Foo - Ban smoking in public? POLL

Should we ban smoking in public ?

I say YES !

No

Can we also ban ugly?

Yes, and I also think women should have to wear burkas in public. :rolleyes:

edit: ^ sarcasm

No, smoking should not be banned in all public areas. Just restraunts, stores, etc.

No, women should not have to wear burkas. They should be naked in public. :rolleyes:

edit: ^ more sarcasm

Im on the fence on this one.

Yes because it does kill or can cause problems and it is in view of young children who are imprssionable.

No because its not like heroin or public drunkeness. ??? Im stupid

No.

I miss the old guys at the ballpark smoking cigars.

only if cars, alcohol, and being overweight and out of shape is banned as well

I voted yes because I shouldnt have to smell the stench or breathe that crap. But I think in public is to broad. I hate it when there are a bunch of smokers right at an entrance to a store. Perhaps a place in the parking lot away from the flow of the public.

I really don't mind people who are smoking as long as it is outside and there's a nice breeze to blow the smoke away. But if it's inside (excluding bars or other places like that), or I'm right next to the person, I hate smokers!! :mad:

where can you smoke in public these days unless you're outside?

So, which right abrogates the other... your 'right' to breathe fresh air or my RIGHT to the persuit of happiness?

Oh, I voted NO

where can you smoke in public these days unless you're outside?

smoking lounge in the federal courthouse for one

YES! I can't tell you how many times I've been outside and taken a breath to enjoy the fresh air and had someone take a puff off a cigarette stand a few feet away. Instead of fresh air...I get cigarette smoke. Smoking is a nasty habit and I think it should not be done in restaurants, bars or in any public place, inside or out.

I voted yes, but for all public places (restaurants, stores, etc.) I think banning anywhere outside is a little harsh. Also, where does an area go from public to private?

So, which right abrogates the other... your 'right' to breathe fresh air or my RIGHT to the persuit of happiness? How about my right not to die of lung cancer because of your bad habits?

So, which right abrogates the other... your 'right' to breathe fresh air or my RIGHT to the persuit of happiness?

Oh, I voted NO
my right to breath fresh air wont kill you when you're standing next to me

we have a right to breathe fresh air? Diligently searching for that one in the Constitution.....

someone's awake. :)

my right to breath fresh air wont kill you when you're standing next to me
You don't have to stand next to me. :)

How about my right not to die of lung cancer because of your bad habits?
Be somewhere else.

In some places yes, in some places no. I don't drink or smoke, but I think it's stupid that they ban smoking in some bars. I mean, if a bar wants to openly be a smoking bar and they advertise that fact, then why not let smokers go there and do their thing? If you don't want to smoke then there should be a non-smoking bar somewhere where you can do your thing. Bars are kind of the exception to the rule, though, because I wouldn't want this to go so far as smoking vs. non-smoking grocery stores, Wal-Marts, etc. It's just that in a bar smoking is part of the experience for some people.

We just had a huge law relating to this implemented here.

I am not clear on exactly how it goes, but I know that no bars will allow smoking now, any indoor public place and I know there are more rules about out doors in public, but I am not clear on them.

We have "no smoking" laws in all public spaces, including resturants and bars. People protested when laws went into effect, but it has overwelming support now after a few years. When I travel I will not stay in a resturant that allows smoking, I walk out as soon as I smell the odor. I agree with the idea that resturant and bar employees should not be subjected to the health effects of second hand smoke. If you want to smoke and kill yourself, do it outside. (that goes for your children too, smoke outside, not in a house or car with kids inside).

Smokers smell sooooo nasty and the further away from me that they are, the better.

Here's a funny clip from back when Stephen Colbert was on the Daily show: http://youtube.com/watch?v=3o4vdhSHtXA

You don't have to stand next to me. :)
arent we talking about public places here? so if Im standing in a public place cause I need to be there, it doesnt matter if i stand next to you or not if the room is filled with smoke, that increases my chance of dying of second hand smoke..

We just had a huge law relating to this implemented here.

I am not clear on exactly how it goes, but I know that no bars will allow smoking now, any indoor public place and I know there are more rules about out doors in public, but I am not clear on them.
we are non smoking here too, in our bar the life of the other customers who choose to not dye of lung cancer and the right of our employees to work in a healhty environment where they dont have to worry about dying of second hand smoke is more important then the people who are addicted to something that will eventually kill them, that's thier right to do so but not thier right to kill others along the way.

this thread reeks of smoke...and politics:)

having lived in California for many years, it was quite a shock when I was visiting another state and walked into a McDonalds and people were smoking. It just seemed so weird...

I voted yes out of selfish reasons, but I'm also on the fence. I don't smoke, so I love being able to go on pub crawls and not end the night stinking of cigarette smoke and waking up the next morning with a raw throat.

Vermont went non-smoking either last year or maybe it was 2004. I can't remember. But it sure is nice now. The usual claims that the entire bar and restaurant industry was going to collapse were shown to be baseless, as is the case everywhere, it seems.

car exhaust in public places should be banned too LOL

Personally I think it should be, the argument "don't stand near it" can always be brought up, but honestly, you don't have to stand near it to be affected by it.

I understand it's your "right" to smoke, and I don't really have beef with anyone doing it, but public spaces are just that-public, and it is shared by everyone, which means there will be people who are affected differently by it. For the common interest it shouldn't be done in public.

At the same time though I kind of support it being done in bars, but more if there were restrictions, like after a certain time it becomes a smoking lounge, at least in that case people know when it will happen and can avoid it. But in the winter, standing in a bus shelter with another person who is smoking is just stupid.

I especially hate when I am in a car with someone and they are smoking, so inconciderate.

I voted yes out of selfish reasons, but I'm also on the fence. I don't smoke, so I love being able to go on pub crawls and not end the night stinking of cigarette smoke and waking up the next morning with a raw throat.

Vermont went non-smoking either last year or maybe it was 2004. I can't remember. But it sure is nice now. The usual claims that the entire bar and restaurant industry was going to collapse were shown to be baseless, as is the case everywhere, it seems.

Same here. I guess people like to drink, more than they like to smoke while drinking.

As much as I enjoy the smoking laws in Kali, I don't agree with them. I think if a private facility wants to allow smoking, the government has no business saying otherwise.

we have a right to breathe fresh air? Diligently searching for that one in the Constitution.....

I think its under the "right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness..." part. Problem is that the happiness and the life part sometimes are at odds. :D

Clean air, well, we have a right to that so long as it doens't infringe on our ability to keep buying cheap gas to drive to the store so we can buy plastic crap to fill our houses with...

Funny how we look all over the known universe for signs of life (water, atmosphere similar to our own, etc.) and we foul it up right here where we live... including "the rights of smokers". I'm sorry some folks may be addicted - but it really is an environmental and personal rights issue.

I especially hate the 10 foot zone outside most any public spaces - non smokers have to walk through a bunch of folks standing around putting chemicals into the air that people may not want to put in their bodies. If there is a way to limit that exposure to non smokers through legislation - I'm for it.

The argument about "just don't stand near me" is bull. That would be like having no laws against drunk driving and just telling people that may not want to get hit by a drunk "well, just stay off the roads". Smoking is a proven to cause medical problems - second hand smoke can harm people who don't want to ingest it. Controlling this through legislation is IMO a good use of our "democracy" - its not like there is some "special interest" anti smoking lobbying group out there trying to pass legislation that will help them generate profits for the companies they represent...

I really don't see why clean air is a bad thing.

Now if we could do something about cars...

Next on the list to be banned:

Ugly and fat people. Like eww!

arent we talking about public places here? so if Im standing in a public place cause I need to be there, it doesnt matter if i stand next to you or not if the room is filled with smoke, that increases my chance of dying of second hand smoke..
Public places? Resturants, bars, mall, the cinema... You "need" to be there. Sorry sis... you WANT to be there.


You do know that I'm only playing devils advocate... I would never be that inconsiderate

Yes, I think smoking should be banned in indoor public areas.

No, I don't think smoking should be banned in outdoor public areas.

You're not going to get cancer walking past someone smoking a cigarette outside.

But I whole heartedly support fining the holy **** out of people who toss their cigarette butts on the ground. Maybe public caining, too.

I'm not a smoker but I would have to say that smoking in public annoys me less than talking loudly on your cell phone in public.

I do think smoking should be banned in indoor public areas, save smoke shops, smoke lounges, bars or bar areas in restaurants.

However banning smoking outside is a bit too much. I fully understand you not wanting people smoking around you. As my title says, I'm a cigar smoker. I wouldn't dream of lighting up outside near other people without asking first. I think it's equally absurd for someone to come up next to me when I was there first smoking alone and ask me to put out my cigar. Some people are definitely rude about their smoking, but does that make it criminal?

There's a lot of things that are perfectly legal that I don't partake in or support. This doesn't mean I don't think that others shouldn't have the right just because I disagree. And if I ever stopped smoking, I'd still feel the same way. I don't like the idea of the government telling me what I can and cannot do any more than actually necessary.

Go ahead, ban smoking in public places, like they just did here. It just creates opportunity for those enterpreneur types to open their own private clubs that are for smokers only...both customers and employees. Kinda like the old speakeasies from prohibition times. I don't see how anyone would have a problem with it...if you don't smoke, don't go there or apply to work there. But I am sure someone will complain "oh my they are discriminating against me" - well duhh...what's good for the goose ain't good for the gander?

Public places? Resturants, bars, mall, the cinema... You "need" to be there. Sorry sis... you WANT to be there.


You do know that I'm only playing devils advocate... I would never be that inconsiderate
I have a right to be there if I want to be there that's why it's called a public place and Im all for being there withought risking my chance of dying in a long painful way, yes, clean air sounds good to me and I should have the right to that.

I find it disturbing that it is ok to discriminate against smokers,
for example there is a law being proposed here that smokers cannot be foster parents,
if you smoke, the kids go back to the courts for reassignment.
Some companies have banned smoking from anywhere on their property, including
the smoker's car which is parked in their parking lot.

I'm not arguing that smoking is ok, or that the rights of nonsmokers to clean air
isn't important, but if the same bans were placed on any other group they would be
screaming bloody murder and taking their cases to the supreme court.

Personally, I prefer to have nonsmoking facilities (I really appreciate no smoking on planes),
sometimes I feel sorry for the smokers (airports, gotta leave secure area and go through the
whole screening process again except at Atlanta which has the nastiest smoking area in the
world, I kid you not, just walk past it!) the world isn't a nice friendly place for them

Public places? Resturants, bars, mall, the cinema... You "need" to be there. Sorry sis... you WANT to be there.

Yeah but you don't NEED to smoke, either. ;)

On the subject of outdoor smoking, I don't have a problem with it, except when I get to work (on my bike) and sometimes have to walk through smoke from people huddled behind our building. Yech.

At least in Vermont, people can smoke outdoors, like on a bar patio, at their tables, etc. I'm not sure if this is true all over New York, but we go to a lakeside bar/restaurant (Naked Turtle) in Plattsburgh a lot in the summer, and they're not allowed to smoke in ANY restaurant/bar area, even the outdoor deck areas. :rolleyes:

Oh and I think Vermont bans smoking even in "private" clubs. Don't quote me though.

I have a right to be there if I want to be there that's why it's called a public place and Im all for being there withought risking my chance of dying in a long painful way, yes, clean air sounds good to me and I should have the right to that.

Now while I support banning smoking in most of those places as well, it's for different reasons. If you want to get right down to it, smoking is only allowed in these venues because the owner of said venue wants it to be. If there was enough of a market for a "clean air" bar or whatnot, some enterpreneur type (chipcom has a good point, but it can work both ways) would start these facilities. The fact of the matter is for most of them that banning smoking would cause a greater loss of business than it would if the people who are offended by it stay home.

It's not your restaurant. It's not your bar. It's not your movie theatre. Who are you to tell the private owner of those companies how to run their business?

If we ban smoking in public then lets ban burning all fossil fuels and wood products while we are at it. Its a un enforcable law

here's how I truly feel about it, suicide is againts the law but yet smoking isnt, you can induce yourself a deadly dose of daily cancer and almost be certain for sure that you will die of something very painful to you and your family because you just didnt care enough to take your life in your own hands and stop from killing youself, and if this is not bad enough, the habbit your formed, the habbit you know will surely kill you and take you away from people who may need you will also kill the people around you that you daily expose to your habbit, so you want to scream bloody murder for trying to ban something that causes many painful death? the murderers here are the ones who first will take thier own life for puffing away and then dont care of they take the life of others along the way.
If I knew i was dying and had a chance to pick a family for my kids, you can bet id make sure they didnt smoke as I wouldnt want my kids to have the chance to see them die before thier time and I wouldnt want my kids to be expose to getting cancer. I would want someone who would be there for them, not someone who is well awared that if accident dont get them first, they are surely awared that they are slowly killing themselves.
Yes, I am very animate about this subjet, and I dont mean to piss people off, but i should have the right to speak up on NOT wanting to catch cancer. My dad smoked and died of cancer, I grow up without a dad at the age of 5 because god bless his soul even if he was coughing his brains out he couldnt find it in himself to quit for us.
I hate smoking.

here's how I truly feel about it, suicide is againts the law but yet smoking isnt, you can induce yourself a deadly dose of daily cancer and almost be certain for sure that you will die of something very painful to you and your family because you just didnt care enough to take your life in your own hands and stop from killing youself, and if this is not bad enough, the habbit your formed, the habbit you know will surely kill you and take you away from people who may need you will also kill the people around you that you daily expose to your habbit, so you want to scream bloody murder for trying to ban something that causes many painful death? the murderers here are the ones who first will take thier own life for puffing away and then dont care of they take the life of others along the way.
If I knew i was dying and had a chance to pick a family for my kids, you can bet id make sure they didnt smoke as I wouldnt want my kids to have the chance to see them die before thier time and I wouldnt want my kids to be expose to getting cancer. I would want someone who would be there for them, not someone who is well awared that if accident dont get them first, they are surely awared that they are slowly killing themselves.
Yes, I am very animate about this subjet, and I dont mean to piss people off, but i should have the right to speak up on NOT wanting to catch cancer. My dad smoked and died of cancer, I grow up without a dad at the age of 5 because god bless his soul even if he was coughing his brains out he couldnt find it in himself to quit for us.
I hate smoking.

I'm sorry for your loss.

That being said, I don't think it's the government's job to save me from myself.

I'm sorry for your loss.

That being said, I don't think it's the government's job to save me from myself.
at least someone is thinking of saying my life, the life of others and the life of our kids.

I voted no, only because there's not way it will happen, that people won't be able to smoke in public. Where will they smoke if they can't in public, other than in the privacy of their homes?

I prefer to do it this way. Me, my bro, and one of my friends does it this way. When you walk past a smoker, you start coughing furiously and grasp your throat. Hack and pretend like your dying as you pass, it's funny :D