Thank you to those who replied to my post in a positive way. I appreciate your thoughts.
I also appreciate that Random replied as he did. We can all express thoughts that are not popular with other people, but if done with d”e, at least those other people may read them and consider what was said. Listen, we all have something to say, and some subjects are touchier than others. But the only way to have a real dialogue is to speak and not deride.
Smoking is a very difficult issue – it is such a powerful addiction that a person dying of lung cancer will often still try to smoke to the end. Now that we know the dangers both of first and second-hand smoke, there is simply no excuse for any rov to refrain from giving a serious mussar shmooze on the subject. It also pollutes our environment, and frankly I hate how my clothing stinks whenever I have been exposed to a room filled with smokers, and that is the LEAST of it. Some of the strongest people I know are people who have kicked this awful habit.