Friday, June 9, 2006 | 7:43 a.m.
If a building was on fire, a few things could kill you, such as flames or toxic smoke. Every day smokers breath in toxic fumes and never have to be in a burning building.
For 20 years I was one of those smoke inhalers. I quit cold turkey after a close friend and fellow smoker died from lung cancer. I had a chest X-ray after I quit and was shocked at what I saw. The doctor told me my lungs would take a year to clear up - he was right.
Before I quit I tried stopping a few times. After a few days I was a total nervous wreck. You cigarette smokers who say you're not nervous smokers, try stopping for a few days and tell me about your nerves.
Nicotine, alcohol and illegal drugs are all addictive substances. Bite the bullet, smokers, before the bullet bites you.
Recently, I was a witness to yet another argument between a nonsmoker and a smoker at my favorite casino. It required the intervention of a security guard. Smoking is like lying on a table waiting for the lethal injection. Smokers want us nonsmokers to lay aside of them, waiting for death.
Webster's Dictionary says nicotine is a poisonous alkaloid found in tobacco leaves.
John Tominsky, Las Vegas
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