Smoking in public places

[Scott_in_WVA]

I read about a town in Florida where smoking is illegal in the city parks (all goverment property)in the same article I read on Carnival cruise lines it was even illegal to have a cigarette in your possesion,some indvidual had a pack of cigarettes and was not even attempting to smoke and they put the person off at the 1st port after some discovering he had cigarettes.

 

[Scott_in_WVA]

Maybe,I thought you could pee anywhere in a pool,I guess that is why you should try and not drink in the pool,also as Frank Zappa said"Where ever the Huskies go,don't eat the yellow snow".

 

[looch]

Dan,

I'm not sure if I was understood - happens a lot to me.

I preceeded my analogies with the statement "<font color=blue>...but I can see how an argument against this freedom could be made</font color=blue>." To clarify, I am in complete agreement with the fact that those examples I gave are not allowed to be performed in public places.

However, if I'm sitting in Phillip's Square in downtown Montreal and I light a smoke, I have a real hard time swallowing that the family sitting over on the next park bench would be well within their rights to tell me to extinguish it. They're concerned for their health and well-being? What the heck are they doing downtown? There are bigger and nastier problems. Perhaps it's because the banning of public smoking would be the easiest area to address? I guess you have to start somewhere.

 

[Bird]

<font color=blue>productivity is lower and absenteeism is higher as well as health care claims</font color=blue>

The only "study" I've seen mentioned in the news (and it's been a few years ago) found that the smokers were the hardest workers, and the guy who did the study (a non-smoker) said he was surprised and the only answer he could think of was that smokers are "addictive" personalities and therefore may be addicted to the work./w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

And my own long experience of supervising many people verified that study; my smoking employees had by far the lowest rate of sick leave usage and were by far the best workers.

And yes, I smoke. And I don't blame anyone for prohibiting smoking in their own home or business; just think the government should stay out of it and leave it to the property owner.

 

[gerard]

I'm about as against government control as you can be mainly because I haven't seen many things they do well. But sometimes they are a necessary evil as in this case. Bottom line with smoking is my NOT smoking does not bother a smoker. The same cannot be said for a smoker. When smokers figure out how to keep all the smoke to themselves - smoke away! Until then when in public smokers do NOT have the right to infringe on MY rights NOT to breathe THEIR smoke.

 

[Scott_in_WVA]

Like I said before...If I own/pay taxes on the business it should be my choice as to whether or not smoking should be allowed and saying that it, would be up to a non smoker(after reading the sign on the front of the building advising all my establishment is smoker friendly)) to decide whether or not they wish to enter my establishment and sublect themselves to 2nd hand smoke.

 

[dmccarty]

pbenven,

I may have been misunderstood as well. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I'm trying
with all my might to stay out of this discussion. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I
made the comment about spitting in public because I used to
think the laws where written from a Victorian Its Not Nice
mindset. I think I read/saw that the anti spitting law was to
prevent the spread of TB. Hence my comments.

I'm staying out of the Smoking B Bad discussion.....

But there are some comments I really want to comment on...
Stay Away Stay Away Stay Away. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Later,
Dan

 

[Chuck52]

I don't smoke and can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke, though for some reason cigar and pipe smoke don't bother me much at all. Go figure. I agree with what seems to be the majority opinion about where the government should exercise control, as in public buildings. I also think individual businesses should have the right to either accept or ban smoking in their establishments. I don't want the government to declare smoking illegal, though I do see a role for government in trying to eliminate smoking by educational means...don't think it will work, but fight the good fight! Of course, I think almost all laws which regulate the use of drugs should be eliminated, and after all, that's what tobacco is, along with laws against prostitution and other "moral" issues. I don't take any drugs I don't have to, but back in the bad old days I did try mary jane. What eventually stopped me, aside from a lack of apparent effect, was the thought of how incredibly stupid it was to be deliberately inhaling particulates into my delicate lungs, which are not well designed to deal with such crap. Now ethanol, on the other hand, when imbibed in reasonable amounts, is nicely metabolized by enzyme systems which apparently evolved for just that purpose!

Chuck

 

[Mosey]

Wingnut - "I just want equal rights. Smoke breaks for non-smokers. Of course, I also think that I should get paid paternity leave too (without having to have kids)"

A co-worker and I used to take a break in the morning and one in the afternoon This was at TI (Texas Instruments) in Houston TX where they actually had a recreation room with a pool table and a ping pong table in the building! Best company I ever worked for, just couldn't take the Houston heat and humidity and having to live in a big city. We told our boss we were going to take our "non-smoking" break and then go play pool or ping pong!

Not getting paid paternity leave if you don't have kids does seem to be unfair also. But, as I read somewhere, "Life isn't fair - get used to it!"

 

[PitbullMidwest]

"Mind if I smoke?"
"No, mind if I fart?"

Steve Martin