Chrystie, I am like you, very sensitive to smoke! Not enough publicity is made of this although here in the UK it is now banned in pubs and restaurants since almost a year ago so I can go out which I could not before. I don’t actually get a migraine but I do get some kind of a headache and a bad cough and phlegm even from a small amount of smoke. I put this down to my mother smoking around me, a toxic overload which caused the allergy to smoke I now suffer. Smoking around kids should be illegal especially in a confined space such as a car!

The article went on to say that Matthew said Sarah is “worse than me” when it comes to the occasional smoking. Matthew said “every now and then I will fall off for a week.”

I could not tell from the article whether Matthew was worried that James will start smoking, but this from Nathan Lane (in the same article) was interesting:

According to longtime pal Nathan Lane, who showed up for the after-party at the Soho Grand. “If ever you wanted someone to have an intervention for you, it’s Matthew Broderick, because he’ll probably bring liquor.”

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As far as smoking goes, people should be allowed to live their lives as they please. And I do believe that children will make their own choices.

Personally, I detest smoking and I do not have much compassion for smokers either.

The smell of second-hand cigarette smoke gives me a migraine immediately (and I am not exaggerating). I don’t much see the point of making people smoke outside when they do it in front of building entrances – we still have to walk through it anyway!

New York State does an excellent job with its anti-smoking campaign. There is this PSA that sometimes runs during my baseball games. It shows a doctor getting ready to amputate the foot of a smoker because of gangrene. Then there are others that show the effects of second-hand smoke on children. I don’t know how anyone could watch that and continue to smoke but I guess it is an addiction like anything else.

I’m just glad I didn’t grow up around smokers and that I do not smoke myself. My future children will not be raised around smokers either.

yea i kno kids are exposed to everything but you can’t hide things from them b/c they will eventually find them out, you know. my mom never smoked or drank but 3 of my siblings have grown up to do both. i think the more you shelter your kids the more they’ll want to rebel against you. but i just think our peers have a huge impact on us, more than our parents. it is just basedf on the individual. thats just my opinion, nobody freak out okay, lol.

WILL YOU PEOPLE STOP WITH THE HOLIER THAN THOU SPEECHES?! honestly, the topic CBB asked was WHAT TOPICS ARE YOUR KIDS CURIOUS ABOUT. NOT criticize the choices or comments of Broderick.

Maybe I did misunderstand….but with that said smoking, amongst other things, is a CHOICE that one makes for THEMSELVES! I personally grew up around HEAVY smokers and a VERY emotionally abusive parent….of whom I constantly PRAYED would get DRUNK whilst at home…only because said parent then did a complete ‘180′ & was NICE to me!

It’s tough for me to admit that as a child I actually WANTED my alcoholic parent to be constantly DRUNK!! Those drunken episodes were pretty much the ONLY time that said parent was EVER ‘approachable’, showed me ANY (much needed) parental affection, OR said that they actually LOVED me! Based on those issues alone one would think that I’d be a RAGING alcoholic or drug addict by now, huh?!

A LONG time ago, I made the choice for MYSELF to be a NON-smoker & NON-alcoholic period! I’m honestly VERY surprised that I’ve actually managed to stay true to that & shockingly AVOIDED any type of ‘addiction’ thus far…knock on wood…Ha-Ha! I’ll admit that I still have a few ‘emotional’ scars remaining….but for the most part I somehow managed to emerge from my childhood unscathed & became a responsible self-supporting adult!

Yeah, I openly admit that it CAN be one of MANY tough addictions for ANYONE to break! But YES, it can be done if one only sets their mind to it! My hubby was a chain-smoker before we met & after our FIRST date he made the CHOICE, of his own accord, to quit cold-turkey! As TOUGH as it was for him to do, to this day he has NEVER looked back!

One of the first steps in overcoming ANY addiction is ACKNOWLEDGING & taking OWNERSHIP of your active role in it! It does NOT help ANYONE trying to overcome an addiction, if they’re always pointing their fingers at and/or blaming everyone else for THEIR addiction?! It just doesn’t WORK that way! Again, you have to OWN your active role in ANY addiction if you EVER want to be successful in overcoming it! It all boils down to a CHOICE that one chooses to make for THEMSELVES, period!

Sorry for getting off topic a bit in my reply! I just want you to know that it CAN be done if YOU just set your mind to it! I’m sincerely NOT intending any ‘ill will’ towards you whatsoever & THAT I promise!!

Seriously, how hard is it to understand my point? I didn’t think I made it that hard. I said that if Big Tobacco cannot figure out how to make a “safe” cigarette, see how I put safe in “”, to emphasis that there probably never could be a safe cigarette, then they need to get rid of cigarettes for good and get people on the road to healthy living.

How hard is it to understand that the reason why people continue to smoke after starting is because of the chemicals that the Big Tobacco companies put in them, to make them taste good but to GET YOU ADDICTED. I know there is no SAFE cigarette, but I’m sure getting rid of the 4,000 chemicals they put in (some of which are poison) would make them a little “safer” and a lot less addictive. I’m sure not buying cigarettes (by the way, I am almost 3 months clean and sober, cold turkey) would be a way to say “Hey Big Tobacco company, I don’t need your product” but when you are an addict, you need that fix, you want that fix because that fix has additives in them that tell your brain I NEED A CIGARETTE!

Also, I have to wonder about the safe cigarette gimmick. I watch TV, I see those anti-Tobacco commercials, but not once have I seen the commercial tell me that the TOBACCO itself is what is harmful. I’m told over and over that the chemicals put in are what kills you, gives you diseases, lowers your baby weight if you smoke, etc… So that is why I’m pissed when people crackdown on smokers instead of the companies that make the cigarettes. It is the stuff THEY put in and they don’t get punished, I do.

*gets off soapbox*

hilde: Smoking IS awful.

mousie: I agree. SJP already gets criticism for her nose and mole, and now those cancer sticks are hurting her even more!

tink, your mom smoked while pregnant with you and you were born full term with no defects?

bek: there is no safe cigarette. The best thing for you 2 do is quit.

Shay – I’m sorry you missed the entire point of my post.

suzanne – my child is far from rude. people actually comment on how polite he is! he says please, thank you, excuse me when he burps etc. i also always tell him not to say these things about cigarettes to people, but he tends to say it anyway. and when he does it i calmly tell him to leave the person alone – but he has his own mind and gets very upset when he sees people smoking. he also tells people not to litter and will go up to someone littering and tell them not to. this is just how he is. no offense, but you’re the one who seems rude with your comment.

Renee, my comment wasn’t harsh – it was just a fact. Comments are referring to the effects of smoking. It has as much to do with this post as all the cancer comments do.

SJP is a smoker; smoking is known to make skin age. Therefore, it explains why her skin looks older than someone who doesn’t smoke.