Thread: Anti - anti-smoking rant

I don't know about it being a majority decision to ban smoking...more a VERY VOCAL MINORITY....Where are all these non smokers who want a smoke free everywhere?.....Here in the UK they're certainly not flocking to the pubs in droves as they said they would.....They've driven the smokers out of the pubs to drink supermarket beer at home ...and the pubs are shutting at a rate of several a week..every town has several boarded up derelict pubs..what an eyesore...........So come on.... all of you righteous Non smokers?.....where are you?

And whilst we're at it...Don't get complacent all of you Fatties...and Drinkers...and polluting car drivers and people with bald heads or big noses....sometime soon you'll be next on the do-gooders hit list.....

If we get a vote on banning anything else...............my vote goes for a cull on busy body do-gooders....And do I smoke?....No I don't...gave up my pipe years ago.....

I'm a occasional cigar smoker, but I understand the smoking ban in some instances. But it the case of bars and pubs I like indiana's law, you can smoke in a bar/pub/restaurant if there is a separate smoking section that is divided (by walls and doors not just some lattice work) and running off its own ventilation system.

I had to stop smoking, the cigarettes were getting soggy as I lathered up, still it's only for 5 minutes.

Originally Posted by JimmyHAD

At 62 and up until 10 years ago a non filter Camel smoker for 36 years, pipes for 20 and still at it ..... I have come to respect the right of non-smokers to enjoy clean air. As one of them once exclaimed to me ..."People are breathing."

OTOH, I grew up in a household where everyone smoked. Parents, grandparents and sibling. I began at age 14. I don't believe in second hand smoke being "all of that" because if it was I'd be dead long ago.

It's all about genes Jimmy. My dad worked his entire life as a painter and sprayer and was exposed to chemicals that now have big cancer warning signs on them. In those days if you got oil based paint on you the only way to clean it off was with benzene or turpentine and my dad practically bathed in the stuff. He always reeked of it. He should have died from cancer a long time ago. The fact is he's 96 and doin just fine. My point is if you have good genes you can smoke 2 packs a day and drink a fifth of whiskey every day and nothing will kill you. The problem is most folks don't have genes like that and though people always point to folks like my dad to tell themselves nothing bad will happen to them the fact is they forget about all the people who die because of their habits or vocations. I guess that's human nature.

For most of us with average genes these lifestyle factors really do affect you and of course if you have bad genes even if you seal yourself in a sealed room all your life you'll probably still die from some cancer or other disease.

As far as the argument that smokers have their rights the answer to that is your rights end when they impact on others in a negative fashion.

Originally Posted by whavens

To me the whole issue boils down to the government telling a business owner how he can run his establishment.

Wrong argument. If it is a health issue, there are plenty of grounds for the government to tell you what you can and cannot do. And while the people involved generally don't like it, it is usually for the better.

This is pesky government interference like not allowing people to store toxins in leaky barrels, not allowing companies to burn whatever the hell they want, mandating fire exits in restaurants, demanding foodstuff to come with a list of ingredients, etc.

I can understand smoking bans in restaurants (though I would prefer to see a means by which a business owner could accomodate it's customers - such as a separate enclosed area for smokers, with its own ventilation system)... I have a hard time with the state not allowing smoking in structures specifically designated for that purpose, or not allowing smoking in establishments specifically for that purpose. For instance, there used to be a cigar lounge in a town not far from here - there would have been no reason for a non-smoker to be there.
At best, sweeping bans don't allow for sensible solutions to problems. At the worst they "solve" problems that don't exist at the expense of individual rights.

Originally Posted by HNSB

I can understand smoking bans in restaurants (though I would prefer to see a means by which a business owner could accomodate it's customers - such as a separate enclosed area for smokers, with its own ventilation system

Isn't that allowed? It is over here.
Smoking is also allowed in private clubs, cigar clubs, outdoors, etc. Those are not classified as 'public places' and thus not subject to the same regulations.

No.

This explains the areas that smoking is banned statewide (note that some municipalities have even more strict anti-smoking laws)

Subd. 1a. Indoor area. "Indoor area" means all space between a floor and a ceiling that is
bounded by walls, doorways, or windows, whether open or closed, covering more than 50
percent of the combined surface area of the vertical planes constituting the perimeter of the area.
A wall includes any retractable divider, garage door, or other physical barrier, whether temporary
or permanent. A 0.011 gauge window screen with an 18 by 16 mesh count is not a wall.
Subd. 1b. Place of employment. "Place of employment" means any indoor area at which
two or more individuals perform any type of a service for consideration of payment under any
type of contractual relationship, including, but not limited to, an employment relationship with or
for a private corporation, partnership, individual, or government agency. Place of employment
includes any indoor area where two or more individuals gratuitously perform services for which
individuals are ordinarily paid. A place of employment includes, but is not limited to, public
conveyances, factories, warehouses, offices, retail stores, restaurants, bars, banquet facilities,
theaters, food stores, banks, financial institutions, employee cafeterias, lounges, auditoriums,
gymnasiums, restrooms, elevators, hallways, museums, libraries, bowling establishments,
employee medical facilities, and rooms or areas containing photocopying equipment or other
office equipment used in common. Vehicles used in whole or in part for work purposes are
places of employment during hours of operation if more than one person is present. An area in
which work is performed in a private residence is a place of employment during hours of
operation if:
(1) the homeowner uses the area exclusively and regularly as a principal place of business
and has one or more on-site employees; or
(2) the homeowner uses the area exclusively and regularly as a place to meet or deal with
patients, clients, or customers in the normal course of the homeowner's trade or business.
Subd. 2. Public place. "Public place" means any enclosed, indoor area used by the general
public, including, but not limited to, restaurants; bars; any other food or liquor establishment;
retail stores and other commercial establishments; educational facilities other than public
schools, as defined in section 120A.05, subdivisions 9, 11, subdivision 13; hospitals; nursing
homes; auditoriums; arenas; meeting rooms; and common areas of rental apartment buildings.

IIRC there is a town in Kalifornia that banned smoking within the city limits. I agree that I shouldn't be free to impose my smoke on someone else, but I don't agree that someone else should deny my right to smoke my pipe in an environment where I am not so imposing on others. There is a mindset amongst a certain segment of our society that calls itself 'liberal' but is in reality totalitarian.

This is the last place I thought I would see the Minnesota Statutes. It's official, I'm not safe anywhere anymore!