People do all kinds of dangerous things. They ride motorcycles, go skydiving, some even climb into rockets and fly into space. Are they all stupid? Or did you just pick this one activity out arbitrarily?

There are benefits of doing all those things, and there are safe(r) ways of doing them. There is no benefit to smoking, and no safe way to do it. You can rationalize all you want, but the reality is that anyone who took up smoking within the past 30 years is a fool.

How about those living near a fault line?

Everyone knew the dangers of smoking. Smoking bans were mostly based on the dangers of second hand smoke, which are basically non-existent. So all these bans were pushed through on the power of "fake news".

Let's refrain from using that term as hyperbole. It wasn't fake news as much as it was unknown or mistaken news.

Also, second-hand smoke does have negative health consequences AND in an enclosed, unventilated area like a bar or restaurant, it is impossible to avoid having the smell cling to your clothes and hair. I smoke occasionally, but it's a disgusting and filthy habit and I don't want to assault someone else's senses, similar to reheating fish in the office microwave.

Clubs and bars used to be full of smoke.

It's way easier to breath as an asthmatic, though I'm sure it was affecting others.

It's good to not come back home smelling like an ashtray.

One good thing, is that was a way of breaking the ice to talk to people.

Not entirely sure why you'd consider it fake news. My grandfather has suffered from bladder cancer twice, though he has never smoked. He did, however, work in kitchens of restaurants/bars that allowed smoking. Once he left those kitchens, he went into remission and has remained so.

Huh, Wikipedia shows evidence that dangers are existent: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking#Controversy_ov...

It also shows some rebuttals by tobacco sponsored research.

I suspect those who smoke could not care less about your "simple IQ test."

Stupid people don't like being told they're stupid. Shocker.

Thirty-odd years ago, an acquaintance said that he liked going to runners' parties: an hour after they started, you could still see across the room. I remember going to an art gallery opening and finding myself one of two non-smokers, huddled near a slightly cracked window.

It is astonishing the effect of the cultural shift between routine indoor smoking and it being frowned on.

I've heard similar stories. Before the hazard of smoking was known as common knowledge runners used to smoke for their training. They thought that it would increase their lung capacity. It was their idea of a performance enhancing drug. Some drank rat poison as well.