Smoking bans in bars

[Literally Speaking]

I gave up smoking a little over a month ago, when my bro Dzldoc went under the knife for cancer, and I can't tell you how much of a burden it's been to breath the air of other people around me that still smoke, DAMN IT STINKS BAD!!!!!! My home is still not completely free of the nicotene stench but it's almost gone.

I smoked for 27 years, 2 packs a day, and with the new sin tax I knew it was finnaly time to give it up, COLD turkey my wife also, and with what I saved, I got me a new Samsung Instinct cell phone.

$500.00 bux that would have otherwise been puffed away in less than 2 months.

Yeah it's harder for some, but I found ya just have to WANT to quit, or else your just pissing $$$ away, forget the patch and the gum, but some will need a scrip to get over it, and I still get the urge every so often, just step back take a deep breath and hold,................. then try to not think about it. the urge WILL pass.

If you can't break the habit, PLEASE DON'T smoke around me!!!!!!!!!!

[JimmyPage1977]

See, for me the issue of a "smokers-only" bar is immediately exclusionary. Non-smokers are by default, not allowed into that establishment. The people are outlawed, not their behavior.

Smokers can patronize a "non-smoking" bar, they just can't smoke. Their behavior is outlawed, not the people.

My $0.02.

Well said!! Great logic....I wish I had said it!

[Babs]

I gave up smoking a little over a month ago, when my bro Dzldoc went under the knife for cancer, and I can't tell you how much of a burden it's been to breath the air of other people around me that still smoke, DAMN IT STINKS BAD!!!!!! My home is still not completely free of the nicotene stench but it's almost gone.

I smoked for 27 years, 2 packs a day, and with the new sin tax I knew it was finnaly time to give it up, COLD turkey my wife also, and with what I saved, I got me a new Samsung Instinct cell phone.

$500.00 bux that would have otherwise been puffed away in less than 2 months.

Yeah it's harder for some, but I found ya just have to WANT to quit, or else your just pissing $$$ away, forget the patch and the gum, but some will need a scrip to get over it, and I still get the urge every so often, just step back take a deep breath and hold,................. then try to not think about it. the urge WILL pass.

If you can't break the habit, PLEASE DON'T smoke around me!!!!!!!!!!

Good for you Buddy! Keep it up. I quit about 2 years ago and it's been a huge burden lifted.

[~tangerine~]

No, actually obesity is the # 1 preventable cause of death in the U.S.

Latest Obesity Statistics

USA Obesity Rates Reach Epidemic Proportions

58 Million Overweight; 40 Million Obese; 3 Million morbidly Obese

Eight out of 10 over 25's Overweight

78% of American's not meeting basic activity level recommendations

25% completely Sedentary

76% increase in Type II diabetes in adults 30-40 yrs old since 1990

So why aren't we taxing the shit out of soda, chips, and fat-content the same way we are cigarettes and other tobacco products ?

No actually, it's more likely that smoking is, lol... but both are pretty close. This link gives great detail (and it's not too long) into why i say this: http://www.myobesitytreatment.com/what-kil...ing-or-obesity/

But the point is that smoking effects people around the smoker, too. Obesity effects just you.

We shouldn't sell soda, period. Another "drug" of sorts imo. Loaded with horrible high fructose corn syrup, and this is old information. I am thankful that i don't drink soda more than a few times a year, i don't buy it for the house, and my daughter thinks it's bad, so she won't touch it if she see another kid drinking it. If the FDA was any "good" there would be regulation on the unhealthy snacks... but as always comes down to profits.

[~tangerine~]

Well then we're simply nowhere near being on the same page, because I'm an anti-drug law kinda guy. Regardless of how much damage something does to yourself, it is your right to do so. Until you violate someone else's rights, then its' not for anyone to decide what's right or wrong for you.

Smoking around others who don't smoke does violate them, their air, their internal body and external body, their material items (clothes, handbags, etc)... so smoking that is allowed in public places does violate the rights of non-smokers. Children subjected to a home with adult smokers is another situation that is a human rights violation.

Clarify for me what you mean by anti-drug? Are you saying narcotics and illegal drugs like cocaine/pot etc. should be available too? I'm not sure of your meaning here.

[ally]

OK Wannabe. I've read your posts and if I'm not mistaken, your playing a bit of Devils Advocate here. Nothing personal but I think we may sound akin but at the same time, we are on different pages. Like you, I don't like government hitching a ride in my daily life. The reasons for me though seem quite different. I support the inside smoking ban. In fact, I support the ban of cigarette sales period. What I don't support is the federal government having the lack of balls to actually follow through and take reasponsibility for it's decision. It get's passed on to lower levels of government who tend to throw the hot potato even lower. I don't want or need Martha down at the end of the street determining my life for me. She has enough skeleton's in her own closet and I don't need to be her fall guy.

If we're going to ban smoking in what is considered any public place inside or out, then just ban the sale of cigs altogether. I know Martha is fucking the mailman...but is it really any of my buisness

[ninelives]

Good for you Buddy! Keep it up. I quit about 2 years ago and it's been a huge burden lifted.

[Babs]

By the way ally, I was under the impression that Martha was doing the milkman.....

[ally]

By the way ally, I was under the impression that Martha was doing the milkman.....

him too ! Time to call the cops

[Dzldoc]

Good for you Buddy! Keep it up. I quit about 2 years ago and it's been a huge burden lifted.

And I'll be on his ass to make sure it stays that way I think a shockwave went through our family after my diagnosis even though it wasn't related to smoking.

[Virginia]

I really don't go into bars anymore but I definitely don't want to see smoking in restaurants or enclosed public places. I quit smoking 20 years ago and second hand smoke really bothers me now. My seasonal allergies are aggravated by smoke (it may explain why I had so many ear infections as a child, as my parents and grandparents all smoked). My mom is still a light smoker and everything that comes out of her house smells like smoke, including us after we've been visiting.

[Knebby]

^ Yeah I have to say it is an absolute treat to come home after a night out NOT stinking of ash trays.

[Electrophile]

My sister has horrid allergies, one of which is to cigarette smoke. Which is why my parents smoke outside or on the back deck, rather than in the house. When we moved and had to sell the house it took close to $1000 to get the cigarette smell out of the walls and carpets. Ridiculous.

[wanna be drummer]

You're right, it's not an exclusion based on race or gender or sexual orientation or anything else of that nature.

Which is why this doesn't matter to me.

However I take issue with establishments that open that prohibit or exclude a particular group of people from patronizing it. Obviously if you're a non-smoker you're not going to want to go there anyway, but on its face it sets bad precedents. Which is something we should want to avoid.

Allowing people to smoke in a bar doesn't exclude anyone.

Smoking around others who don't smoke does violate them, their air, their internal body and external body, their material items (clothes, handbags, etc)... so smoking that is allowed in public places does violate the rights of non-smokers. Children subjected to a home with adult smokers is another situation that is a human rights violation.

Let me ask you something. Let's pretend I'm a smoker and you come visit me at my house. I decide to light up, but you don't want me too. Your right does not supercede mine in my own home or establishment or what have you because since it's mine, what I say goes. You don't have to be in my home if you don't want the smoke. Similarly, you don't have to enter my bar but I sure as hell have the right to decide if I can light one up or not. I mean, I only started the business. If non-smokers don't like it, then don't go there and don't give me your money. Simple as that.

Driving cars destroys the airs and thus, violates everyone's rights. So in that respect, we should stop driving cars too right?

Clarify for me what you mean by anti-drug? Are you saying narcotics and illegal drugs like cocaine/pot etc. should be available too? I'm not sure of your meaning here.

Yes, for the most part. Or at least decriminalize it.

[Reggie1971]

Allowing people to smoke in a bar doesn't exclude anyone.

Well said. I think it's ultimately a matter of choice. The rights of the non-smokers to clean air are not in any way violated by allowing people to engage in the legal habit of smoking in a private establishment. They need only go somewhere else to exercise that right if they wish.

[ally]

Well said. I think it's ultimately a matter of choice. The rights of the non-smokers to clean air are not in any way violated by allowing people to engage in the legal habit of smoking in a private establishment. They need only go somewhere else to exercise that right if they wish.

It's an interesting thought but I doubt many establishments would have gone out on their own and established any kind of smoking restriction without it being handed to them in the form of a law. Unless of course, their patrons insisted upon it themselves. Even then, those patrons would have had no choice really as other establishments would have been just the same. I know I may sound like I'm contradicting myself in this debate but I do think it is quite sensible to have an indoor smoking ban. That is an unwelcome shared experience for non smokers and they should have the right not to be subjected to it. Outside is another matter all together.That is an area that establishments should have the right to choose. Many would probably choose not to allow smoking period. Or maybe only allow it during say the late fall and winter months when most people would be enjoying themselves inside. Hell, they could invoke it on a daily basis if they wanted to but it should be a choice that is

their's. As long as it is their choice then, it becomes my choice as to wether or not I frequent the establishment. The decision over the long run for any buisness would be in their court and to be honest, in ther end, I think the smokers would lose out.

[Mary Hartman]

Nobody here in allowed to smoke inside. I would prefer to not deal with it myself. Take it outside and clean up after yourself too. Here it's a ticket for a dog end same as a ticket for dog shit.

[wanna be drummer]

Nobody here in allowed to smoke inside. I would prefer to not deal with it myself. Take it outside and clean up after yourself too. Here it's a ticket for a dog end same as a ticket for dog shit.

Unless it's your establishment, you have no right to tell someone that. On the other hand, if it is your bar, then more power to you.

[Mary Hartman]

Unless it's your establishment, you have no right to tell someone that. On the other hand, if it is your bar, then more power to you.

Your right on that one lol. It's my place, and the ordinance of this community IS...

YOU CANNOT SMOKE INSIDE.

We don't like smokers here. People are fine smoking outside, people do cheat on it at times for the girls too. Mostly so they don't freeze their arse's off in winter.

If it's private bar it should be do whatever you wish to. If it's public,,,,,,,well I have a differing point of view. Don't want any more of my relatives being killed by cigs, second hand smoke or first hand.

[wanna be drummer]

Your right on that one lol. It's my place, and the ordinance of this community IS...

YOU CANNOT SMOKE INSIDE.

We don't like smokers here. People are fine smoking outside, people do cheat on it at times for the girls too. Mostly so they don't freeze their arse's off in winter.

If it's private bar it should be do whatever you wish to. If it's public,,,,,,,well I have a differing point of view. Don't want any more of my relatives being killed by cigs, second hand smoke or first hand.

Great post, I agree everywhere.

[Mary Hartman]

Great post, I agree everywhere.

Your ok by me WBD..

Been uptown and there's a nice flow of people coming in from all over the world. The usual for this time of year. Everyone was pleasant and cheery. Had a few laughs too.

[redrum]

I just read in Keith Richards' biography that when the Stones played New York City he was puffing away on stage and it really ticked off mayor Bloomberg. Tough shit is Keith's attitude!

[Hotplant]

Your ok by me WBD..

Been uptown and there's a nice flow of people coming in from all over the world. The usual for this time of year. Everyone was pleasant and cheery. Had a few laughs too.

Hey, aren't you from Asheville? I call downtown cigarette butt stroll. They have more butts than I have ever seen in a downtown area. People there just don't care and it pisses me off. They are given a most beautiful place to live and they don't think twice about polluting the streets.

[~tangerine~]

My sister has horrid allergies, one of which is to cigarette smoke. Which is why my parents smoke outside or on the back deck, rather than in the house. When we moved and had to sell the house it took close to $1000 to get the cigarette smell out of the walls and carpets. Ridiculous.

My new neighbors who moved in next door last year smoke. I think they are the only ones on my cul-de-sac that do. They are in their mid twenties and have a one year old. They do go outside to smoke. When i go out to the car i sometimes smell it (and they are on their porch which isn't very close to where i park. Sometimes when the windows are open, the smoke lingers into the house a bit. It only takes a small whiff of smoke for me to be disgusted. I know the outdoors is now public (air), but i still don't want to smell second hand smoke in my house. I will add, they are nice people and i am glad to have them, aside from their bad habit.