Supporters of smoking bans

[reb]

oh don't get me started on gross perfume and cologne. that is ALSO a ban i would vote for.. that stuff is disgusting!! and it's usually the old ladies that have the worst stuff.. and their sense of smell is gone so they don't know how mad it reeks and how offensive it is. well, also the macho jocks with their cologne. what i want to know is,, what exactly are you hiding that you have to go smother yourself in chemicals? don't you bathe..?? LOL!

maybe what is happening is.. as our air becomes more & more polluted.. people are becoming more aware of the fact that we need all the air we can get... and maybe we are starting to appreciate the value of our lungs a little bit more.

 

[Jules]

btw.. she complained to the apt management who of course did nothing. eventually you could see the woman's blinds (always closed) turning orange, then brown. they replaced her blinds and in a few months they became brown again. why this woman is still even alive i don't know.. but surely she has lung cancer by now. eventually my friend just left that apartment and got another one. why should she have had to do this?? why does the cigarette addict's rights take precedence over a non-smoker's?

That is what is so nasty to me. As I said earlier, my hubby smokes - outside. However, his mom smoked for many years and about 10 years ago they went to sell their house. As she started removing items from the walls, you could see just how badly stained things were from the nicotine - she smoked indoors. It was the most disgusting thing ever. She spent thousands of dollars having everything repainted, new blinds, carpet, etc. just to sell the house.

My hubby has never smoked in any of our houses. He does, however, smoke in his truck. Rarely does anyone ride in it but him - except when we drive to Louisiana.

 

[reb]

tybee-- i would be curious to know if you live in an industrial area or near any big factories. what is it that is making so many in your neighborhood have severe lung problems? it sounds to me like someone is geting paid off, by some company, to deflect the blame away from them.. and they need a scapegoat they can blame the problem on-- like woodsmoke. not that it's good to breathe ANY kind of smoke- but at least woodsmoke isn't filled with heavy metals or chemicals.

that is a good question you bring up though... and i have heard for a long time that smoke in cities contributes to air pollution, and that some they have put limits on it- which boggles the mind because it seems that starting a fire to keep warm or cook food is one of the most basic human rights a person could have. it seems to me the real problem here is emission control from cars and factories. but, it's always easier to put pressure on the little people instead of controlling auto companies and factories... because big successful factories put cities on the map.. there are a lot of 'deals' being made.. which is why major polluters get away with so much.
but, noooo.... go tell joe schmoe he can't start a fire in his fireplace tonight! .....sheesh.

 

[Details]

I'm sorry, but if your health problems are so extreme that you can't function outside, then you need to stay inside, live in a plastic bubble, buy a personal air filter (they do exist), or do whatever it takes to solve the problem yourself. Demanding that an entire neighborhood refrain from using wood fireplaces is outrageous!

(As a smoker myself, I have no problem with bans on smoking indoors in public places. I don't smoke in my own house; I certainly don't need to smoke in somebody's office.

That being said, I think there should be places where it is understood that some risky behaviors (i.e., smoking and drinking and, for all I care, shooting heroin) will take place. A mentally healthy society needs that outlet.)

Health problems are indeed different than something that is generally harmful either to everyone, or let's say, more than 50% of the population.

Yeah, everyone has their own risky behaviors. I only think there need to be limits where those behaviors affect other people - you can drink, but not drive drunk; you can smoke, but not where people have to be to do their job; you can eat too much and get fat, but if you take up too seats on the airplane, you have to buy them rather than overflow onto the person next to you; etc.

 

[Details]

Details, I don't want to seem as if I'm ignoring you, so that's why I'm replying without having anything to say.... LOL.... except I could repeat what I have already said over and over in this thread... for to happen what you say one doesn't need to ban smoking in public places. There are choices people were able to make and not anymore now, plus there's the hypocrisy factor.

I agree with the second part you said though - it is amazing how many people don't know -for real- that second hand smoke is damaging to others etc.... or even that it's bad for their own health (older men especially). But of course I have to be a critical bum again.... an awareness campaign would do that more good than a smoking ban.

I'm not worried about whether I get a reply or not - so no worries .

Smoking isn't being banned in public places - it's being banned places where someone has no choice but to remain around it - especially employees.

People are very cynical these days, and everyone is susceptible to denial - there's been a huge, enourmous awareness campaign about cigarette smoke for decades now. Some will never believe, some don't care, some just don't think about it, they're only thinking that they want a cigarette, not that their cigarette is going to join millions of others to shorten the life of their bartender. This has been out forever, anyone who doesn't know now, or hasn't changed their behavior is making a choice.

 

[tybee204]

tybee-- i would be curious to know if you live in an industrial area or near any big factories. what is it that is making so many in your neighborhood have severe lung problems? it sounds to me like someone is geting paid off, by some company, to deflect the blame away from them.. and they need a scapegoat they can blame the problem on-- like woodsmoke. not that it's good to breathe ANY kind of smoke- but at least woodsmoke isn't filled with heavy metals or chemicals.

that is a good question you bring up though... and i have heard for a long time that smoke in cities contributes to air pollution, and that some they have put limits on it- which boggles the mind because it seems that starting a fire to keep warm or cook food is one of the most basic human rights a person could have. it seems to me the real problem here is emission control from cars and factories. but, it's always easier to put pressure on the little people instead of controlling auto companies and factories... because big successful factories put cities on the map.. there are a lot of 'deals' being made.. which is why major polluters get away with so much.
but, noooo.... go tell joe schmoe he can't start a fire in his fireplace tonight! .....sheesh.

I live on a 2 x 3 mile Island on the Georgia Coast. The biggest Industry here is tourism. Because of the high humidity the wood smoke seems to stay low to the ground and trigger asthema and respitory distress for some.

 

[Details]

As long as it is a legal vice, I don't see why some bars (not restaurants) can't cater to smokers. If the owners want it, and if it is clearly marked on the outside as a smoking establishment, I don't see the problem. Go there or work there if you are a smoker or don't mind being around smoke. Stay away if you aren't.

It doesn't have to be an all or nothing deal. Some bars can be non-smoking and others can allow it. What's the big deal?

Employers are simply not allowed, in any other area, to hire people to be exposed to hazardous substances and shorten their life.

It's not about a bad smell, or disliking smokers, or wishing cigarettes were illegal and would just go away - it's about a waitress who needs a job having to choose between her health and a job.

 

[nanandjim]

I have a question. My neighbor has severe asthema and woodsmoke can send her into a full attack. We apparantly have several people in the neighborhood that suffer from asthema and other pulmanary related diseases. Last year they sent letters to everyone in the neighborhood requesting that we do not use our fireplaces because of their health issues and it causes everything in their house to smell like smoke.

Whose rights are being infringed on and should wood burning fireplaces be banned?

This has caused alot of arguments in neighborhoods all over the Country.

Yikes! Unless you guys live in porous, log cabins, which are very close to one another, I find it hard to believe that the smoke from your fireplace is seeping into their home and causing everything to smell like fireplace smoke!

I really think that this is an effort to infringe upon your rights!! If these poor people have asthma, there are many other things that probably trigger their attacks. I'm sorry, but they are not going to be able to control everything. Therefore, they need to figure out a way to live in a germ filled environment.

 

[Details]

I have attended college classes where in the first few minutes, somebody stood up and said to several hundred people: "Nobody can wear perfume or cologne in this class because I'm allergic."

At the time, I reacted as I just did to the fireplace ban, but I realize this may be different. What do you think?

Oh boy, I hate perfumes and colognes - not just the overpowering smell, but the fact that I'm allergic to some, and get an instant, overpowering headache!

But I think it's the same as the fireplace ban - sorry, but if you can't deal with perfumes and colognes, they aren't a health hazard to the majority of people, and if it harms your health, I don't see that you have the right to demand everyone conforms. A request - that's fine.

 

[tybee204]

Employers are simply not allowed, in any other area, to hire people to be exposed to hazardous substances and shorten their life.

It's not about a bad smell, or disliking smokers, or wishing cigarettes were illegal and would just go away - it's about a waitress who needs a job having to choose between her health and a job.

LOL have you sent that message to Coal Miners?

 

[Details]

....i have heard for a long time that smoke in cities contributes to air pollution, and that some they have put limits on it- which boggles the mind because it seems that starting a fire to keep warm or cook food is one of the most basic human rights a person could have. it seems to me the real problem here is emission control from cars and factories. but, it's always easier to put pressure on the little people instead of controlling auto companies and factories... because big successful factories put cities on the map.. there are a lot of 'deals' being made.. which is why major polluters get away with so much.
but, noooo.... go tell joe schmoe he can't start a fire in his fireplace tonight! .....sheesh.

Difficult decisions here - it's such a basic thing - but the one difference between some big company polluting, and your chimney, is that there's a few thousand, millions of you - which causes a huge multiplication issue. If one of us throws a candy wrapper in the street - no big. If all of us do - it's huge. Same for polluting cars - seems minor, until you think of how many cars there are. Sit in a traffic jam, and think of every single person in those cars doing any one little bit of pollution - dumping a cup of coffee on the ground, tossing some trash out, pumping out air pollution - and you get a feel for how the numbers issue is so huge.

We need to go after the companies as well, especially when we're talking about toxic emmissions - definitely.

 

[Details]

LOL have you sent that message to Coal Miners?

Yeah, they're not good. I think the gov't is ignoring them because we need the coal, and there are no alternatives to get it. But the alternative of stepping out, or just holding off for an hour for smokers is pretty viable.

 

[Nore]

eve-- you wanna know why???? because--- bars and restaurants are SO addicted to the MONEY that the cigarette companies dish out to them for advertising-- they help get and keep their patrons addicted to nicotine- and then BRIBE the establishments by offering top-notch advertising and other perks. also the owners are SO afraid that once all their nicotine addicts leave they will go out of business (my response to that-- if you are so dependent on NICOTINE USE to stay in business, then your business must suck anyway!!-- and you deserve to close).. that they will find ANY loophole to get around it. and believe me they will. and then what you will have is still the same old bunch of nasty, smoky bars & restaurants and nothing will have changed.
the people have spoken-- smoking bans have passed in city after city BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT THE MAJORITY WANTED AND VOTED FOR.

i think people wanted a clean break. they voted for an across-the-board ban because #1) the city didn't want any issues.. they did not want to deal with the endless squabbling and lawsuits. abd because #2) citizens have the right to go into ANY establishment without having to breathe noxious, toxic fumes into their lungs! (wow, imagine that- what a concept!)

and janetelaine--- you are WRONG. in this matter, now truly ARE free- FREE TO GO INTO PUBLIC ESTABLISHMENTS WITHOUT HAVING TO BREATHE SOMEONE ELSE'S NASTY CIGARETTE SMOKE!!! believe me.. you all had your day. and the rest of us have suffered enough!!!!!

but guess what,, you are still free... you are free to sit in your car or in your house and smoke your lungs into a black, charred, cancerous mess... if that is what you wish to do. but DON'T subject me to that also!!!!!!!!!!!!!! there is a GOOD REASON it is now illegal. people shouldn't be "free" to subject other people to vile, cancerous, chemical-laden smoke and fumes in an enclosed room that is a public place of business.

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Now that the cigarette issue is settled when will they ban all perfumes and colognes in Public? For my sake a pray they do. I have asthma and can barely breathe among some people,have seen a young boy removed from my church because a womans' "perfume bath" brought on a severe asthma attack where the child could not breathe! Lets go all the way and ban any odors~they are all toxic to one person or another~why just one group? No I am not a smoker.I like to breathe fresh air also,not someones favorite scent~a breath taker....Nore

 

[Details]

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Now that the cigarette issue is settled when will they ban all perfumes and colognes in Public? For my sake a pray they do. I have asthma and can barely breathe among some people,have seen a young boy removed from my church because a womans' "perfume bath" brought on a severe asthma attack where the child could not breathe! Lets go all the way and ban any odors~they are all toxic to one person or another~why just one group? No I am not a smoker.I like to breathe fresh air also,not someones favorite scent~a breath taker....Nore

I could wish - but I'm afraid I could never vote for it - not unless I found out a significant percentage of people had such problems. I hate it too - but then I just can't see banning everything someone is allergic to - peanuts, perfumes, grass (my husband has an epic case of hay fever whenever he's around cut grass), etc.? Only if there is a significant percentage actually physically harmed, do I support it. That's why I'd go for the smoking bans - no one is immune from it - but not perfume.

If I prayed, I'd pray instead that people recognize how awful those things can smell, and go very easy on it.

 

[Taximom]

but taximom-- you don't understand. cigarette smoke gets EVERYWHERE. you cannot contain it!! it has an obnoxius way of leeching through walls and floors and things.

(snipped)

I'm pretty sure I wrote previously that even the restaurant here that has an enclosed section for the smokers wasn't completely "smoke-free" as it wafted out when the door was open. So I understand!

 

[Jules]

AUSTIN — In a proposal that could keep Houston smokers from dodging the city's tougher public smoking ordinance by patronizing bars and restaurants outside the city limits, state Sen. Rodney Ellis is proposing a statewide ban.

He will announce the initiative today and release a poll he says shows public support for the measure.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/4512712.html

Excellent! :woohoo: