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Welcome to the smoke-free Olympics. Got a light?

Zim Hosein

Zim Hosein

Super Moderator | Elite Member
Super Moderator
By Belinda Goldsmith

BEIJING (Reuters) - It's been declared a "smoke free Olympics" -- but tell that to the furtive puffers dragging on their cigarettes around Olympic venues.

In China there are over 350 million smokers, with one of every three cigarettes smoked in the world lit up in China, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

So it was a major task to get the world's heaviest smokers to stub out for the August 8-24 Games -- as well as the 500,000 overseas tourists in Beijing -- despite Chinese officials banning smoking in Olympic arenas.

"You do have to be a bit discreet," said a tourist from New Zealand, hiding his lit cigarette under a bench about a stone's throw from the Bird's Nest stadium.

"At the opening ceremony they cordoned off an area at the back of the stadium for smokers. It did last nearly five hours!"

Athletes too can be spotted smoking around venues.

"I'd say 70 out of 100 athletes in the Olympic village smoke," said Italian weightlifter Giorgio de Luca, perhaps exaggerating a little, as he wound down with a cigarette.

Visitors to Olympic Green, a 2,800-acre complex about 8 km (5 miles) north of Tiananmen Square, have to hand in lighters as they head through security checks on entering.
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Welcome to the smoke-free Olympics. Got a light?

WTF!?! Olympic athletes smoke? 😕
 
Perhaps the nanny state we live in has brainwashed you into thinking that if you smoke you are a trailer trash lethargic individual that will die a very young death from lung cancer.............



 
Originally posted by: mugs
I wouldn't be smoking in a smoke-free zone in China.
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People break the laws all the time in China..taxi drivers urinate on the side of the road, climb into restricted areas in museums, etc. They don't care as long as you aren't plotting the overthrow of the government.
 
Well, I heard that since smoking is on the decline here, cigarette companies like RJ Reynolds are aggressively marketing their products in countries like China, Iran and India. In my opinion, this is a pretty cruddy thing to do.
 
Smoking probably doesn't hurt performance in any event that only requires short bursts of activity.
 
Originally posted by: AstroManLuca
Originally posted by: oldsmoboat
Isn't there a stickied, Olympics thread?
:beer:
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DIAF
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Suck my dick

Edit:
AstroManLuca, thanks for the offer via PM but I was only kidding. I wouldn't really let you suck my dick.
 
Originally posted by: StormRider
Well, I heard that since smoking is on the decline here, cigarette companies like RJ Reynolds are aggressively marketing their products in countries like China, Iran and India. In my opinion, this is a pretty cruddy thing to do.
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I would imagine that if you were one of RJ Reynolds' many, many stockholders, you might think differently.
 
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