Anti-smoking Nazis strike again
 

The City of Kennesaw, GA, has passed a law banning smoking (even outdoors) in it's parks. "To protect the childddddrrrrreeeeeennnnnn."

I hate smoking, and have little sympathy for those adicted (apologies to Tom E), and the change in American attitudes towards smoking over the past 40 years is one proof of the ability of education (anti-smoking type) to produce changes.

I think, though, that if it is a legal product, much of the anti-smoking law is crazy.

Let me also through in another slam at the "Big Tobacco" settlement, giving states money to continue anti-smoking stuff. Much of that money has been thrown away on other projects.

If smoking is bad, and it is, let's just ban cigarettes and cigars.

If smoking is bad, and it is, let's just ban cigarettes and cigars and quit the fund raising via tobacco taxes.

A step further.. if smoking is bad, and so is alcohol, why are other drugs illegal?

It's one of those inconsistancies that makes logical sense.

-- but it's all about the Benjamins.

As someone who is allergic to cigarette smoke, I wish it would be banned in ALL public places. If you want to slowly kill yourself, do it in your own car or home. Don't pollute the air I'm breathing. Even outdoors it gets in the air. That's one of the reasons I loved Australia so much.... no smoke in the air and no nasty cigarette butts all over the place.

Washington State is following suit. Effective December 8th, there will be no smoking in non native casinos, bars, or 25 feet of a door way

We have a smoking room and that is going to go buh bye. There are gonna be some grouchy assed people at my job (including my boss).


Note: I stopped smoking almost 9 years ago

I find it hard now when I travel, because cigaratte smoking has been banned from restaurants, bars and other public places in Vancouver for a long time now. I hate cigarette smoke, so I feel lucky to live in a place like Vancouver. But, when I go to bars and restaurants abroad, I find it very hard to deal with the smoke.

For example, My husband and I visited a sports bar in Waikiki numerous times to catch the Canucks games, but the bar was always full of smoke, so I found myself having to go outside every now and then to catch a breath of fresh air.

Same here. Smoking in restaurants has been banned in Florida for a few years and was banned in Georgia a month after I moved here. I'm not use to it anymore which makes me so much more sensitive to it when I'm around it. They haven't banned it in bars yet so I have a really hard time when I go out.

I don't get why people are so hung up on cig smoke. I don't smoke, but I live with smokers-it doesn't bother me.

I'd be more worried about all the crap we eat before I'd ever worry about cig smoke. Nine out of ten times you are going to die from engineered fruits/veggies, meat pumped up on steroids, and all the artificial flavorings/preserves thats in food today.

Cites please? That's an incredibly outrageous and unproven statement.
Cigarettes kill. That's well proven.

I'm allergic to it. I'm not hung up on it, I just enjoy breathing.

Upfront, I've never smoked and I don't like being around cigarette smoke much.

Having said that, here's my question.

Isn't it true that a majority of Americans don't smoke?

If that's the case, couldn't bans on smoking (many of which are voted in by the general public) be considered a matter of majority rule?

The majority of Americans don't take Flonase, so why don't we ban it? The idea of banning something just because the majority doesn't do it is pretty anti-American.

Cigarettes are a LEGAL SUBSTANCE. If the anti-cig Carrie Nations out there think it's so horrible, why haven't they pushed their congressmen to introduce bills to make tobacco illegal?

33 -- your use of flonase does not infringe upon my personal enjoyment of whatever situation I'm in. Your simplification ignores the fact that many people don't enjoy being around cigarette smoke -- actually, I don't know one single person that would claim to enjoy it.

I don't remember where I saw this, but there's a saying: Having a smoking section in a restaurant/bar is like having a peeing section in a pool.

Yes they are a Leagal Substance and I sell them to Ajudged Adults.

First off, The Tobacco Companys Pay More Taxes than anyother Business in the USA!

Second, the Facts that Point out Cigaretts Kill is Skewed. When They test Lab Rats and inject them with chemicals, they will get cancer.

If You drink enough water (H2O), they will drown.:rolleyes: See Risk Management Thread.

So, My Questrion is if those @ $40 Billion Taxes are taken out of the economy, where do they get it from?:confused:

Well, I guess it is You and Me! How Much Per Capita will that cost each of us?

Before the smoking ban saying you can't smoke in bars or restaurants went into effect in my city, I didn't think I minded the smoke. I mean, you go to a bar, you expect to come out reeking of smoke, right?

Well, now that the smoking ban has been in place for over a year, I really enjoy not having to wash my hair and clothes to get rid of the smoke smell after I come home from a bar. I realize that it's an inconvenience for smokers because they have to go outside, but they don't have to smoke. The ban was really unpopular around here with some very outspoken individuals, but most of the people I've talked to say they like going out more now that they don't have to deal with all the smoke.

So I would say I'd support a smoking ban in public places.

I agree... smoking affects everyone around you. It's proven that second-hand smoke kills. Taking Flonase doesn't affect others around you.

Are you really that stupid? It is very well proven that cigarettes kill people. I refer you to the Surgeon General's latest report on smoking:

http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/sgr/sgr_2004/index.htm

What the heck are you talking about?

The Marlboro man was a cowboy.

-Rudey
--And it's not like cigarettes are a drain on healthcare and lost GDP.

No, I am Not THAT Really That Stupid.

The Suregeon Generals Report is Skewed Because He is an Appointed Person! Oh, Is that Polotics!

Adm. Long Sideburns COOP if Your little Young Self Remembers him said the same thing!

If You are injected with enough drugs of any kind will disrupt body functions! Oh, Maybe H2O will Kill Your ass!:rolleyes:

Check Risk Management about that!:p


No Biotch, I am Not That Stupid are You? I am not a LAWYER and would never want to be one as I have seen enough Parasites Like You In Court!

So, Go Back to Your Little Group and attack Me some More!:rolleyes:

I do not like to be attacked By You for Being Old, Selling Legal Products or Being a Fucking Drunkard.

You only belittle Your Self as Usual!:eek:

Tom, as usual, you only confirm what everyone says about you. You chide everyone for giving you a hard time, but you are incredibly nasty yourself. Since you are always harping on OTW about what AGD's international officers think of her, what would LXA be saying about your words here?

I see the medical records of people who smoke every single day in my job. I see the illnesses that it causes them. I'm in their homes taking their depositions as they lay dying.

Provide me with one single credible source that says that smoking does not cause lung cancer and a myriad of other health problems. You can't.

You sell things that directly kill people. That's your choice. But you can't deny that they do not kill people.

My thoughts exaculty. I'm waiting for the day that NJ finally goes smoke free. Then maybe I can enjoy and evening out without having to head into the bathroom to take my inhaler.

If smoking sections are done correctly - with actual walls and different ventilation - I would wager no one would even know they're there. Yes, it's stupid to have a smoking section separated from the rest of the restaurant by a plant. But that's the fault of the restaurant being lazy and stupid. One of my sisters redesigned the interiors for a restaurant chain around here to allow a smoking section that creates comfort for smokers AND nonsmokers. It's in the back so you don't have to walk through it and walled off properly.

I personally would much rather be around people who are smoking than make them go outside or have them curb their cravings and be impossible to be around. The whole forcing people go outside to smoke is stupid - everyone still has to walk through it because the "smoke free zones" are never enforced. Wouldn't it make more sense for office buildings, etc to have an indoor room with doors and again, separate ventilation?

And again, it's a legal substance (the main point I was making with the Flonase example), so until a law gets passed saying otherwise - tough beans. Again, despite all the antismoking zealots out there, I have yet to hear of a congressman that has introduced a bill to make it illegal.

Christopher Hitchens wrote a fantastic essay on all this for Vanity Fair about 8-10 years ago - I can't find it online, but he lays it out better than I ever could.

I don't recall seeing any scientific studies indicating that second hand flonase can cause Cancer. Or did I miss it somewhere.

Please read my above post. I am using the comparison as legal substance = legal substance.

I find it interesting that the smoking debates (we just passed a ban last year in Columbus) center around "my right to smoke/not smoke".

Smokers can't light up in the office.

Smokers can't light up at the movie theater or grocery store or mall.

Smokers can't light up anywhere except certain restaurants and bars.

The reason a smoker can't light up in the office is because s/he is endagering his/her coworkers with secondhand smoke. Smokers can't light up in grocery stores or other retail establishments because it endangers their coworkers and the other patrons.

The people who work in the restaurants and bars deserve that same consideration. I worked in them for 2 years during college, and I'm sure the hours I spent in the smoking sections did wonders for my health.
:rolleyes:

I think the grammar police would beg to differ.

Restaurants and bars have a pretty powerful lobby. I personally believe that their staunch adherance to pro-smoking policies is a bit strange. I'd probably go out to more bars/clubs if I didn't have to dry clean my clothes the next day just get the smoke smell out.

Yes. And it's worse in the winter when you have to carry a wool coat with you that's dry-clean only. :(

Anti Tobacoa Neo-National Socialists cheese me off. That's almost as bad as when the DEA broke all those bongs in New Mexico Kristal Nacht style.

Same here.

Reposting, because obviously Tom didn't see this or knew that he couldn't answer it. Seriously, i'd love to know what sources support Tom's claim.

Can we ban people from talking in the theater? That really pisses me. I paid money to see the movie. not listen to some loud obnoxious retard talk.

Next we should ban alcohol because we all know how alcohol leads to fighting, drunk driving, and battery.

I'll save him the trouble - there are none. In fact, every major tobacco company has stated, on record and as a point of evidence, that smoking is inextricably linked to lung cancer and that there is no such thing as a 'safe cigarette'.

Check their websites, Tom - seriously. It's not 1955, no one really believes the 'Frank Statement' anymore - not even the companies who put it out.

Tom, you can't really believe that cigarettes don't cause cancer, and don't have adverse effects on people's health. I understand you run a tobacco shop, but seriously.

I grew up in a household of smokers (my parents and sister both smoke), as well as a large extended family of smokers (most of my cousins and aunts); part of me feels like I've inhaled enough second-hand smoke already, I don't need it when I go into restaurants and bars.

didnt the EPA study that was conducted on second-hand smoke say that second-hand smoke isnt hazardous to a person's health unless inhaled in MASSIVE quantities, quantaties so big that it would be very hard to do in normal every day life?

As far as smoking in public places goes...when I smoke (which isnt very often...normally when stressed out) if someone ask me politely to move or whatever then I will normally do it...if they have an attitude about it when they do it, well that is another story. to me it is just as easy for someone else to move as it is for me to move...I mean I personally dont like being around stupid and immature people...but that doesnt mean I ask the government to ban stupid and immature people from being in public...I simply try not and get around those people. avoiding people that smoke isnt all that difficult

I'm not familiar with that study, and i'm trying to remember what the surgeon general's report said about it but I don't think I read that part (it's a 200 some page document I believe). Again, aside from what it does to someone's lungs, some people have allergic reactions, and most people get burning eyes and stuch. It drives my eyes insane, for instance.

And stupid and immature people have not been proven to be detrimental to your health, sorry. :)

And avoiding smoke really isn't all that easy. And say I was somewhere first, and someone came in the area and started smoking, why should I have to leave? I'm not the one doing something to harm other people.

if you were there first then no...but when you walk into a building or room it is relativly easy to tell who is smoking and you can then take steps to try and stay away from the effects of the smoke...my feelings on the whole topic are that if people want to kill themselves, by smoking a pack of cigarettes a day...let them.

I don't disagree. Unless, of course, when they get sick they want to turn around and sue the tobacco companies (granted, i'm okay with the Attorney Generals of the different states suing and that sort of thing, just not the person personally) or other companies (such as asbestos manufacturers- smoking magnifies the physical affects of asbestos by like three times or something, I forget the exact statistic. Sorry idiot, but your lungs are black because you've been smoking a pack or two a day for fifty years.

Walking into a restaurant or bar, you often DON'T have a choice as to where to sit or stand.

well I can understand those who started smoking when it was not known that smoking can cause cancer, but I still dont agree with it...but the majority of the people suing tobacco companies are just looking for quick cash...like half of the rest of our sue happy country.

Some of the original people when it was first revealed that smoking was dangerous, I could understand. But they've known, and it has been public knowledge, that cigarettes are bad for your health and may ultimately kill you, for decades. There's really know excuse now

But yay for a sue happy country. Helps my career ;)