Smoking Ban?

[IA_Seth]

I saw a spot on the news last night that Matt McCoy was planning to sponsor legislation that would ban smoking in public places (similar to laws passed in other states).

What the heck? I guess as a smoker its irritating to me and I don't tend to like these sorts of laws. Maybe it is a smoker's bias though.

What does everyone else think?

[IA_Seth]

1. Ok..a link...

Lawmaker to push bill to allow smoking bans
By: Heather Loeb - The Daily Iowan

http://www.dailyiowan.com/media/paper599/news/2005/01/28/Metro/Lawmaker.To.Push.Bill.To.Allow.Smoking.Bans-844627.shtml?norewrite&sourcedomain=www.dailyiowan.com

A bill that would allow Iowa City and other communities to enact smoking bans will emerge in the Iowa House as early as next week, roughly a year after a similar measure flopped in committee, a lawmaker said Thursday.

Rep. Ro Foege, D-Mount Vernon, the bill's co-sponsor, said the measure would allow individual cities or counties to enact smoking bans if they desired - a key difference from a bill introduced Jan. 10 by Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines.

McCoy's bill, which would ban smoking in all restaurants statewide, lacks the support needed to reach a full vote from the State Government Committee, where it is being debated, lawmakers said.

(snip)

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Lots more good stuff in the article

[Khaotic]

2. Smoking is bad

Second hand smoke is not only bad, but it's irratating. If someone wants to chew then so bet it ... I don't plan to breath in their spit.

Most ex-smokers can't believe how sensative they are once they quit. They can better understand where a smoker is coming from, but they have a new understanding of what it's like putting up w/ smoke when you're a non-smoker.

Business owners don't like to try to satify both ways. Most would rather see it one way or another.

There's no such thing as a no-smoking area. The smoke from the smoking area lofts around and makes the whole place smoky. Plus, there's always the chance of a smoker who doesn't want to follow the rules. Then a business owner has to be put on the spot to enforce the rule. They're not the police, so enforcement is hard.

Business owners shouldn't have to play favorites or even make the decision.

Bottomline ... second hand smoke is toxic and should be banned in ALL public places.

You may not like having to look at my fat, but you don't have to breath it. Sure, there's the arguement about taxes and health care costs. But you should make that arguement to the food companies that make low cal food cost soooooooo damn much.

I can shop at Aldi's for really cheap, but guess how many calories and fat the food has? Damn skippy, it's much cheaper to eat fat than to eat healthy.

A poor excuse, but my income has an impact on what I can buy to get me by. Second hand smoke doesn't help my fat body either. I need all the breaks I can get.

[IA_Seth]

9. "Business owners shouldn't have to....even make the decision."

I can say that I couldn't disagree with you more on this.

You say, "Business owners shouldn't have to play favorites or even make the decision". Business shouldn't HAVE to make the decision, but they should be ALLOWED to make that decision. Case in point, my friend's have a restaurant in Cedar Rapids, Thai Moon. They do not allow smoking anywhere in their restaurant for the very reason you say - smoke lofts around and makes the whole place a smoking section.

But that is their decision as a business owner, and not one that should be made for them. Banning things solely because they unhealthy is a slippery slope to go climbing, and not one that I want my government getting involved in.

For the record, let me state that I smoke about 2-3 cigarettes a day, which increases significantly when I drink (which isn't all that often) or if I am fishing (don't know why really). I used to smoke a pack a day, but I enjoy my few cigarettes and I don't see me quitting.

[progressoid]

3. As an erstwhile smoker....

I'm OK with some restrictions. I think it's inevitable. The days of smoking anywhere are gone. Heck, I remember when I was a kid and worked in a grocery store - my boss and a couple employees smoked in the store!

Back when I smoked, I loved a smoke after a meal. Now, it drives me crazy when I'm eating out and have to deal with it. Go figure. :shrug:

[rurallib]

4. I like to piss once in a while

but there are laws against me pissing in public. Something about public health.
See if the Bush admin can come up with a catchy slogan and some bullshit about freedom or something so they can sell the publicon the idea that 2nd hand smoke is good for them and the country. You know like they did with 'healthy forests' or 'clear skies'. Until they word magicians can sell it it seems like a public health issue to me.
I worked in Canada for a couple weeks once. In the factory I was at they had a "smoking room" where the air was trapped and not allowed to escape. Wow, what a dirty, stinky, pukey fog. God did those people stink.

[IA_Seth]

5. Well, at least you made me laugh.

I don't necessarily agree with the way you see things, but your pissing in public analogy made me laugh!

I guess I don't have a problem with laws that allow business to make their premises "no smoking", but to force it upon a business owner doesn't seem to be something I can agree with. I would even prefer that restaurants are no smoking for the most part. But to say that a bar that serves food can't allow smoking is going too far, IMO.

I'm not saying that we should go back to the smoking in the malls, at work, and on buses...but I don't think we should take it to the point where we are outlawing smoking in drinking establishments.

[Debi]

7. Ah Seth, anything you can do to have your stogie with your martini n/t

[IA_Seth]

8. Marlboro light and a Captain & Coke (or a Coors Light)! n/t

[rurallib]

10. Let us say you are a young waitress working your way through

college. Working in a bar is about the only job you can get that pays decent and fits your schedule. Should you be subjected to an atmosphere that could come back and hit you with a catastophic disease later in life? Should the bar owner carry insurance carry some liability to cover such a possibility.
I personally think that if bars and restaurants insist on allowing smoking, it should be done in such a way so as to not cause problems for non-smokers. Hence a sealed off "smokers room" with a ventilation system that traps particulates before the air is discharged.
Said another way, I think that those choosing to smoke or allow smoking should be willing to pay to clean up their mess. At least in public. At you own home, kill youself.

[IA_Seth]

12. I see where you are coming from...

But in all reality taking a job at a bar is a personal choice, and to me it is one that people should be responsible for. You don't want to work in a bar? Don't. Or work in one that doesn't allow smoking.

If someone is concerned with working around 2nd hand smoke they have a choice to make.

If I didn't like smoking I wouldn't go to an establishment that allowed it. I don't care for exotic dancing, so I don't go where I have to see it. To me its a matter of personal choice.

Look, I know its an emotional issue and I don't blame you for coming at it from an emotional angle. Two of my grandparents died from cancer (most likely) caused by smoking. Its a terrible habit. But I don't feel that the government has the right to tell someone as a business owner how to operate their business.

I will agree to disagree and see that the smoking issue is a very divisive one. I certainly won't support it, but don't fault you for doing so.

[rurallib]

11. Let me add I watched my mother and father die of Pall Malls

While others may have to worry about their parents in old age, mine died agonizing deaths from lung cancer at the ages of 56 and 60. Fairly young. I had just gotten out of college. Would have been nice to really have known my parents.

[Debi]

6. Oh, Man...this is such a divisive issue

I wish smoking didn't exist and yet, if I could, I'd be a two-pack a day girl (my sinuses keep me from being able to smoke - terrible headaches - blessing in disguise I guess).

That being said I'm married to a smoker who, out of love and respect, doesn't smoke in the house - goes outside to smoke when we go out to eat or a sporting events. He's respectful of non-smokers.

I don't like the new restrictive laws being passed. I think businesses should be able to make up their own rules on smoking - if non-smokers or smokers don't like the rules they won't use the business. Should the state government be managing the businesses? What it next - no more fatty foods being served? No more desserts?

[rurallib]

13. No one forces you to eat fatty foods if you are working in a restaurant

But if you work in an area that allows smoking then it is just too bad. Look, other industries have had to do something about hazardous chemicals in their workplaces. Is cigarette smoke not a hazardous chemical? Especially if 30 people are smoking in a 200 sq. ft. area.
I am not in favor of government controlling our lives either. But why should a person accept inhaling hazardous chemicals as part of their job? At a minimum they should be given respirators probably with checkups at some frequency. But I just do not understand why smokers insist that they have a right to pollute the air, especially in a closed in public place. If the smoking is that needed then the establishment should establish a properly vented smoking area.

[Debi]

14. No one forces a person to work in a restaurant

or a restaurant that allows smoking.

There are plenty of poor paying jobs out there - fast food places/gas stations/grocery stores/discount stores/hardware stores where people make relatively the same amount of money.

I don't think I could get a job at the animal shelter and then complain that they need to get rid of the cats because they're making me sick with all my allergies.