Smoking Bans

[Owned by Lucy]

I agree with "brandysmama". I live in South Carolina now and people smoke everywhere. You are more likely to find a bar or restaurant that doesn't serve alcohol than one that doesn't allow smoking. Besides having a non-smoking section in a restaurant or bar is like having a no-peeing section in a pool.

I do think it is very silly to not allow smoking in a head shop. In Maine when a similar law went into effect many places turned into "private clubs" where anyone can be a member but since it is private the laws about smoking in public places do not apply.

[brandysmama]

Originally Posted by bigdoglover

What about the smog in big cities? Like when they say on the news: "If you have breathing problems, don't go outside today, the smog index is at a 9"....what do those of you who have asthma, don't smoke, or have other issues do then? Do we ban smog?

If only we could...

[Sayuri]

Besides having a non-smoking section in a restaurant or bar is like having a no-peeing section in a pool.

Amen!

[tessa_s212]

Originally Posted by theGOOCH

...not to mention, is an hour or so while you're eating dinner too long to wait to have a cigarette? Most Cocaine addicts can even go that long.

You would think, but...

[GSD]

Originally Posted by Owned by Lucy

Besides having a non-smoking section in a restaurant or bar is like having a no-peeing section in a pool.
.

You mean you're not supposed to pee in a pool either??

[Raised By Wolves]

Originally Posted by GSD

You mean you're not supposed to pee in a pool either??

DOH!!!

Man, I never get to have any fun!

And I thought there was a "peeing only"section, in the shallow end...

Step 4) Make a list of all the people we offended, with our love of dogs...

[Tiffany0204]

They made Barrie and Toronto smoke free and I couldn't be happier. And I used to be a smoker! (3 years smoke-free, as of Christmas Day 2005). Now I can go out and when I come home, I don't smell like an ashtray.

It's a smoker's personal decision to smoke. You know the risks, you know what could and probrably will happen if you do. That's your choice, and I respect it. However, I don't want to get emphizema (spelling?) because smokers want a warm place to develop their cancer. I don't want to eat food that tastes like a puff of smoke because the restaraunts allow smokers.

Hey, I used to complain as well! I hated being outside freezing my a$$ off to have a smoke, but IMO that's the choice you made and the consequences for doing something that's going to inevitably aid in your death. Sure, all things can do that, but since we're dying a little more each day, why speed up the process? There's so many things that life throws at us that we have to face. Don't give it a jump start!

Okay... done my little soapbox sphiel. Sorry! :-D I get passionate about these sorts of things....

[kazkirkpatrick]

I live in VA and cant wait for the day we get anti smoking laws. But I do agree, not being able to smoke in a smoke shop is a little ridiculous. The should be exceptions to the law.

Some other things:
My masters thesis was on the effects of nicotine on the prenat and neonat. Dont even get me started with second hand smoke.
Comparing smoking to chewing nails and fast food is a little far fetched. Its not the bad health effects that you (for some unknown reason) want to bring upon yourself, its what the rest of us have to put up with.
A smoking section in a resturaunt it about as effective as a peeing section in a pool.

Sorry for comming off as rude, this is just a touchy subject for me.

[Carrie]

I don't agree with the government telling private business what they can and can't do...how to run their business. If someone doesn't want to go into a smoky place, they don't have to. Anytime the government controls private enterprize, not only do private citizens and businesses lose more freedom, but in many cases, they become inefficient. Look at the postal service. When it was privately owned, it ran much much better. It was less expensive. Governments should stay out of private business. Government is for government or tax payer entities....or should be. There are too many of those also, as it is. IMO. But if you vote for the people who want the governement to "take care" of you, have this program and that program, get involved in every nuance of our lives, then that is what you get. Quincy, your political leanings, from what I've seen so far in a few threads are in line with this very law that you are now disgruntled with.

[BellFounder]

Actually i dont think calling smokers who smoke in public antisocial and inconsiderate is harsh in the least - i feel that is actually quite a restrained way to express what i actually think of people that do this.
By all means do what the heck you like in your own home, but once you step off your own property then for goodness sake have SOME thought for other people.
Someone said it brilliantly "your own rights stop when they begin to infringe on the the rights of others" I really dont think its asking a lot to be able to go to restaurants and bars and not have people smoking at the next table. In fact i think its totally abominable that this hasnt been outlawed for decades. Yes it is their right to smoke and to go into those establishments - but they have NO right to expose other people to their smoke. Employers have NO right to ask their staff to put up with second hand smoke, and businesses have NO right to allow people to put the health of other patrons at risk by smoking on their property.

[Carrie]

Employers have NO right to ask their staff to put up with second hand smoke, and businesses have NO right to allow people to put the health of other patrons at risk by smoking on their property.

Staff and patrons are not being forced to put up with smoke. They don't have to work in or go to a place which allows smoking. They can choose an establishment which does not allow smoking. There would be both kinds of places, especially now a days when this is such a known health hazard and people are asking for non-smoking enviornments. Businesses can cater to those who don't like the smoke if they want and there can be businesses which cater to those who do enjoy smoking. It should not be a government issue, but a private sector issue.

[Tiffany0204]

I think the health departments are stepping up to try and curb people from smoking in the first place as a means to try and stop people from starting. It used to be considered "cool" to sit at the bar/coffee shop etc and have a smoke. Now that people are huddling outside it loses the coolness-factor for younger people.

By saying that someone doesn't have to work in a place that allows smoking Carrie, do you mean having the law that excludes private buisnesses or not having the law in the first place? Because without the law, there are no places that are smoke free. Up here at the Tim Hortons (coffee chains) they had smoke areas, sections caged off with separate ventillation, but every time you open the door all the smoke seeps out.

I think if it were something that wasn't so hazardous to your health and others (like drinking alcohol for example... having a beer in front of someone else won't jepordize the other person's health... unless someone gets drunk and drives home but then we're just arguing semantics and beating the dead mules) then it wouldn't be so bad.

Second hand smoke is very dangerous to anyone who's around it. Smokers, non-smokers and the like. I think this is where people get really upset by smoking indoors, because it's not just yourself that's being affected, it's all people. If smokers are okay with getting cancer and the like, that's alright, but please don't drag me down with it.

Although, I will say that I disagree with our law that says the Veterans can't smoke in their legion halls. IMO, they sacrified alot for us, and if they want to smoke in their legion halls, they have every right to do so, they've most certainly earned it.

Eh. Maybe I'm a hypocrite. :

[Carrie]

I'm a smoker. I smoke outside. I hate being in a cloud filled, smokey building. When there has been no law about smoking in a restaurant, I would choose a restaurant which had made their own rule about not smoking inside or one with a smoking area walled off and eat in the non-smoking area. I did not go into a smoker's building and whine that the government wasn't making this business take care of me by not allowing smoking. I can take care of myself and choose where I go and which business I patronize. If we can't take care of ourselves and make these decisions, but leave it all up to the government, we lose the incentive to take care of ourselve....we enable the goverment to take care of more aspects of our lives and more, and more until we are an extreme socialistic society. Socialism does not work. If you know history, you will see that it has never worked and eventually regimes fail when governed by socialism.

You see...things of this nature will tend to take care of themselves. When the majority of a society is non smokers, business will naturally want to please their paying customers and will become non-smoking establishments. The smokers, if in the minority will still find places to go where they can smoke.

Free enterprise does not work under socialism (government control.) And free enterprise is what has made this country the rich and powerful country it is.

[Tiffany0204]

I was the same way when I smoked.

At least you're one of the considerate smokers Carrie! Unfortunatly there's alot of people out there who are not as thoughtful as you are, if there were I don't think there'd be as much of a hoopla about smoking inside or not.

If we can't take care of ourselves and make these decisions, but leave it all up to the government, we lose the incentive to take care of ourselves

I agree. But from their standpoint they're probrably thinking that you can't take care of yourself, because you're choosing to smoke. I'm not saying it's right, but it tends to be their mindframe. I personally won't eat at a restaraunt that allows smoking, but again my choice and my right. Maybe it would be better to have the non-smoking laws, but have the private buisnesses do what they want, and maybe make it regulatory that they advertise that it's a "smoking" restaraunt/establishment. That way people can make their own decision. Or, for every non-smoking restaraunt, there's a smoking one. It at least gives the people their right to do as they please.... although I'd like to see all smokers quit anyways! Save your health! :P

It could also be human nature as well. Once we're told we can't do something, we want to be able to have the right to do so. It's a tricky, fine line between what's better I guess... the right of the individual, or the right of the people who choose not to.

[Pugdawg1]

Not so easy to find a smoke-free place to work at around here. Jobs are hard enough to get, let alone finding one that's smoke free. I feel for the waitresses, waiters.. all the folks that work in the casinos here. Casinos and mining are the major sources of employment here. The casinos tend to be a haze. As for the restaurants in the casinos.. the non smoking sections are a joke. It's not like there's a 'do not cross' line for smoke.. it goes where it pleases. And I can't think of one single smoke-free restaurant in town, at all. I work at a sort of yuppy deli type of place, and even they allow smoking.. They don't even HAVE a non smoking section. That's just the way it is around here. I don't eat out a lot. It gets old, smelling that.