Smokers unite!

Especially here in California (it seems like) smoking is becoming more and more heinous in the eyes of the general public. I perused the California smoking laws, and they ARE strict.

 For example, it is illegal to smoke in a moving vehicle that has a minor (18 years or younger) in it. I also discovered that here in San Diego, smoking is prohibited on public park benches and prohibited altogether on San Diego beaches! So yes, smoking can be an isolating habit, but I think it has caused the remaining smokers to unite. All smokers know who the other smokers are in their building. I've noticed around here a large number of "Smoke Shops" that specialize in meeting the needs of smokers. We often go to a frozen yogurt shop that happens to have a bar in the same strip mall. We kind of laugh because I don't think anyone actually hangs out IN the bar; there are always about 10 people standing outside smoking!

 Let me throw this one out there… do you think that the stigma that is now attached to smoking will ever get attached to alcohol? Just think of all the problems that alcohol causes… there are tons of them. As you guys know, I'm a Sexual Assault Victim Advocate in the Navy, and alcohol is involved in a high percentage of sexual assaults. Google "alcohol and violence" in general and you'll find all kinds of alarming statistics. Does it warrant a stigma?