I don't understand why it is so hard for you to comprehend this..... let me try and make this as clear as possible.

IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE SMOKE IN THE RESTAURANT OR BAR THEN LEAVE. Take your money down the street to a non smoking establishment. End of story. Its really not that hard to comprehend.

 

Actually, it is IF YOU DON'T LIKE THE CLEAN FRESH AIR IN THE RESTAURANT OR BAR THEN LEAVE. Take your money and your foul cigarettes down the street to a smoking establishment. The real end of the story. Now, is that hard to comprehend?

 

Please dont ever ever ever again sleep at a truck stop. The air is disgustingly polluted with terrible cancer causeing diesel fumes. And to my understanding, people causing you to be around poluted disease giving air is against your rights. No wait, we should all go someplace else and let you have the truck stop to yourself because you have the right to 100% clean air. We dont want you getting us all banned from truck stops for ruining your air and being offended by the way our truck exhaust smells.

 

Pretty hard to do in county/state smoking bans. The earlier argument about a restaurant not being private property is bullshit too.

If you have a garage sale does that mean your house is now free for the public to enter? You should be able to limit who you have in there.

A highway is owned by the local and state government. Just like the government doesn't allow smoking in the public library I have no problem with that. That building is owned by the government and by proxy the tax payers. Same as the highway.

A business owner owns the restaurant, if he wants smokers then that should be his call.

America has this whole "entitlement" thing going on right now. Everyone feels ENTITLED to everything. "I'm entitled to come onto your property and make everyone else quit smoking. Because of the way *I* feel. I am important, and my right to not inhale smoke trumps the business owner's right to his property!".

I like restaurants that are non-smoking, I don't want smoke around my food it is kind of gross. I do like bars where you can smoke because beer and tobacco are meant to go together. You know what though? I think the restaurant should be able to make the call. If I don't like it I can go to a non-smoking restaurant. Which back when this wasn't an issue, is exactly what I did.

It is really easy to support laws just because of your feelings, but that doesn't make it right.

Maybe we should ban people that stink from doing so in public, or ugly people. I mean I know when I'm eating my poterhouse steak I don't really want to have to look at ugly people. But smoking is a health concern, ugliness isn't! No, again I'd challenge you to actually read the evidence against second hand smoking, the increase in health risk for restaurant patrons is nill. So it comes down to people just not wanting to smell it. I don't want to smell your cologne either!

As for the employees that have to work in it, that carries some risk. Find a new job if you don't like it. Coal mining is dangerous too, don't like it? Work somewhere else. Maybe we need legislation guaranteeing our own interstates so that cars don't come near us?

Bottom line, put your personal feelings aside and look at the rights of the property owner's that are getting violated. Imagine for a moment the government telling you that you can't do something that is LEGAL in your own home. How would you feel then?

 

In the 90's in Seattle, WA a bar opened up as a smoke free bar. They advertised on the radio and had local news coverage about it being a smoke free bar. I stopped in on my way home one Friday night and only 10 people were in the bar. They closed their doors after 9 months because lack of business.

The owner of this bar chose to be smoke free not the city, county or state but the owner. Why didn't more people patronize this bar? Is it because most people who go to bars smoke? This owner was offering a smoke free environment for employees and customers but nobody came.

So was it the smokers or non-smokers that put this guy out of business?

 

Are you being serious?

 

Yes and no, like the rest of these threads. You think you have a right, I think I have a right, the only difference is perspective. When you make an absolute statement I counter with one just as absurd.

 

And remember-New York City now regulates trans fats in restaurants. Maybe we are a little over regulated at this point, but that is probably because most of us are too lazy to be proactive enough to take care of ourselvesand want Big Brother to help us out.
Also consider that we tend to be very interested in what we personally want or do and if someone else doesn't see it our way we feel they must be wrong cuz we sure aren't.
I don't smoke any longer, but as a 2 pack a day reformed guy I see why some folks smoke whenever they can-just wish they'd realize how offensive it is to non-smokers. Man that crap stinks

 

This was never supposed to make it out of California. We as Americans enjoy seeing living results played out in Lab-like living conditions....in California. How the hell does crap like this make it into the other 49 States? The rest of us were suppose to be protected by how ridiculas the results proved to be, in our National Looney Bin.

May God help us....if we can not control this epidemic. Build that fence from Brownsville all the way up and around California.

 

I still think you have to look at what Property Rights are. Both Public and Private.

Being able to do what you want, any way you want, with no responsibility to anyone or anything (even on your own Private Land), is sovereignty.

And the moment your rights and freedoms are weighted more than mine, then that in effect takes away our equality. And no where in the Bill of Rights does it say that someone can do that.

So, do you have a right to smoke anywhere you want? No more than you would be able to take a crap anywhere you want. Or swear anywhere you want, or drive as fast you damn well please anywhere you want.

Rights and Freedoms come with a very heavy cost.

It is called Responsible Action.