First, a plug for the film Thank You For Smoking. It was a smart, if whimsical, way of fundamentally explaining the corporate strategy of the tobacco industry and how their media spin on an undeniably dangerous habit still wins out over better judgment. Or does it? Based on the Surgeon General's report for this year, Americans are living in a more smoke-free nation these days, especially when it comes to breathing in other people's smoke. This is good news for everyone, especially since smoking has been linked on more than one occasion to the development of type 2 diabetes.

Since the 1980s, secondhand smoke exposure has decreased by 70 percent, a figure that can easily rearranged to mean that we are now 70 percent healthier. The cause of this decrease is really no secret; people has become less socially acceptable, bars and restaurants have banned smoking altogether, and smokers seem to have adopted a more courteous approach to lighting up -- making their habit theirs and not yours by going into other rooms, staying outdoors, etc.

As mentioned, secondhand smoke has been linked to the development of type 2 diabetes (it has been estimated that actual smokers raise their risk of type 2 by anywhere from 50-90 percent!). And by this point it is common knowledge than smoke inhalation can often times lead to cancer and heart disease.

The bottom line? It's time we put them out for good. It's not cool, it's not hip (I mean, think about it -- how cool is it to do something that your grandparents did? Should we start doing the waltz at night clubs next?), and it's obviously not healthy.