NYC Kicks Off Anti-Smoking Campaign

Thanks for your info, @hhusted! I'm not a smoker, but have friends who are. At least among my friends, though, it's seen as "uncool" rather than "cool" - and those that do smoke are roundly mocked for being silly, stinky, etc...

They already banned smoking from most bars! I'd say that's pretty extensive, I don't know what more they want to do. And @ajadeidealist you're right that there's huge social pressure not to smoke. As though smokers are mentally ill.

Even when I lived in Italy, people my age thought smoking was "out" - I don't know that it's considered a rite of passage or "cool" anymore anywhere - maybe people are indeed wising up. It seems to be an older group who doesn't want to give up smoking out of habit....

My French friends smoke like crazy, and have whole social rituals built around the idea of having a cigarette break. On the other hand, back in college when I did smoke for a spell, the nurse in the school'd medical office seriously treated me like I had a mental problem that needed curing when I told her I smoked. I don't smoke any more, but my New York friends would never tolerate my lighting a cigarette without complaining extensively about it. It's probably a good thing to have the social pressure not to smoke. In France it seemed the social pressure was on smoking.