Smoking bans

My city just passed a smoking ban Smoking Ban Passes. The ban passed by a 9-0 vote after 3 months of public debates. Does your city have a smoking ban in public places?

We sort of do. There is no smoking in any governmental buildings, and many private businesses have done the same. Of all places, the powerplant I was working at, banned smoking out in the plant. I guess it's alright to breathe coal dust and flyash though. Makes no sense that one, other than PC.

I wonder how many of these bans have been brought about by insurance rates and inconsiderate smokers? And yes, I fell off the wagon until July 4th.

We've had one for a few years now. It allows smoking on patios in restaurants, but prohibited all places inside. I went to a wedding reception at a Legion (Canadian Armed Forces veterans club) and some of the old vets were smoking in their section of the place. Good for them, I thought. I certainly felt that they could continue to smoke if they chose.

Funny to see all the smokers huddled outside their workplaces in the middle of winter.

johnday said:

... and inconsiderate smokers?

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Although I am not asking nor implying any particular position, just asking if you have a ban, the issue of inconsiderate smokers was the major issue in all of the discussions and print here. Since I work around the auto industry, I'd say that 60% of the people I work with smoke. The overwhelming majority of them are considerate smokers and are so pissed at inconsiderate smokers that many of them voted for the ban.

Although I don't smoke, I am beginning to understand how difficult it must be to quit. I have an extremely sweet step mother. She would go out of her way to do anything for anyone. She seems to be on everyone's "sucker" list when it comes to donating because everyone hits her up. And I'd consider her an extremely considerate smoker. However, her father died in his early 50's from lung cancer, her mother died of lung cancer, and her brother died of lung cancer. All of them were smokers. My dad wants her to quit smoking so bad that it's driving him nuts because she is starting to get that smoker's hack and she seems to be genetically predispositioned to getting lung cancer if she smokes. Anyway, she seems to want to quit, and has tried to quit for twenty years, but she can't stop.

My only issue, since I'm on the road a lot, is how many people around where I travel will not use their ash tray in their car. I don't know how many hundreds of times I've had a lit cigarette bounce off my windshield. Maybe I'm odd, but I see it as more of a problem with all our roadside brush fires and seeing thousands of butts at every intersection than a public ban.

Dargo said:

I don't know how many hundreds of times I've had a lit cigarette bounce off my windshield.

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That is one of mine and my wife's biggest pet peeves. I can't stand it when I'm driving down the road and a lit cigarette bounces off the road in front of me. Here in MS, most every mile of interstate and especially rural highways are lined with pine trees. I don't see how we don't have more out-of-control forest fires than we do.

I don't know of any city around me that currently has a smoking ban. I WOULD support such ban if it came up.

Lawrence

Dargo....... I hate to say this, but it is already too late for her to quit. The damage has been done and given the genetic background, the cards have been dealt. My college roommate gave up smoking 20+ years ago, but died of lung cancer last year. He also had a family predisposition to lung cancer. It is unfortunate, but we can't save people from their own destructive habits. Some say that it is hard to quit. I say that it is easy to say no from the beginning. Everyone in my family smoked but me, but none ever developed lung cancer. I never liked the smell of cigarette smoke from my earliest years. Lucky for me, I have not had any ill effects of second hand smoke, and I really don't believe that second hand smoke is as much a problem as society makes it to be today.

Don't know whether I can vote in this one or not. I don't live in the city. I do however work in a city where there is complete ban on any indoor smoking in a public venue, no exceptions except for private clubs. Most of the hospitals in town have adopted the policy of no smoking ANYWHERE on their property. Really nice for a worried parent of someone in the Childrens Hospital
Now the city I live closest to, which is on the other side of my road and where I do a lot of business, has adopted a policy of no smoking in a public place unless you applied to become exempt within a certain time frame (bar or restaraunt or bowling venue), limited admittance to only those over 18 and agreed if the business ever changes hands, totally smoke free when it does.

I smoke, tried to quit so many times, one day I'll succeed. I no longer smoke at work, not even in the outside designated areas. That is one of the things that has enabled me to cut down to 50% of what I used to smoke. A little bit her and a little bit there helps, I hope.