In California we have had a smoking ban in the bars for about 5 years now and I can tell you how great it is to be able to enjoy a drink without having to endure someone else's pollution.

Why is it that smokers think that their right to smoke is more important and should override non-smokers right to breathe clean air?

Second hand smoke is a health hazard. For me, my disgust and hatred of smoking goes farther than simply not liking the smell of it. It affects me physically in a very bad way. When smoking was allowed in bars I used to go out with my friends and endure it but in the middle of the night I would wake up gasping for air!

Smokers challenge this ban as an infringement on their rights but again I ask, should smokers have the right to pollute the air that others smoke? It's bad enough that I have to be subjected to someone's cigarette smoke in the outdoors but to be subjected to it indoors is an infringement on my rights.

I hope smoking bans in public places become commonplace throughout the country!!

If you smoke and believe your rights as a smoker are more important than that of non-smokers, please tell me why.

Smoking the edit
[This message was edited Tue Apr 8 12:00:46 PDT 2003 by SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy]

It really struck me the first time I was in San Fran, how great it was to be able to go for a drink and not come out of the pub stinking of other people's smoke.

Interestingly, Ireland has recently banned smoking in pubs too... effective from Jan 2004. Hopefully the trend will spread

BOOO!

I agree with the ban. Being an occasional smoker myself, it is a yucky habit and one that should not imposed on those that do not smoke! I have no problems taking myself outside to have a cigarette when at a bar or club.

luv4thepurple1 said:

Cant type today edit!

double post

And to further illustrate the height of smokers' selfishness...

Nearly all my friends smoke and when I moved into my apartment, I informaed them all that I wouldn't allow smoking inside my place. Nobody ever came to visit me. All because it was asking too much to have them smoke on the porch.

I'm a smoker, and I really don't mind some of the bans. If I really need to go have one I just go outside. At first it really annoyed me but you'd be amazed at how much less I smoke because of it, and it really doesn't bother me. When I go to a bar or club that allows smoking, I light up one after another just because I can...and it's habit.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I always respect my non-smoking friends, we're not all like that

CarrieLee said:

But most are. These are friends I've known for over 10-15 years, just imagine the lack of respect when people don't know you...

To all considerate smokers

It's funny because when I know I CAN'T smoke somewhere I'm fine. I'll maybe go outside and have one or two cigarettes. But when I can smoke, I'll have a whole pack. It's an awful habit, but I admit I do enjoy it. I hope that someday I'll be ready to quit. Maybe if they just ban it everywhere that'll be my best bet





blah blah
[This message was edited Tue Apr 8 12:05:44 PDT 2003 by CarrieLee]

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

That sucks that you friends wouldn't come to visit. My sister has a similar ban at her house. I am a non-smoker and hope the smoking ban reaches here in Chicago. It's bad enough I had to go to work everyday and the vice president would light up in his office. It made it very hard to work there. Being around second hand smoke for more than about 30 minutes makes me physically ill.

Boo fucking hoo. If you don't like places that allow smoking, don't go. The government should stay the fuck out of private businesses. It's not about the rights of the smoker but of the establishment.

Oh, and I'm not a smoker. I just hate the government placing restrictions on private property.

TheMico said:

Isn't nearly every single public place a private establishment? If smokers have their way they will smoke everywhere and why should I not be able to go to the same places without having to be subjected to it? If you are going to come from this angle, then every place should establish a private membership. If it's open to the public, then health standards should be observed.

I think the line should be drawn at the point where other peoples actions directly affect the health of others. I can't get drunk if I'm sitting next to a drinker but I sure can get cancer by sitting next to a smoker.....
[This message was edited Tue Apr 8 12:21:35 PDT 2003 by SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy]

I sympathize with non-smokers but I'm frustrated with the way the government handles smoking.

The government collects an insane amount of money off smokers. They are blatantly exploiting us. And for the most part if we all stopped smoking tommorow, financially they would be fucked. Now for as much money as we pay, I would appreciate at least a few rights. When you compare the number of places a person can smoke VS the number of places they can't, I don't really see us being entirely selfish. Where I live the only public place you really can smoke is a bar or a limited section in a restaraunt.

What is the problem with bar owners deciding themselves if they want their establishment to be smoking or non smoking? From there, people have the choice where they wish to go. Would more people be at the smoking bars and less people at the non smoking bars? Of course. Do these laws really reflect the interest of the majority of people going to bars? No.

A bar isn't really a place for the health concious to begin with. Alchohol is bad for your system as well, and drunk people kill a significant number of innocent people each year as well. I don't know the worldwide statistics off the top of my head, but I know more people that have died from drunk drivers than second hand smoke. The systematic outlawing of smoking in all public places which has occurred over the last 10-15 years isnt really a compromise.

They're backing smokers into a corner. They dont WANT them to quit smoking, in fact they depend on the tax money they recieve from them. But at the same time they don't want to give them any rights either.

If the government is going to limit me to only being allowed to smoke in a closet in my basement with a HEPA filter running full blast, then they should lift some of the taxes on it as well.

I wish the government would either outlaw smoking entirely alltogether like coke or weed, or otherwise chill out.
[This message was edited Tue Apr 8 12:25:59 PDT 2003 by Tom]

I'd be more than willing to patrnonize non-smoking establishments but you know as well as I do that nobody would do it because they wouldn't want to offend or cut out the smoking public. Am I supposed to open my own fucking bar? Give me a break. I support a bar having a patio of some sort but if I want to enjoy a beer or two, that's what I want to enjoy and not someone elses smoke.

And it's one thing for someone to take their own health in their hands by drinking and it's another to take everyone else's health in your hands because you smoke.....
[This message was edited Tue Apr 8 12:29:07 PDT 2003 by SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy]

And I still want to know why smokers have more of a right to pollute the air than non-smokers have to breath it.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Wouldnt it make more sense to allow smoking to be confined inside some bars, instead of sending the billions of smokers outside to puff into the air thats shared with everyone?

The patio could just as easliy be for nonsmokers as well.

I respect your right to have clean air, but i'm also insulted by the way the government penalizes smokers. If we're not allowed to smoke anymore in public then what are all these taxes compensation for?

CarrieLee said:

I agree,it would suck in the winter though cuz I
live in Maine

By the way it is fairly hypocritical seing as how much the
government thrives on big tobacco money,and it is another
example of Washington telling you what you can and can't do
kinda big brotherish to me

Tom said:

I totally would not have any problems with a patio for non-smokers. I'm for having seperate sections for both, that way anyone who wants a drink can have one.

Tom said:

Are you a smoker Tom? I just quit. I've decided the only time I will smoke is when I go to Vegas.

JAMIESTARR said:

I see your point and I'm totally against the government being all up in peoples business but for me the line is crossed when someone else's actions affect others.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

If there were smoking and non-smoking bars, then you have the choice of what environment you wish to be in. If you wanna hang around smoking people in a designated smoking place, then thats the risk you'd be taking.

The way the government is handling smoking laws is setting a precedent for alot of other aspects of our society.

Tom said:

Supa I have to agree with Tom. At least you have a choice now.

CarrieLee said:

Before there was no choice. Smoking isn't allowed in Bars here anymore but there are bars that have patios for smoking and I patronize them. I don't have a problem as long as there is a space where I can breathe.

And I still want to know why smokers rights trump non-smokers rights.
[This message was edited Tue Apr 8 12:59:20 PDT 2003 by SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy]

pejman said:

DUDE...BE CAREFUL!!! I quit smoking for 2 years, went to Vegas (the smoking capital of the US)...decided to smoke when I was there, but would stop the minute I got home. Well I am smoking all the time again...it's been 4 years since I went to Vegas.

I don't think I would mind too much if they banned smoking in bars. I am like Carrie, if I can't smoke, I don't think about it too much. But if I can I smoke an entire pack within hours. I totally understand non-smokers bitching...but at the same time, don't comlain too much about the dangers of second-hand smoke when your at a bar getting plastered from alcohol. It's kinda hypocritical.

Pagey said:

I don't get drunk. I have a limit on what I drink and don't go over it. Besides my drinking isn't going to affect anybody else's liver except mine. Second hand smoke affects everyone else's lungs.....
[This message was edited Tue Apr 8 13:15:18 PDT 2003 by SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy]

pejman said:

I've been smoking for 10 years, and the last two Ive been trying to quit.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

I know, but that was then and this is now. Be happy that you have a choice now.