That is very thoughtful of you!Although I hope that one day you are smoke-free;) Now if I could get my momma to see that,lol. :D

My state recently passed a public smoking ban which I voted yes for. I hate to be around cigarette smoke, especially when I'm out eating.

CIAA will be a mess in Charlotte if I can't put fire to the weed (tobacco that is).

I smoke when i'm having drinks. Frankly, I can't stand to drink without smoking.

I respect folks rights but suggest there should always be a smoking section. I don't like to smoke in the general public but if I opt to light up after having paid my money then so what.

NAY.

I think that there should be more of a line of demarcation between smoking and non-smoking sections, and govt buildings should be smoke free (sometimes people who need to go in them are on oxygen - O2 + smoking = explosion) but to force private businesses, especially bars, into it is terrible.

Everyone (around here) always says "I would support a smoke free bar" but it ends up that they are the people who go out 2.5 times in a year.

I agree with this.

One of the pubs on my old campus became smoke free. As soon as that happened the patronage went waaaaaaaay down. It used to be that this pub was always packed that if you weren't there at 5pm, then you either weren't getting in or you would be waiting for a few hours to get in. Now, they have to have all ages nights and those of age HAVE to wear a wrist band to be served because no one is going to this pub anymore.
Also, because of the no smoking ban, another bar was turned into a coffee house, because no one was going there anymore.

The school voted for this, but now no one is using the bars. This just shows that the vast majority of patrons at these bars were smokers.

btb87 correct me if I'm wrong
 

I may be wrong about this, but I think that in Florida, smoking is only banned in establishments that serve food. So you can still smoke in nightclubs as long as a certain percentage of their revenue doesn't come from food service. So like, you can smoke at a club down in Ybor, but you can't at Hooters.

as a person with Asthma I would Yay a ban on smoking in Akron and Cleveland. Maybe then my mother would stop smoking!!!!

I can see both sides of the issue (I am a smoker) but I never smoked in restaurants (yuck!), I feel choked when people were smoking and I was eating.

I never smoke around people who are not smokers (most of my friends)

I also understand the arugement of public vs. private.

I will go with the indifferent crowd....

I'm in Florida and I voted yes on the anti-smoking law. I hate going into a restaurant, sit in a non-smoking section that isn't too far away from the smoking section and then walk out of the restaurant smelling like I've been smoking. Plus, my throat gets really dry and scratchy and my voice is hoarse if I'm around smoke. I understand the whole private businesses shouldn't be regulated thing but I'm selfish. ;)

I'm hoping that they ban it in Atlanta (I know some counties around the area have begun to) since I'll be moving there shortly. Whenever I go out to a restaurant with my boyfriend in Atlanta, I long for a Florida restaurant that has smoke-free air!

Yay, I am from Cali and so smoking hasn't been an issue forever. I remember when I went to college in Louisiana and the lady at Denny's asked my mother and I did we want smoking or non-smoking. We were tripping! I also waited tables in Cali and you can smoke as long as there is not a traditional roof overhead. So alot of places have like places that are covered but not with the same roof as the other parts of the building. Smokers should have the option of a seperate location to smoke if theat business chooses to provide one. But for smokers - having to suck in your smoke is ridicoulus I wouldn't force you to digest my cholesterol!

You do have a point and I edit my above statement to say I think bars should be the exception. Let the bar owner decide and post whether it is a smoking bar or not.

Smoking and non-smoking sections do not work well especially in restaurants. But if an establishment is one or the other patrons can then choose if they want to frequent it or not. But at least people will have a choice.

I tried to think of a good parallel to draw. Leave it to a soror, you hit the nail on the head.

I vote YAY!! BAN SMOKING!!

I'd vote Yay. About a year ago, my county passed a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars. In addition to the patrons of restaurants and bars, what about the workers? I think second hand smoke is more of a hazard to them.

In some cities in Cali smokers can't smoke within certain distances of buildings either. It's not enough to got RIGHT outsied the door to smoke because smoke travels inside windows, etc.

The cigarette tax and subsequent ban on smoking brought Cali from like 44th in the Nation in poor health to number 22.

I say VOTE YES!!!