shades fills you in

Filter Magazine makes the case for smoking: Smoker stigma is real, and it’s harmful. We don’t shame people for indulging in vices like unhealthy foods or even other drugs -- why shame smokers

“Uh, because smoking is gross?” writes BuzzFeed. “Here’s 20 different pictures of the nasty damage regular smoking can have on your home -- now imagine what it’s doing to your lungs”

A Telegraph-and-Argus Op: Yup, smoking’s a nasty habit -- literally. Smoker stigma is for the best

PopSci: Smokers aren’t just damaging their own health when they smoke. They’re damaging the planet, too! Cigarette butts are the most littered item in the world

But a 2016 Reason Magazine article defends smokers: In an era of “my body, my choice”, there’s no reason to deny an adult the right to smoke a cigarette

A letter in The Times kinda agrees: Adults have the right to smoke if they want to. People are well within their rights to criticize smokers, though

An R-Street Op still doesn’t think the smoker stigma is justified: Smoker stigma leads to smokers not getting the support they need when they want to quit -- from their peers or their doctors

Politico adds that smoker stigma affects lung cancer patients who never picked up a cigarette: Lung cancer’s association with smoking means smaller funds for lung cancer research

And a 2019 study in Social Cognition found that stigmatizing smokers actually might make smokers less likely to quit

For better or for worse, The NYT writes that smoker stigma may be on its way out. Young people seem to be into smoking again