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Dogs To Sniff Out Smokers 136

Posted by samzenpus from the what-brand-is-it-lassie dept.
The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has turned to "tobacco detection canine" teams to sniff out workers sneaking away for a smoke. Careless smoking by workers inside the former Deutsche Bank building is blamed for the Aug. 18, 2007, fire that killed two firefighters. "This is just one part of the project team's multifaceted approach to ensuring that all site regulations are strictly followed and enforced," said LMDC spokesman Mike Murphy.

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Dogs To Sniff Out Smokers More

Dogs To Sniff Out Smokers

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  • ...but do they sniff out cannabis?

    • Comment removed (Score:4, Insightful)

      by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @02:53PM (#25724121)
      Comment removed based on user account deletion

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward

        So chemical crystallized substances should be fine?

      • Yeah, I don't know what the point of that comment was other than to get an easy first.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by ProppaT ( 557551 )

        It runs deeper than that. Many large corporations have agreements with health insurance providers that state that no one is allowed to smoke on their premises, forcing workers to leave work to smoke. This might not sound like a big deal to most of us, but many of the large corporations that have bought into this (Lockheed Martin, for instance) have property that dwarfs large college campuses. Basically, you have to drive off property just to sneak a smoke and means you'll probably be away from your desk

        • Re: (Score:1, Insightful)

          by Kral_Blbec ( 1201285 )

          Sooooo, quit smoking...

          • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

            by fractoid ( 1076465 )
            I'm sure you'd be just as glib if it were your pet addiction (whatever that may be) under fire? Just to be clear, I don't smoke, never have, never will. But I feel so sorry for people who have to run off and stand around the corner to smoke at office BBQs and soforth.

            Then again, I guess I can't indulge my vice at ALL while I'm at work. ("Just going out back for a shot of rum" is frowned on for some reason ;) so here's to workplace equality! :P

            • Well, you downing a shot of rum doesn't cause direct adverse health affects in those around you. Smoke all you want in private homes or in you car (with the windows up).. but otherwise, you're around others that don't want to inhale extra toxins.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

            As someone who did just that, all I have to say is god but you're an idiot. Giving up butts was the hardest thing I've done in my life. You might as well tell a heroin addict to "just stop shooting up"; tobacco is more addictive then heroin, crack, or any other drug. It is also the deadliest of all drugs; if it was easy to quit nobody would smoke.

            "Just stop smoking" indeed. Educate yourself before making such asinine remarks.

      • I'm sure the point is that you shouldn't be igniting any plant substances in these places as per the fire code.

        If fire safety depends on people not smoking, perhaps they shouldn't run around singing "I built this house of straw"...

      • The fire code may or may not actually prohibit such an activity - in California at least, it certainly does not. Only CAL-OSHA laws (IIRC) prohibit smoking inside of a workplace building. Incidentally, any commercial building which can be destroyed by failing to extinguish your cigarette is horribly misdesigned. They DO make fire-retardant carpets etc. Of course, I hate to even enter such a building any more, because practically every major fire retardant we use today is carcinogenic...

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

        Cigarettes have rings of saltpeter (an oxidant) on the paper to promote even burning and to keep them from going out. Zig Zags and other pot papers don't have the saltpeter rings, so they "run" and go out.

        Not only is a potsmoker's chances of not getting cancer far better than a cigaterre smoker's, his chances of not burning up in a fire are better, too.

        They should either legalize pot (which is non-addictive) or outlaw tobacco (perhaps the most addictive substance on earth).

        What dimwitted fucktards write the

  • Shampoo (Score:5, Funny)

    by Wiarumas ( 919682 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @02:54PM (#25724139)
    This idea was invented by Shampoo.

  • dogs? (Score:4, Informative)

    by butterflysrage ( 1066514 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @02:55PM (#25724165)

    since when do we need dogs to do this? smokers smell like, well, smoke, I've yet to meet a smoker who was able to surprise me with that fact, I could tell just from the smell of their clothes, their hair, everything around them.

    • Re:dogs? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by retchdog ( 1319261 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @03:08PM (#25724305) Journal

      Yes, of course it's obvious. But if it's a human doing the detection, charges of bias can (and would) come up. The dog gives it a veneer of objectivity, and much easier and cheaper than an ion mobility spectrometer.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Eudial ( 590661 )

      How would you know if someone successfully hid their smoking? While indoors chain smoking is hard to hide, a stick of gum and a hand wash goes a long way for the casual smoker.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by tomhudson ( 43916 )

        How would you know if someone successfully hid their smoking? While indoors chain smoking is hard to hide, a stick of gum and a hand wash goes a long way for the casual smoker.

        Not to a non-smoker who doesn't live or work with smokers, it doesn't.

        Your lungs will still smell, even with the gum. Also, are you going to shampoo your hair? Send your clothes out to be cleaned?

      • Re:dogs? (Score:5, Informative)

        by drsmithy ( 35869 ) <drsmithy&gmail,com> on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @05:00PM (#25725777)

        How would you know if someone successfully hid their smoking? While indoors chain smoking is hard to hide, a stick of gum and a hand wash goes a long way for the casual smoker.

        No. No, it doesn't.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by CAIMLAS ( 41445 )

          Meh. I'm a smoker. (Coincidentally, I also have a very strong sense of smell which is only blunted by smoking right after having had a cigarette - I will often/usually be able to smell things others can't.)

          I have 'surprised' quite a few people in a work environment when they have found out I smoke. Most people can not tell if a person is a smoker.

    • Just curious, do you often walk around sniffing peoples clothes and hair?

      • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

        by Anonymous Coward
        It wouldn't be a Friday night otherwise.

      • Re: (Score:3)

        by v1 ( 525388 )

        what's annoying is going into a bar loaded with smokers for a little while with some non smoking friends. You leave, and can continue to smell the stench on each other's clothes for quite awhile.

        If you find you have to plant your nose in someone's jacket to tell if they've been smoking recently, either you're a smoker, or you're around them too much and it's dulling your sense of smell.

        People come in and out of the door behind me all day long, and I can tell when someone just put out before stepping in. A

      • No need. I have friends who've tried to quit, and it's been very easy to tell from a few feet away when they were recently "cheating". The odor is a lot stronger and more persistent than you seem to think it is.
      • I guess I forgot the put the smiley at the end. This was meant as a joke... honest. :p

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by v1 ( 525388 )

      I don't have a particular problem identifying someone that's just come in from a smoke break, they usually reek really bad, (clothes, and especially breath) but given 5 minutes, both usually settle down to about the noise level of my nose.

      Though if you have a bit of clothing that you don't wash regularly, like say a fall jacket, or have long hair, that can hold the odor for quite awhile.

      HOUSES of smokers though, can be REALLY bad. IMHO there ought to be a law against smoking in your house when you have a k

    • Most people are surprised to find that I smoke. I guess sneaking out once or twice during a nine hour day isn't much, but I'm still a smoker. Most coworkers don't know that when I go up to get a coffee, I'm going out to have a smoke on the way back.

      Last week my aunt and uncle, who I lived (as a smoker) next door to for five years and see every weekend 'found out' that I smoked.

      Also, I have a tendency to brush my teeth and wash my hands after I smoke, that probably helps. And I never smoke inside, because th

    • Because we can smell smoke. Dogs can smell tobacco. Through the smoke.

  • Will it hold up in court? (Score:2, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward

    "Really Lassie? Bobby was smoking by the water cooler? And he put out his cigarette the wrong way?"

  • My company offers a small "discount" on the health plan for non-smokers (yes, it's really a tax for smokers).

    I thought this story would be about a company using dogs to sniff out people who said they are non-smokers but still smoke.

  • Do we really need to waste time making a new law or policy every time someone gets hurt? I'm keeping my eyes peeled for toothpaste and mouthwash detection rats sentries staring me down in the airport security line. Why not thrown in a obese person detecting civic patrol eagle that takes fast food bags away as well, What would happen if I smoked a cigarette and came into the building to have a meeting. Would I get flattened by lassie?
  • Crap like this is just one more reason for people to get the hell out of that totalitarian state while they still can. Join the freedom-fighters in New Hampshire [freestateproject.org]!

    • The second vermont republic is another option. 05401 in the house.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Plugh ( 27537 )

        Yes, you're right... Vermont is an EXCELLENT option for New Yorkers who want to move someplace with the level of "government services" to which they are accustomed (aka taxes and bureaucracy).

        New Hampshire is not really a good choice unless you want SMALLER government.

  • Taking a bite outta crime!!

  • I smoke on the way into work, at lunch, and during an afternoon walk.

    What happens if you get sniffed out after smoking off company property and just reek on Deutsche Bank property?

    • Re: (Score:1, Funny)

      by Anonymous Coward

      You're going in the dog house buddy.

  • To make sure they're not smokers themselves? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NyWAFWOQbWw [youtube.com] And if they are, couldn't you buy them of with a pack a week not to rat you out?

  • This will no doubt lead to the use of dogs to determine whether people are smokers when they establish a health insurance policy.

  • Dog training 101 (Score:3, Funny)

    by Profane MuthaFucka ( 574406 ) <busheatskok@gmail.com> on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @04:26PM (#25725303) Homepage Journal

    This is how I trained the dogs to do this important work.

    Step 1: Get dogs addicted to cigarettes
    Step 2: Withhold cigarettes
    Step 3: Dog goes apeshit when it detects cigarettes

  • Here's an idea (Score:4, Insightful)

    by mweather ( 1089505 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @04:27PM (#25725333)
    Maybe if they had ashtrays, there wouldn't have been a fire.
  • Is there not a designated smoking area for these people? If so, how does the dog tell the difference between a worker who smoked in the designated area verses someone who snuck one someplace inappropriate?

    • Re:Designated Smoking Area? (Score:5, Interesting)

      by BlueStrat ( 756137 ) on Tuesday November 11, 2008 @05:15PM (#25725981)

      Is there not a designated smoking area for these people? If so, how does the dog tell the difference between a worker who smoked in the designated area verses someone who snuck one someplace inappropriate?

      Designated smoking areas!?!? What, are you from the '80s?

      Companies stopped providing any sort of concessions to smokers years ago. These days, walking into many workplaces is like walking into a minimum security (for now) prison.

      I started working for a company in Indiana about 7-8 years ago, and right after I was hired, they instituted a zero-tolerance policy towards smokers (I smoke). It was crazy! They actually had 'monitors' that followed employees around whenever they left the main production floor to make sure they didn't smoke. They didn't SAY that's what was going on, they just quietly took one or two people every shift that were due for an employee review, and told them what they wanted. They wouldn't come out and be straight and tell the workers why they were being followed around, and it made working there a little vacation to hell. It was creepy!

      You weren't even to have tobacco in your vehicle in the parking lot. Not that employees were even allowed to leave the building during their shift or anything.

      If they knew you were a smoker, you were pretty much gaurunteed to be "asked" to open your car for inspection every couple weeks. Refusal meant a pink slip on the spot. Cigarette butts in the ashtray were treated the same as if you had 50 cartons and a vending machine in your car.

      Even though I was very well-paid, as I worked in electrical/electronic maintenance and so escaped much of the Smoking Politburo officers' attention, I just couldn't take such a horrible work environment and "East German informer" atmosphere and quit.

      Now, I run my own business where I smoke whenever I want, and there's a sign on the door that informs people that this is a smoking environment. They're free to take their business elsewhere if they object, that's fine with me. If they're such anal-retentive types, I don't want to deal with them anyways.

      I had a college kid come in once and get upset that I stood there smoking and actually threatened me that he'd get the health inspectors and zoning commission to go after me.

      I laughed in his face and told him good luck, as the shop is outside any city or township, and I own the building and the land.

      While he stood there sputtering in outrage, I told him, "Son, you're gonna die early of a heart attack with all that anger and stress...here, have a nice relaxing smoke!". :D

      Strat

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by keytoe ( 91531 )

        Wow - that's all completely unconscionable, if not downright illegal. They can prohibit you from smoking on their grounds, sure, but they certainly don't have any right to force you to open your car nor can they stop you from leaving the grounds on your time to have a smoke.

        I'm glad to see you've removed yourself from that situation. As an ex-smoker, I feel the pains from both sides of the argument. While I understand that there are valid concerns for the rights of the non-smoking population, lets not forge

        • Wow - that's all completely unconscionable, if not downright illegal. They can prohibit you from smoking on their grounds, sure, but they certainly don't have any right to force you to open your car nor can they stop you from leaving the grounds on your time to have a smoke.

          I'm glad to see you've removed yourself from that situation. As an ex-smoker, I feel the pains from both sides of the argument. While I understand that there are valid concerns for the rights of the non-smoking population, lets not forge

        • Wow - that's all completely unconscionable, if not downright illegal. They can prohibit you from smoking on their grounds, sure, but they certainly don't have any right to force you to open your car nor can they stop you from leaving the grounds on your time to have a smoke.

          Slight search-and-replace yields:

          Wow - that's all completely unconscionable, if not downright illegal. They can prohibit you from having a gun on their grounds, sure, but they certainly don't have any right to force you to open your ca

      • Sir, you are my hero.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by mcgrew ( 92797 ) *

        Now, I run my own business where I smoke whenever I want, and there's a sign on the door that informs people that this is a smoking environment.

        Lucky for you you don't live here in Illinois. They outlawed smoking in about every public building whether or not you own the building.

        The law is against the Illinois Constitution (and everyone who went to court over it won on those grounds) but the lawmakers and health departments don't care about the state (or any other) Constitution. Witness the fact that the Go

    • Is there not a designated smoking area for these people?

      There isn't a designated drinking area for the alcoholics, or a designated shooting-up area for the heroin addicts. So why should there be a special area for those addicted to nicotine?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by keytoe ( 91531 )

        There isn't a designated drinking area for the alcoholics, or a designated shooting-up area for the heroin addicts. So why should there be a special area for those addicted to nicotine?

        Drinking and drug use while on the job isn't acceptable because those activities cause impairment. Smoking is a personal habit akin to drinking coffee, soda or some other socially acceptable form of non impairing recreational substance use. The difference between nicotine and caffeine is that caffeine doesn't produce 'second

    • Designated area? They are illegal in most of europe. The only places you are allowed to smoke are in your own home, outside, in a prison or in a mental hospital.

  • I'd like to acquaint you with my favorite brand of ground hot red pepper!

  • My BS detector always goes red-hot on stories that blame a careless smoker for starting an inferno, because - despite having smoked for 15 years, I've yet to start even a small fire with a cigarette. If you throw a cigarette into gasoline, it goes out. If you throw it on some dry leaves, it goes out. If you throw it on cloth, it'll burn a hole...but then, it'll go out. If you throw it on some sawdust...well, I haven't tried that one - but I suspect it'd still go out. And since the building is covered [nytimes.com] in fl [wikipedia.org]

  • Smoking Hinders Productivity (Score:3, Insightful)

    by Farmer Pete ( 1350093 ) on Wednesday November 12, 2008 @12:34AM (#25729895)
    I'm not a smoker. I have never been a smoker. I know I am not alone in being pissed off at smokers and the allowance of smoking at the workplace. I'm not pissed off at smokers because they are hurting their bodies, the smell, or second hand smoke. I'm pissed off because they get to take a 5-15 minute break (typically towards the 15 minute end of the spectrum) 3-4 times a day, on top of their lunch hour and 2 scheduled breaks. If I told my boss that I was taking a 15 minute nap in the middle of the day, he'd flip. Yet my coworkers can take a 15 minute smoke break at 4:55 and actually get overtime for 10 minutes of his smoke break. WTF?!?!?!?! Yet if I complain about this to my boss or my bosses boss, I just get told that I'm not being sensitive to the needs of other people. I just don't understand how people can't limit their smoke breaks to the two scheduled breaks and lunch times. If you want to smoke, do it on your own time, not on the clock. Tell people they have to punch out to take an extra break and we'd have a riot break out.

    By the way, I've seen this happening at a few different places now. If I claimed I was addicted to Hacky sack, do you think I could take extra hacky sack break times through out the day?
    • This simply sounds like your workplace has a bad policy. I don't see how smokers in general are to blame for this. Some workplaces have a policy that allows employee to choose between a lunch break and a series of short breaks throughout the day, each option totaling the same amount of time. The smokers choose the short breaks, everyone else chooses a long lunch break.
    • It's not equal, but that doesn't make it unfair.
      I can understand you being upset about it because it looks like you're being cheated out of your time, but that's not necessarily true. Those workers are taking time out of their day to destroy their bodies. Would you rather they do it indoors right next to you?

    • Where I work it generally seems that non-smokers take longer breaks than the smokers. Most of my smoker co-workers seem to take 2-3 breaks (not counting lunch) and these are generally a quick "breath of fresh air", a refill of their coffee and then back to work. Most non-smoking co-workers tend to take two breaks that are "15 minutes" each, although the trend seems to be to that if co-worker 'A' goes on break 10 minutes before co-worker 'B' then you can pretty much count on 'A' not returning until 'B's bre

    • Stop whining, the solution is simple here bud...

      Just start smoking and get your ten minutes of overtime too.

      (Of course there is another way to look at it-- those 10 minutes are more like charity for people who are drastically reducing their lifespans by smoking...)

  • I Love Smokers (Score:2, Funny)

    by bgman ( 1059448 )
    Sometimes life can be tough. But if I'm feeling a little battered and see someone on a smoke break - outside in the 120 degree heat of a Phoenix summer, I always feel better. At least I'm smart enough to not pay good money to look stupid, smell bad and destroy my lungs in an effort to enrich a tobacco company that wouldn't urinate on me if I caught fire using their product.

    • Re: (Score:1)

      by bratwiz ( 635601 )

      Sure they would. The tobacco company isn't THAT bad. I'm sure they'd piss on a fellow smoker if they were smoking their brand, was willing to sign an affidavit that they'd BEEN smoking that brand for 20 years or more, and could produce the STATE STAMPS from 50 or more packs of their brand of cigarettes as token proof.

      Alternately, I'm sure they'd be willing to piss on just about anyone for a small fee. (A little more if you wanted it done in private.)

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