smoking

[Patrick]

I didn't want to hijack Greg's post. So I thought I'd start another.
How many here think that non-smokers should have some rights when around other smokers ?  Such as mentioned before, like when sitting in a public eating/drinking area ? And, how many think non-smokers have no rights in the above situation ? I'm not fighting here, just curious.

[FLAVALK]

I'll go ahead and get some popcorn ready cause this should be interesting... 

[Serk]

For businesses, I'll stick to my Libertarian principles; the market should be allowed to decide and business owners should be free to run their business as they best see fit.

If they want to make their entire establishment smoking, so be it, the market will dictate if that's the right decision, if it's not, then people will stop going there. If they want to make smoking allowed but segregated, that too would be their discretion, and once again, patrons would either make the business a success or leave and go elsewhere that better suited their needs, and the same if a business were to forbid smoking at all in their establishment.

Pretty simple really, let the market decide, and vote with your feet and dollars which is the best choice.

For public spaces it gets a little trickier, but I don't think blanket bans on smoking outside are reasonable. For the 20 or so years I was a smoker I was very conscientious and tried to stay away from and down wind from non-smokers, although I know not all smokers are so thoughtful.

[BF]

This is gonna jerk a few chains I'm sure, but here goes.......

I'm an ex smoker....pack and half to two packs a day.  I admit it....I liked it.  Smoked for around 24 years or so.  When I smoked, I had no idea just exactly how offensive it actually is and I apologize to everyone I ever offended with my smoking.  I can't stand or tolerate the smell of cigarette smoke now. 

With all of that said, here's how I feel......

Your right to smoke ends with my right to breath clean, clear air. 

[Spirited-6]

This is gonna jerk a few chains I'm sure, but here goes.......

I'm an ex smoker....pack and half to two packs a day.  I admit it....I liked it.  Smoked for around 24 years or so.  When I smoked, I had no idea just exactly how offensive it actually is and I apologize to everyone I ever offended with my smoking.  I can't stand or tolerate the smell of cigarette smoke now. 

With all of that said, here's how I feel......

Your right to smoke ends with my right to breath clean, clear air. 

Bf,  I agree with you. I smoked for xxxxx Years and quit in 95. But , too late. I have COPD and not doing well with it. On 02 almost 24/7 and having a lot of problems with breathing at times. COPD has robbed me of doing the things that I loved, IE, bike riding. I don`t know where I`m going with but to say; STOP SMOKING.

[henry 008]

i quit smokin primarily because of not being able to smoke during billiard tournaments. i'll agree with serk, that i do believe it should be up to the business owners.

[FLAVALK]

It seems that ex-smokers are those most ardent about not having to tolerate 2nd hand smoke ???

I know my brother and dad are. Both smoked two-packs a day for years and now can't stand to smell it.

[Spirited-6]

It seems that ex-smokers are those most ardent about not having to tolerate 2nd hand smoke ???

I know my brother and dad are. Both smoked two-packs a day for years and now can't stand to smell it.

Because they know that it will cut short life as they know it !

[Chrome]

Many,many years ago,I worked partime in my "Off Season" in an audio/video store which was owned by a friend on mine. Our town enacted a no smoking policy in retail. Being about the only non (Ex) smoker in the staff worked for me. One Saturday,an hour before closing,I asked if I could go home since business had died. Boss asked why and I said I didn't take any paid smoke breaks. Pissed off the smokers but I left early and on company time.
Adrian

[IamGCW]

Smoking during sex can be stopped by just slowing down.   

[Patrick]

Pretty good so far, I'll dump some more butter on my popcorn.

[Serk]

Smoking during sex can be stopped by just slowing down.   

Some of that jelly form Kentucky can help out too...

[tank_post142]

I am a former smoker, BUT, I'll be cursed if I'll let anyone trample on smokes rights. shut up , get up and move if you don't like it. i would never smoke inside even my house and would never smoke if someone was eating, if I was there first, it's your problem. I still feel the same way.i assume those who would complain about smoking where it is legal probably are for banning firearms too. after all if we can trample one class of peoples rights why not gun owners too? then we can go for NASCAR people, then beer drinkers, then bike riders...et al.

[John Schmidt]

I worked as an auditor for the State of Fla. both before and after a no smoking law was passed for restaurants. And if it was a bar/restaurant combo and more than 10% of receipts were attributed to food sales, the no smoking thing applied. You should have heard them scream; it's going to kill business, hundreds of establishments will go out of business....and on and on. Turned out after the dust settled, most of those places had more business. Others just changed their offerings, i.e., no food, had to be all bar sales. And they also made more money. The patrons did as was suggested in an earlier post; you don't want smoke, go where there is none. You want to smoke, go where it's allowed.

Frankly, I appreciate not having the stink of someone else's lousy habit come wafting across my table. I really miss it when I travel through areas in our country that don't have non-smoking laws.

[Jabba]

I have never even tried a cigarette.  I have a Libertarian POV.  A restaurant is NOT a PUBLIC place.  It's a PRIVATE place of BUSINESS.  So while I like non smoking restaurants, I don't like the gubment dictating it so.

I think non smoking in PUBLIC space that can't be avoided is reasonable.  Like the Courthouse, BMV, etc.  Places you HAVE to go. 

I don't think we should outlaw it outside on on the street or sidewalk either, but it sometimes bothers me even when someone is smoking in THEIR car, and I have to breathe it. 

I usually just try to get upwind and fart on them. 

Jabba

[sandy]

My mother smoked while pregnant with me until she died when I was 15. I was born with asthma and nearly died twice before I was 1 yr old. Rarely did I get a full nights sleep from breathing problems. I had my last attack about a year after she died. As a child I had bronchitis, pneumonia and tonsilitis , all numerous times. I've never been able to play sports as I have no endurance in my lungs. Do smokers have rights? You don't want my answer.

[mrider]

hummm, well heres my 2 cents, i am a ex smoker came from a smoking house and had a 2 1/2 pack sometimes 3 a day habit. In 05 i opened up a beer joint and the crowds were preety much mixed between the doers and the not's and i felt and still feel that if i'm having a smoke and you don't like get the hell a way from me! i would not nor did i ever go into a crowd of nonsmokers and light up. In 06 a customer bet me $100 i couldn't quit cold turkey, 2013 and he still gives my favorte charity $100 a year so owners should rule goverment get the hell out of our business.     

[RP#62]

Don't know, but I do tell the guys at work that if sometimes it looks like I'm screwing off, that's not really the case - I'm just taking my non-smoking break.

-RP

[alph]

i don't like the smell of cigarettes, pipes and cigars are okay though.  generic cigarettes are the worst.  i can smell a person smoking three cars ahead of me in traffic going 70mph even if MY windows are closed!  i don't go to bars, not because i don't drink, but because i can't stand the smell of cigarettes.  i've walked out of restaurants because the non-smoking area didn't separate from the smoking area, and i could smell the smoke.  wisconsin now has a non-smoking in public area's law, and I LOVE IT!!  

when i bought my cycle, the previous owner had a cigarette lighter on it, it was the first thing i ripped off.

[Jabba]

 wisconsin now has a non-smoking in public area's law, and I LOVE IT!!  

Now explain to a fellow NONSMOKER how a PRIVATELY owned restaurant, on PRIVATE property is a PUBLIC area?

I agree with you about it being a WAY better environment, and a much nicer experience.  But it's an OVEREACH of the government that shouldn't be tolerated IMO.  Just one more thing they SEIZE control of that they should not.

jabba

[FLAVALK]

I just knew this would be good 

[Davemn]

You dont have a right do blow your smoke in my face (or even smell it) no matter if you are there 1st or not. MN has outlawed all smoking in public places. One of the 1st states to pass such a law. Very "forward thinking".

[Hoser]

For businesses, I'll stick to my Libertarian principles; the market should be allowed to decide and business owners should be free to run their business as they best see fit.

If they want to make their entire establishment smoking, so be it, the market will dictate if that's the right decision, if it's not, then people will stop going there. If they want to make smoking allowed but segregated, that too would be their discretion, and once again, patrons would either make the business a success or leave and go elsewhere that better suited their needs, and the same if a business were to forbid smoking at all in their establishment.

Pretty simple really, let the market decide, and vote with your feet and dollars which is the best choice.

For public spaces it gets a little trickier, but I don't think blanket bans on smoking outside are reasonable. For the 20 or so years I was a smoker I was very conscientious and tried to stay away from and down wind from non-smokers, although I know not all smokers are so thoughtful.

You took the words right out of my mouth, Serk.  Hoser

[Hoser]

i don't like the smell of cigarettes, pipes and cigars are okay though.  generic cigarettes are the worst.  i can smell a person smoking three cars ahead of me in traffic going 70mph even if MY windows are closed!  i don't go to bars, not because i don't drink, but because i can't stand the smell of cigarettes.  i've walked out of restaurants because the non-smoking area didn't separate from the smoking area, and i could smell the smoke.  wisconsin now has a non-smoking in public area's law, and I LOVE IT!!  

when i bought my cycle, the previous owner had a cigarette lighter on it, it was the first thing i ripped off.

Well, you could have used it for heated gear power source    Hoser

[crow]

used to smoke, quit 5 yrs ago, smoke dosn't bother me, What I CAN"T STAND  is GD spitters!!!!!!!

[Lyn-Del]

In some places here, a business that derives at least 51% of its income through alcohol sales can allow smoking.  And you see the 51% sign proudly displayed.

I'm all for allowing the business owners to make the decisions -- they can post "Smoking" or "Smoke Free" notices on their signs so you'll know before you stop and go inside.  Or they can post both IF they have designated smoking areas that are well and separately ventilated. 

Oh, and put the restrooms in the NON-smoking section.  I had a friend who was severely allergic to cigarette smoke, he had a he** of a time getting to the men's room in a smoking allowed restaurant 'cause the rest rooms were ALWAYS in the smoking section -- guess the theory was to put the odorous sections together.

[da prez]

  I'm an ex-smoker pain in the a$$. I do not patronize smoking establishments. Taverns and restuarants should be able to choose for themselves which way to go. I can't stand to be in a room with a smoker. Sinuses plug up , nasal drip, eyes water. Smokers do have there rights just as I do.
  A woman my wife went to school with died of second hand smoke after eight cancer related surgeries. Her parents were heavy smokers all their life and died from it and caused the death of their daughter.
  We still see her husband who stuck with her until the end.
    I quit about 25 years ago. I started because it was cool, and in the army, if you were not smoking on a break, you got a detail .

                                            da prez

[BF]

It seems that ex-smokers are those most ardent about not having to tolerate 2nd hand smoke ???
I know my brother and dad are. Both smoked two-packs a day for years and now can't stand to smell it.

Not so much, at least with me.  I don't care if or how much you smoke.....smoke 'em if ya got 'em.  If your in an establishment that allows it, then fire 'em up.  I just won't be in there with ya......I'll take my business somewhere else where I can breath. 

The problem I have is after I quite, I became hyper sensitive to smoke, oders, chemical smells, scents, perfumes and the like.  I can't go anywhere near a candle store or the perfume counter in department stores......I simply can't breath.  I've had to ask for another table in a restaurant before because of a woman's overpowering perfume......more than once. 

I feel the same way about all of those things......your right to smoke, or take a bath in aftersave or heavy perfume stops at my right to be able to breath. 

[alph]

BF, I'm the same way when it comes to fragrances. Exact same. Some mornings when my wife does her hair, the hair spray will make me gag, my throat tightens up I can't breath, I get am INSTANT headache, I just want to run outside and breath!!  It's awful!! 

When I was a little kid, going to church was hell. The smell of old ladies that would bathe in perfumes instead of water would kill me!!  Maybe it's all related to my father smoking as much as he did when we were little. Although, EVERYONE smoked back then. I remember visiting people in the hospital, and the DOCTORS would be smoking in the halls! 

Smoking, one if the only contributions the American Indian gave to the white man that turned out to be a demented form of "payback"!!

[blastedbugler]

Maybe a few facts might put it all in perspective.
Tobacco use kills more than 5 million people every year.
If current trends continue tobacco use could kill more than 8 million per year by 2030.
The most relevant point is that second hand smoke accounts for 1 in 10 tobacco related deaths.
In Australia smoking is banned where it could affect others.
This even includes public beaches.
At point of sale the cigarettes cannot be openly displayed & have to be asked for.
All in plain packets with anti cancer messages.
I used to smoke a long time ago but gave it up as I couldnt see the sense in doing something that had a good chance of killing me.
Throat & lung cancers are not a nice way to go.
The Marlboro Man has well & truely ridden off in to the sunset.
Don ( Aussie )

[Patrick]

Well, good responses, its time to build some more popcorn.

[tank_post142]

didn't Australia ban private ownership of most firearms too?

[.]

didn't Australia ban private ownership of most firearms too?

Okay, I'm firing up the popcorn popper now. And if somebody decides to shoehorn religion into this conversation I'm gonna sell tickets.

[John Schmidt]

 wisconsin now has a non-smoking in public area's law, and I LOVE IT!!  

Now explain to a fellow NONSMOKER how a PRIVATELY owned restaurant, on PRIVATE property is a PUBLIC area?
jabba

Really quite simple; the general public has full access to that place of business, regardless of the fact it's privately owned on private property. If you had restricted entry such as a private club or the like, then it generally isn't considered "public."

[hotglue #43]

If ya don't like smoke.... ya better not come to the BBQ!!!!!!!!
I SMOKE the briskets 18 hours !!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I do smoke, but try to be considerate.
I will not blow smoke on you....BUT if I am smoking and you walk up... and ya think I'm gonna put it out.... you will be disappointed.  Stay up wind.....  unless ya stink.. . then I will tell ya to go away... LOL

Hey.... that brings up another point.....I would rather smell smoke than to be around someone SWIMMING in perfume....  talk about making ya sick to the stomach....  no kidding!!!!!!

[Master Blaster]

Someone has to say it so guess itll be me, a smoking area in any enterprise is just like a pissing area in a swimming pool.

[Hooter]

Does it really matter? The leaders will make up our minds for us. Kinda like most everything else.

[BF]

Someone has to say it so guess itll be me, a smoking area in any enterprise is just like a pissing area in a swimming pool.

Several thousand people......



All drinking beer.....



Not a restroom in sight.   

[old2soon]

As an EX smoker that CAN NOT under any circumstances stand the smell of a burning cigarette any more-they do have their rights also. Because if THEY do take their rights away-we ALL are next-NO matter what. While i don't like it at all i still understand the need for a nicotine fix.  So feel free to light up around me OUTSIDE and don't be offended when i choose to leave. Kinda simple when you take a moment to think about it.  RIDE SAFE.

[FLAVALK]

Someone has to say it so guess itll be me, a smoking area in any enterprise is just like a pissing area in a swimming pool.

Several thousand people......



All drinking beer.....



Not a restroom in sight.   

You had to get there. And I was planning on going to the beach this weekend