smoking in public laws

[Motokid]

The state I live in has some of the strictest smoking laws in America.
Smoking inside any public building is against the law.
No smoking inside bars, restaurants, places of business, libraries, coffeehouses….
Smoking must be done outside in designated smoking areas.

I imagine there are some very distinct viewpoints in the forum members on this issue.
I’d love to hear how you feel about laws being drawn up confining smokers to specific areas
when in public, and if you are a smoker or not.

Personally I love being able to take my kids to dinner in any restaurant and not come home
smelling like cigarette smoke. I used to smoke, but I don’t now, and have not in well over a decade.
I have no problems with the smoking laws in my state as they stand today.

I don’t buy the argument that the rights of people who smoke are being infringed upon.

Your thougths…

 

[novella]

I agree with you completely. New York State has the same stringent nonsmoking laws, and I think they've improved the quality of life for a lot of people, including me. Especially now that there is so much evidence on the destructive effects of secondhand smoke, it really is in everyone's best interest to keep smoke away from those who don't want it. With all that evidence and this litigious society, the lawsuits are just bearing down.

The smokers I know have all cut down a lot. The only mystery is why kids still start.

I just thought of a bumpersticker: Smoking is a Dying Habit

PS: When women quit, they typically gain 10-15 pounds. I know several who really would rather DIE than gain 10 pounds. No shit.

 

[honeydevil]

okay, i think it is right that you can't smoke in public buildings, but they should give the person's, who smoke an extra room for their lunch hours or breaks!!
i also think in restaurants it shouldn't be allowed, because non smokers feel bad when they have to inhale the smoke all the time, but i think it is rediculous, to say that they even on trainstations have special areas to smoke!!
i'm smoking, just for the record!!

 

[novella]

i'm smoking, just for the record!!

Do you like to smoke, or would you like to quit? Just curious.

Of smokers I know, I think their answers are half and half

 

[Wolhay]

Smoking in bars and restaurants is illegal in Sweden as well. I'm not sure if it's in effect for all public places otherwise but I image that places such as cinemas and libraries have had their own restrictions on smoking. The latter could be a dangerous combination (By the way, see "The Ninth Gate" if you haven't already, the smoking habit and profession of the protagonist is quite a sight).

I have mixed feelings about the law. It's not a good environment for those who work at bars but the ideal would be if both bar workers and visitors choose bars of their preference, smoking or non-smoking. That way individual's right to do what they want with their bodies wouldn't be infringed. But since it's supposedly proven that this kind of extreme passive smoking is harmful for those who works at bars then it might be a reasonable health code if there aren't guarantees for jobs without passive smoking.

I don't care about the health or preference of bar visitors.

But this is politics and it leads to debate. It is strictly forbidden here.

 

[starchild42]

I'm a lapsed ex-smoker, currently still smoking but wanting badly to give up. It was only when I quit that I realised how truly revolting my smoking had been for everyone around me, and since then my views on smoking in public have changed a bit.

Most smokers I know talk about the "smoker's rights" issue on smoking in public and I used to wholeheartedly agree with them - but now I am totally of the opposite opinion, I'd welcome a ban in public.

 

[cajunmama]

Here's my opinion. I do not smoke, but I am married to a smoker who goes outside of our home to have a ciggy. A smoker is engaging in an activity that is hazardous to my health. I should have the right to be in any public place without this hazard. Smoking is a choice a person makes. No one is making a smoker smoke. I have no problem with designated smoking areas. Sometimes this is taken too far, like in bars. Many drinkers smoke, and I know that if I go into a bar, at least around here, I will leave smelling like smoke. The whole rights infringement thing is bull. Is a drunk driver's rights being infringed upon when he's arrested? No, he is engaged in an act that is hazardous to other people's health. ( I in NO way mean to imply that smoking should be illegal, I am just equating the right to do what you want with the effect it has on others). My inaction (not smoking) does not infringe on anyone's rights. Their action infringes on my rights, instead. But I am not one of those ACLU freaks who thinks everyone is infringing on someone's rights. A smoker can choose to smoke, and I can choose not to. We should both be able to be in the same place, too, therefore, designated smoking areas.

 

[novella]

I'm a lapsed ex-smoker, currently still smoking but wanting badly to give up. It was only when I quit that I realised how truly revolting my smoking had been for everyone around me, and since then my views on smoking in public have changed a bit.

Most smokers I know talk about the "smoker's rights" issue on smoking in public and I used to wholeheartedly agree with them - but now I am totally of the opposite opinion, I'd welcome a ban in public.

I used to smoke too, but quit a long time ago. It really doesn't bother me that much, as I often hang with smokers and just tolerate.

But I do like that "normal" is now smoke-free. I don't notice the absence of a bad thing as much as the presence of a bad thing.

 

[novella]

Here's my opinion. I do not smoke, but I am married to a smoker who goes outside of our home to have a ciggy. A smoker is engaging in an activity that is hazardous to my health. I should have the right to be in any public place without this hazard. Smoking is a choice a person makes. No one is making a smoker smoke. I have no problem with designated smoking areas. Sometimes this is taken too far, like in bars. Many drinkers smoke, and I know that if I go into a bar, at least around here, I will leave smelling like smoke. The whole rights infringement thing is bull. Is a drunk driver's rights being infringed upon when he's arrested? No, he is engaged in an act that is hazardous to other people's health. ( I in NO way mean to imply that smoking should be illegal, I am just equating the right to do what you want with the effect it has on others). My inaction (not smoking) does not infringe on anyone's rights. Their action infringes on my rights, instead. But I am not one of those ACLU freaks who thinks everyone is infringing on someone's rights. A smoker can choose to smoke, and I can choose not to. We should both be able to be in the same place, too, therefore, designated smoking areas.

Yes. I agree. It's like your right to own a gun. Sure, own it, hunt with it, keep it in a gun safe, but don't go waving it around a park, bringing it to a bar, or shooting into a crowd just because you feel like it.

In other words, your right to use that thing ends where you begin to infringe on the health and safety of others.

 

[Motokid]

I think for most kids it's a rebellion issue. They've been told how bad it is, and how stupid it is all their lives. In many cases by people who smoke (go figure that one). I think kids are trying to be cool, and look cool by showing they can do exactly what the adults around them tell them not to do.

I'm sure that's a little oversimplified, but I'd bet not too far from the truth.

 

[cajunmama]

In other words, your right to use that thing ends where you begin to infringe on the health and safety of others.

And you said it with much fewer words than I...does this mean I am long winded?

 

[novella]

And you said it with much fewer words than I...does this mean I am long winded?

hahaha. I think my own word count on this thread has exceeded reasonable limits! I shall now reaffix my mouth staples.

Anyway, if you smoked you couldn't be long winded . . .

 

[cajunmama]

I think for most kids it's a rebellion issue. They've been told how bad it is, and how stupid it is all their lives. In many cases by people who smoke (go figure that one). I think kids are trying to be cool, and look cool by showing they can do exactly what the adults around them tell them not to do.

I'm sure that's a little oversimplified, but I'd bet not too far from the truth.

I smoked sporadically when I was a teen, and you are absolutely right. My mother smokes like a chimney ( with emphasema, go figure THAT one) and back then, I knew she would go absolutely nuts if she found out I was smoking (and she did). It was a rebellion thing. I did it cuz I knew it would tick her off.

 

[novella]

I smoked sporadically when I was a teen, and you are absolutely right. My mother smokes like a chimney ( with emphasema, go figure THAT one) and back then, I knew she would go absolutely nuts if she found out I was smoking (and she did). It was a rebellion thing. I did it cuz I knew it would tick her off.

removes mouth staples

I started when I was 12, the back alley, Camel no-filters and Kents. Blech. My parents smoked, so I just nicked their cigs.

I quit when I was 23 because I moved to England and the cigs over there (Marlboros) tasted terrible. Like wet cardboard. Hear that Billy O? They just weren't worth the money or the breath. Besides, smoking was less acceptable then in London than in NYC, where everyone still smoked.

So thanks England for having such yicky smokes!

 

[Motokid]

Anybody catch this news artical yet?

http://www.wral.com/news/4126577/detail.html

(hope that goes in as a link) Sorry if you have to cut and paste that address.

Taking things too far?

 

[jenn]

Anybody catch this news artical yet?

http://www.wral.com/news/4126577/detail.html

(hope that goes in as a link) Sorry if you have to cut and paste that address.

Taking things too far?

it's a sticky situation. here in canada we have public health care and i know many people feel upset that we pay into a health care system that is flooded with people sick from smoking, be it first or second hand smoke. some are of the opinion that if you smoke you should pay for certain aspects of your health care. i think the danger, as always, is drawing that line in the sand, you can work here/have medicare etc. because you don't smoke, and you can't because you do. is it discrimination or is it good business?
i come from a family of smokers, yet i never did, well once, was sick and was like why do people do this. but i know that for my friends that smoke it was all image, that sort of slacker, eddie vedder, kurt cobain ripped jeans greasy hair look. they were trying to tap into whatever it was that those 90's grunge guys had going on and now 10-15 years later wash their hair and wear clean jeans, but still have a pack a day habit.
i personally love the non-smoking bylaws here. in nova scotia you can smoke in bars after a certain time and all restaurants and public buildings are smoke free.

 

[honeydevil]

Do you like to smoke, or would you like to quit? Just curious.

Of smokers I know, I think their answers are half and half

yeah it's half and half! when i'm upset or just need to relax then i go, take my cigarrettes and settle on the porch!!
i wanted to stop, because of all this risks, but i decided to cut it down a little and then i will be fine!! can't help it it makes me feel better, as if everything what is going wrong is doesn't matter!!

 

[Rogue]

Yeah let's make smoking illegal.

I think the company was right.

I always thought that people suffering from smoking caused diseases should pay for their own treatment or far better => they should be denied treatment because their are obviously too stupid for life.


Yes I'm a non-smoker. I tried it once as a teen, didn't like the taste and refused to take up an expensive and risky habit. I'm not on a crusade and have a bunch of smoker friends.

It's just that I really hate making concessions to the addiction of others:
+ washing my hair and clothes after every pub crawl
+ nearly puking when kissing a smoker => that's as attractive as licking an ashtray
+ burning eyes because of all the smoke in the air => especially when your wearing contact lenses => that's not funny
+ maybe getting cancer

 

[bobbyburns]

this reminds me of something bill hicks once said.

"obnoxious, self-rightous, whining little fucks. my biggest fear is that if I quit smoking I'll become one of you. don't take that wrong. I have something to tell you nonsmokers that I know for a fact that you don't know, and I take pleasure in telling my brothers things they don't know. ready? non-smokers? drumroll bdmbdmbdmbdmbdmbdm ... nonsmokers ... die ... everyday. Ha Ha Ha. sleep tight. see, I know that you entertain some eternal life ... "fantasy" because you've chosen not to smoke. well, let me be the first to POP that fucking bubble and bring you hurtling back to reality. you're dead, too."

actually, I quit smoking a few months ago and I've begun to discern the foul smell of a room full of smokers. it's like they all have morning breath. it smells like burning ass.

 

[Halo]

I always thought that people suffering from smoking caused diseases should pay for their own treatment or far better => they should be denied treatment because their are obviously too stupid for life.

I think that's rather harsh. Surely just about everybody does things that are detrimental to their health? Some people eat fatty, unhealthy foods, clog their arteries and have a heart attack. Other people drink like a fish and end up with liver disease. And others smoke and get lung cancer. I would say it's very few people that don't do something that is bad for them and increases their risk of ill-health.

BTW, I am very anti-smoking, come from a non-smoking family and have never even tried a cigarette. I do believe smoking should be banned in public places such as bars. It's selfish of smokers to put other people's health at risk and to make them stink of second-hand smoke. Smokers are often very inconsiderate - many times I have nearly been hit by a still-lit cig that someone has carelessly tossed away in the street without checking who was nearby. And when I was about seven, a smoker burnt my back in the cinema - still don't know whether it was an accident or deliberate.