Ban those smokers?
“The debate is over. The science is clear. Secondhand smoke is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard,” US Surgeon General Richard Carmona said last week.
As I sit here infront of the tube enjoying my morning smoke and cup of Java, I wonder how many other things are “clear” that they are a serious health hazard.
Let’s see, “the science is clear, having sex without a condom is not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard.”
“. . .not drinking liquids when outdoors in this hot weather in not a mere annoyance but a serious health hazard.”
“continously eating chili, cheeze fries, Taco Bell, McDonalds burgers, etc in not a mere anoyance but a serious health hazard.”
The list can go on and on. The point being there are many health hazards in our daily lives. Risks we take and hope nothing catches up with us. Smoking is a double edged sword. On the one hand the smoke nazis want to ban smoking every where except your own backyard. The other hand reviels the state makes enormous amounts of $$ selling them. Hey, stop selling them. If not, then don’t try to tell us where we can and cannot light them up.
Fourteen states now ban smoking in all public places. Michigan has a law banning local communities from setting their own standards. New York City is the worst and most agressive. They have agents that will enter places of business’s unannounced to look for smoking “paraphernailia.” If they find a lighter or an ashtray, it’s a $200 fine. I’m not kidding! Is that what we want. Are smokers the new “lepers” of the colonies.
I have to say I am not one of those unfortunate people who have to go to the smoke coral at Joe Louis or Comerica Park and light up. I don’t stand outside hospitals in the parking lot with all the nurses when it’s 10 below to get my fix. I don’t go into withdrawal on a flight over two hours. I don’t need a cigarette like a spider needs a fly, to paraphrase Mickey Rourk in “Bar Fly.”
It all boils down to this for me. Ban smoking in every public venue but not in bars. Not in bars!! They go together like drinking with your pals in a bowling league. Think about it. A guy or girl who will NEVER enter, let’s say the Town Pump, wants smoking prohibited in it. Does that seem right to you?
Think of this way. Who goes to a bar to get healthy??
i’ve been to several cities that have banned smoking in bars/restaurants
wasn’t really that bad.
why did you start smoking in the first place?
in Canada they have special sections of bars and restaurants for smoking… i find that to be most effective…
Yup, although smoking is pretty much banned from everywhere in Toronto there are still special areas one can light up. A few bars downtown have backyard patio’s where you can smoke, and of course at Stadium’s etc where they have these huge massive (Though awfully smelley) rooms for smokers.
Still, it isn’t a long shot to say that someone could propose a by-law stating that if adults were caught smoking in a house with a young child that they would be fined or something. I know I have heard it suggested here and by higher ups I mean.
The SG is a goofball. He’s using junk science to back what might be a valid point in some respects. The EPA study was thrown out by a Federal judge because they cherry-picked data to create a false conclusion. And the WHO study proved utterly inconclusive. Is secondhand smoke annoying? Yep. Does is aggravate asthma. Sure. Is it a killer? Dunno. But please, people, get the facts straight.