Would you light your kid's cigarette?

I help light my children's bongs.

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This image is disturbing on so many levels. How about, "I am addicted to something that has a good chance of killing me in a few years, so I really can't contribute to you being addicted to the same thing." That would be realist enough for me.

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After my mom got caught smoking in the girl's room in high school and my grandfather had to pick her up during the workday, he started buying her all her cigarettes if she promised she would only do it at home...

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My mom used to tell me if she was a smoker there was no way she could keep me from smoking. So, Melanie has no leg to stand on when it comes to keeping her kid from smoking. They probably also use cigarettes to stay as thin as possible, that works obviously, but smoking will make your face look old quick & that sucks!

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Baby A can't read measuring cups or use a jigger yet, so I pour her cocktails for her.

Seriously. This photo turns my stomach. She's helping her daughter kill herself slowly, and contributing to skyrocketing insurance and healthcare costs for all of us. Parents must set the right example, and if they can't control themselves enough to do that, then they must make it clear what they're doing is wrong--NOT contribute to the child's addiction and eventual death.

A mother here in NC was recently prosecuted for serving alcohol to her teenaged daughter and her friends inside her home. She testified her daughter was likely to drink anyway, and she wanted her to do so in a controlled environment.

I don't even know where to start with Baby A and cigarettes. Her great-grandparents both died from smoking--and my grandfather hadn't smoked for 25 years. I hate when we see otherwise cool teenagers smoking. That's another reason this picture bothers me so much--I can see what I'm going to be up against once A wants to be cool, too.

- L

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I am 100% against smoking, no one is allowed to smoke around my child!!

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No I would never light my kids cigararette, if your son or daughter were standing on a bridge would you push then off? Same diff. Cancer kills. I know, we've lost 5 family members in five years to lung cancer. My son smokes, it kills me.

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I have never ever smoked ciggies and never ever will. So there's no question about whether I will be lighting up for Lochlan in the future. However, I grew up with parents who let me have a sip of their alcohol (I always went "bleeah!") and have a small amount of wine on special occasions. As a result, I wasn't interested in drinking during high school. I didn't even get drunk the first time until I was in college. I won't provide Lochlan and his friends alcohol but I will allow him to have sips of our drinks and have a little bit of wine on special occasions if he wants (this is normal practice in Europe).

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I'm completely fed up with this anti-smoking horses**t that is happening in this country. All these ads with "smokers are evil and they eat cat vomit and taste like dead rats when you kiss them" (you know the commercials with the creepy animated kids).

Imagine, if someone took the same approach with an ad for alcoholism. Show an alcoholic walk into the house, start beating their spouse, then go back out, get into the car, and run over some poor kid on the sidewalk. At the end of the ad, a voice says, "This is what alcoholics do"

There would be a public outcry. The lawsuits would fly. The bleeding hearts would say, "We have to show compassion for these people. They have a disease, and that disease is alcoholism."

Give me a break.

Smokers are just normal people that happen to be addicted to something they enjoy. And the more people rag on them and hound them, the more they will circle the wagons and give a big old screw you to everyone else.

Most smokers are very considerate. If you ask them politely, they will put out the cigarette or move so the smoke does not blow on you.

If you ask them with a holier than thou attitude, they will probably ignore you. And they would be right to do so!

And if you are in a large public area and the smoker will not put out the cigarette, then MOVE! "But why should I have to move? They should have to move!", you say. Why? It's a public area. You don't own it. Get over yourself and move. I'm sure if someone asked you to move because your child was being too loud, you would throw a fit.

And all these lawsuits by people brought against tobacco companies....HA! I don't care what the tobacco companies tell people in the past. If you're too stupid to realize that putting smoke in your lungs will hurt you...you probably shouldn't be allowed to drive a car either. I hear they can hurt you too.

Let me give a quick example. If there is a fire, people get out of the house because of the smoke and the heat. I'm sure they've been telling this to people for many many decades now. Hmmm...smoke can hurt you. And yet people still sue tobacco companies and win. Why? Because judges don't take the stupidity factor into account.

So, please, for the love of humanity and all us smokers, go and find another cause.

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Mihir, there is no such thing as "second hand drinking." My beers will not make you ill, but your cigarettes could make me or my child ill. While I respect one's right to destroy one's own body in any fashion she or he chooses, that right ends with you.

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I used to smoke, and my father knew. He wasn't pleased, but as a "never gonna quit EVER" smoker, he wasn't in a position to lecture me, and he knew it.

But he never bought my smokes, and with the exception of letting me smoke in the house/car, did not support it. Both him and I KNEW it was a bad habit, and while he didn't actively work against it, he didn't support me in it either. He accepted reality.

It would be nice to see Melanie try and quit with her daughter, but it took me 12 or more years to quit. If her daughter is already hooked, nothing she does or doesn't do will change that really. You don't quit until you're ready. That said, she should have maybe not done this in public being famous and all.

And Mihir, and much as SOME smokers are considerate, I've had many many more be VERY inconsiderate to me and my children. The smoker who sat in the bus shelter smoking while I stood in the rain comes to mind. Or the smokers congregated in the doorways at work when I was 8 months pregnant because they didn't want to get wet also comes to mind.

I shouldn't have to ASK people to share public spaces. When I was a smoker, I had the common sense to know that others did not necessarily want to share in my arsenic and other toxins.
I had an addiction, but it was also disgusting and harmful to those around me, and I kept that firmly in mind. It was NOT my right to harm others.

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Heidi, try telling that to families of people who have been killed or injured by drunk drivers.

Don't get me wrong, I try to stay away from non-smokers and kids when I light up. But if I'm already there and you come sit near me, don't expect me to automatically move.

My main beef here is with non-smokers thinking they own the "higher moral ground" and looking down on smokers.

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Mihir, I stand corrected. I separate drinking and drinking while driving as I'm quite fond of the former but not the latter. And I do try to avoid making it a moral issue- it's a health issue. Growing up asthmatic around two smokers has made me very averse to second-hand smoke, and I applaud efforts to reduce exposure to it.

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Hell, I feel guilty when I give my kids HO HOs and Ding Dongs....so I guess I would feel guilty lighting their cigarettes. Either way (obesity or smoking) they're going to have health problems.

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Heidi, just because it is a health issue, does not mean anyone needs to demonize anyone else.

It sort of reminds me of the horrible movie "Demolition Man" with Slyvester Stallone. I think the line in the movie is something like, " has been deemed bad for you, and therefore, is illegal".

If anti-smokers has the same vehemence (sp?) against other things that are "bad", I probably wouldn't have as big a problem with them.

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i smoke -- im 16. my parents have bought me ciggarettes/ smoked with me. who cares ... its not like im shooting smack. i love this picture ... it makes me happy.

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I think Melanie is totally being realistic..Her daughter is gonna smoke either way. I would rather know the truth even if its ugly than have my daughter hide it because I cant handle the truth. Her daughter will learn and understand about the risks of smoking with or without her parents consent..Let her learn on her own, just has we all have.

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i think kids have every right to smoke and do drugs and the laws saying you have to be 18 to smoke are a violation of the constitutional rights of people younger.people would be nicer if we worried about that instead of drugs.

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Anyone bother to point out "it's still a free country" and who cares anyway? I don't smoke or worry about who else does. Let's look to where we can make a difference, and not try to posture as if we know better than someone unfortunately famous enough to be considered "an example".

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So, when are the police going to pick Melanie up and arrest her? If her daughter bought the cigs then the people that sold them to her can be arrested also. So lets do it. Throw them both in jail.

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