LowDrag
Contributor
There is an aspect of this thread that I find interesting as a long time ScubaBoard participant. We have had a number of threads in the past related to smoking and Scuba. This is the first one I can remember in which there has not been a number of posters insisting that smoking is not a problem and even (ridiculously) that smokers have better SAC rates than non-smokers for some absurd reason related to their lungs being used to working with less oxygen.
In all my years on ScubaBoard, I have entered into many a contentious fray on many a contentious topic. I have had a number of my posts removed, but only because they responded to another post that was deemed inappropriate. I have never had any of my posts moderated on their own merit. The closest I ever came was on a thread much like this. I made a post similar to the one I made above--pretty benign and straightforward, in my view. I received a warning message from a moderator about it. Now that I am on the staff and know how things work, I know what happened. Some smoker had reported my message and complained that it infringed on smoker's rights to do as they pleased by suggesting that what they were doing was not the best thing in the world. In response, a staff member had contacted me to suggest I present my views on smoking in a more balanced fashion.
I wonder if this change is just a chance occurrence determined by who happened to be reading the threads, or if it indicates a change in overall viewpoints.
As a moderator on a fishing forum I would say that the person that made that complaint should have been told to get a life. I have seen nothing in this thread that would raise my eyebrows in any way. I see a lot of support and some good advice. Being a former smoker many times...LOL...I think that there is no harm intended by anyone here. Good luck to all that want to quit.