

1.7 Billion packs of cigarettes are smoked every day. A smoked pack of phags = 7 cubic feet of greenhouse gases every day into the atmosphere. The process doesn't end there. It's destructive distillation that takes place whenever we burn about anything. The same reason we have to clean the creosote off our chimneys, is the reason so many different hydrocarbons come out of just burning the leaves.

Indiana lets people smoke in their own homes and bars where people under 21 are not allowed, e.g. food serving taverns with family sections cannot have smoking. This takes a bite out of global warming if it truly is caused by a pollution generated greenhouse effect.

It could very well be air pollution doesn't affect the planet's greenhouse effect or ozone layer, but common sense would tell us that if we can't say yes or no, we may as well carry on as though air pollution can hurt us. The argument usually comes up that people have been burning stuff for thousands of years and the planet didn't grow hotter to speak of. We didn't have 7 billion people on the planet then either.

I agree with ya. Here in VA they banned it in restaurants but folks still smoke outside them. I'm allergic and have to gag to death as I go in. The only smokers I ever knew that could smoke without their gagging me were Arlo and my late Aunt Hattie and Uncle MT.

I've never liked it since I was a kid. I'm taken aback to find out that brother Arlo smokes. Tobacco I'm imagining. Pot isn't smoked as often and because of its prohibition it isn't outside so much.

I sort of envisioned Arlo as being more of a tree hugger. Maybe not, eh?

It won't change my opinion about his music.

I've seen a pic of him where he's smoking a cig while playing guitar and there's a peace sign in the sky done by a sky writing plane. Pretty interesting.

That does sound creative. Arlo may be a folk god, but when it comes to taking care of the planet and children's lungs, he's the same as the rest of us. Quitting smoking doesn't change who we are, it just makes everyone a little healthier.

I think smoking bans are ridiculous, and contrary to the concept of freedom. If you want to worry about fumes hurting you - you should probably ban the billions of cars that run up and down our fully paved planet 24 hours a day, seven days a week -- or maybe all that radiation floating over from fukishima might concern you a little more.

The concept of freedom doesn't include the freedom to infringe on that of others. EPA standards have curbed the cars (no pun intended) of much of the fumes and the radiation is miniscule, but 1.7 billion packs of cigarettes burned and vented into the atmosphere every day is the equivalent of 10,000 cu feet of greenhouse gas every day.

Disclaimer: I am not defending smoking or entering into the debate over individual freedoms here. And I am aware that every little bit adds to the greenhouse gas problem. The health problems are obvious.

Just curious - how does 10,000 cubic feet of greenhouse gas compare to say, a small to medium sized wildfire? Or to an average powerplant for a factory or small town? Or the combined/collective exhalations of a nation of 350 million? I guess I want some perspective. Is 10,000 cubic feet [comparably] quantitatively significant? Is it comparable to dumping a gallon of gas in the Gulf of Mexico? In an olympic-sized swimming pool? I just would like to get a handle on the contextual scale of 10,000 cubic feet.......how many cubic feet is Earth's atmosphere?

As for the cu ft of the atmosphere, it will vary depending on the altitude because there is no distinct boundary between the atmosphere and space, but for practical purposes a guess would be around 10,000,000,000,000,000 (10 quintillion). An aproximation would see about 3 trillion cu ft, from cigarettes alone, going into the atmosphere every year. If we did this for 100 years about 1/3 of the atmosphere would be contaminated. 10 years is about 3%, but that isn't taking into account what's already gone there over say 200 years, as it built up to the consumption level of today. Another WAG would be today it is about 5% contamination. Would you swim in that pool if it contained 5% of only nicotine? Not for long.

You sound like a reformed smoker Doc.

Also... unlike Helium, greenhouse gases don't accelerate enough to significantly escape the atmosphere. It hangs around 100,000 to 200,000 feet altitude. I'll do a little searching and check my figures probably tomorrow, but those shouldn't be too far off.

27 years and counting... I stopped when they started screwing us above $1 per pack. I didn't have any real opinion on GW then.