Pierce County has recently tried to ban smoking at all bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, pool halls, card rooms, etc.
Do you think they have the right to do so? Should smoking be banned within all indoor public places?


I smoked for 15 years, half of my life, and quit last year...will be one year smoke free of February 19th. I play alot of pool in leagues and tournaments around the Puget sound area and sometimes nationally. I frequent bars and pool halls that are always filled to capacity with chain smoking pool players and other regulars who enjoy their tobacco often.

Now even though I have quit, I dont mind going into a place with smoking allowed, as long as the air isnt inundated with smoke and not breathable; to the point where your eyes burn.

IMO, smoking should be allowed, but there should be stricter indoor air quality standards where people will be smoking. The air in establishemtns who allow smoking should not be overcome so that the second hand smoke is unbearbale.
It's somewhat similar to most Mens rooms.....why the hell dont they have double power turbo fans in these places!


What do you think? Where shoudl people rights begin and the arm of the government end?

I smoke and wish I didn't. I look at this as a privacy issue. Laws like these are considering privately owned businesses "public". A privately owned establishment should be able to set it's own rules as long as they are within the law. Smoking is legal. If you wish to not breath smoke then say it with your dollar. Don't patronize or work at the establishment.

I'm an ex-smoker (about 19 years), and I vote with my wallet. If a joint is too smoky, I leave and don't go back.

i am a non-smoker and i abhor going into places where there is..i shouldnt have to put up with that b.s., i have to breath to and my clothes stink after and this infringes on my rights to have a smoke free environment..i to vote with my wallet and will not frequent them places..

All the smokers out there are saying that taking away smoking is taking away their 'right' and is also an intrusion on their privacy. Well, smoking around people that don't smoke is even a worse intrusion on another person's privacy. It's also not fair to the workers that don't smoke to be at risk by others that do. I don't think that people should be allowed to expose other people to the poisons and toxins that are in smoke. You would let some one to sit down at an bar and expose you to arsenic, formaldehyde, plunonium 210 (an radioactive element), and hundreds of other leathal poisons. But this is what people are doing every time they light a cigarette, and yes thouse are in cigarettes.

The purpose of the law is to protect the workers that have to work in these environments.

That being said I hate smoke filled restaurants and will not visit them.

I'll chime in on this one too... There is an awsome bar in seattle called the nickerson street saloon, foods good, waitresses nice, and totally smoke free. The place is always packed with people. This is my place of choise.

I started bowling on a leage with my dad just after they passed the law in pierce county... The first week was so nice... the law is repealed and now I'm sorry I joined. I have to take a shower at home before I can hold my little boy... Yes its that bad... Needless to say this is the last league I bowl on.


edit: just for the record... two of my fishing buddies smoke and I have no problem with it. But they are always courteous enough to ask if I mind...

I have to laugh at this cracker I take with me sometimes... he's reeling in his gear and gets his line to close to the cig hanging from his gums and he burns it thru... time to retie!

Interesting topic,

Personally, i think that smoking is gross and disgusting. I frequent california alot, because my dad lives there, and they have a non smoking ban, and i love it, no having to deal with the smell of it, no coughing because it smells so bad, i think it would be great if it were the same here. My half brother that lives down there smokes and he deals with it, i hate the smell, and everything about it, i hope no one takes this personal, because i hate the smell, not the people who do it, (hopefulyl im not starting anything here)

my $.02

Brat Bonker

But, the fact remains that the sale and smoking of tobacco products is legal. It should never have been legal but it is. What about cigar bars? Now tell me you should be able to frequent a cigar bar and not be exposed to smoke? Personally, I don't smoke in my own home and I don't hang out in bars or taverns but if we go down this path why don't we make perfumes and colognes illegal to wear in a "public" place? I don't know how many times I've been given a headache by someone who took a bath in the stuff. I know I know...it probably didn't give me cancer like second hand smoke might some day....if I'm not killed by a drunk driver first. I would like to see the breathalizer utilized on all establishments that serve alcohol. You blow .08 or more you cannot have a drink nor even leave until you blow under. Public drunkeness laws and such. Plus alcohol is responsible for more deaths than tobacco and health-wise can kill you much faster. And, I just detest drunks and shouldn't be "forced" to deal with them when visiting the local watering hole. Hmm...what else can we pass laws against? I don't know....what else does the government need to protect you from?

Again the law is not being passed so that people who do not like smoke will not have to put up with it. The law is being passed so that waitresses and such do not have to deal with the health affects of second hand smoke.

And my point is it's inherant in the job. If your employer informs you of the dangers inherant in the job and you accept the job any way then you take your chances. But to, instead, pass laws that advise what legal products an owner must ban from his establishment regardless of customer preference is ridiculous.

If wait people don't like smoke they have every right to work where there is none just the same as everyone has to patronize or not patronize an establishment where smoking is allowed. The idea that people believe they have a right to control every envirionment they encounter to their personal whim is repulsive to me. My belief is that everyone has a right to avoid an unpleasant envirionment if they so desire.

Yes, but it should not be in my opinion. Thank goodness for groups such as OSHA and others that look out for the rights of workers.

I wonder what the customer preference of the majority would be? I know I would vote to ban all smoking in all public places like California did.

Oh well time will tell, Thanks for the reply

slug

Laws are made for the good of the whole so we can all exist cohesively, not just so the minority can not have their rights infringed upon and smokers are the minority.

Ever try to find non smoking restaurants and bars while on vacation, very hard to do. A friend has medical problems brought on by cigarette smoke and it can be frustrating to go eat somewhere and try to have a meal in a place that seams non smoky only to have someone come in, light a cigarette and stink up the whole place.

Oh well like I said in my earlier post only time will tell the out come.

Leadthrower,

Buy a six pack at the store and a couple of big mac's but leave everyone else alone to do as they please.

slug

I agree to disagree

I will have to take you out on the Sky sometime in my boat. You can even bring your smokes :p

Have a good one
Lead

LT,

Thanks, I,ll take you up on the offer sometime but no smokes for me.

Let me know the next time y'all are planning on eating out. I will get good and drunk the night before and sit in the booth next to you with a roaring case of beer farts...

Its my air too and I can pollute it if I want...

i'll take ya up on that offer too lead thrower

I am going to college in a town that has already implemented this. No smoking inside and public establishments. IT"S GREAT! I suppose this argument can go back and forth. But really, what gives someone the right to pollute my air? If you want to smoke, great, but do it outside. There's a whole world out there for you to smoke in, why do you have to do it inside and subject others to it? For myself, it's actually a health concern. Asthma and smoke don't mix, so I literally struggle to breath when I go to a place that has smoking allowed. Not to mention, my body doesn't like nicotine, never has, and the wicked headaches I get if I go to a smoke filled restaraunt prove it. In our city, everyone that smokes just goes outside for a minute or two, then come back in, no big deal. This way everyone is happy, you get your nicotine fix and I can go home smelling and feeling the same way that I came. I vote for the ban on smoking in public establishments whole heartedly.

Ahh... My husband and I recently went to Las Vegas for a series Chiropractic Seminars and we stayed at a Casino/Hotel...more specifically Circus and Circus and we had previously stayed at the Rio. Anyhow, those places are like cancer pits... all those people smoking and acting like smoking isn't proven to kill you and others inhaling your profusive smoke. Its just so disgusting watching someone smoke a cigarette and get smoke in their eyes and the smell after they smoke...ahhh..all over their hands and hair..yuck.

One cigarette now and then to celebrate something is fine with me but as a daily routine of someone's life is one of the stupidest things I can think of. Why would you pay some company to give you lung cancer or throat cancer or worse empasemia (spp?).

What kind of "advanced" society allows people to kill others slowly and have so much medical research to back up how bad smoking is for the smoker and the smokee. This law is a no brainer in my opinion.

Shouldn't your efforts be placed upon outlawing the sale of tobacco or specifically the sale of cigarettes or even just chemically altered tobacco? Instead the hypocrites are plenty willing to suck off the mega tax [Bleeeeep!] that smoking brings in. Outlaw the sale and your taxes will go through the roof. Continue to feed off the [Bleeeeep!] and you are condoning it. Yes it's unhealthy and very addictive. But it's still legal. Shouldn't be but it is. So, when laws such as this one are passed where does it end? A simple majority can now ban the use of any legal product from now on? Can we ban perfumes next? How much protection from yourselves do you need? You have a choice. Don't go to places that allow smoking. Nobody is forcing you.

uwfishgirl: you can smoke pretty much everywhere in Vegas. I'd suggest you stay out of that town. Speak with your wallet.

I quit smoking back in the 80s. What finally motivated me to quit was there was less and less places I could smoke. I got tired of being an outcast because of a stupid habit I picked up and that I wished I had never started in the first place. In fact I don't believe there is a smoker out there that deep in their heart whishes they had never developed the habit.

In a democratic society issues like this are always difficult and more complicated then they appear on the surface. But, on this issue if you cut down to the heart of it, the evidence is unrefutable; SMOKE KILLS. I can choose to avoid establishments that allow smoking, but the workers can't, the delivery people, and others who have to do business in the establishment can't. I would also bet that most of these places that allow smoking don't even provide their employees with health benefits or very little benefits.

I applaud Pierce County for taking this on. Politics is local. If the ban continues to stand other counties will do it and eventually the State will do it and maybe even someday the Federal Government that spends millions on anti tobacco promotions will quit subsidizing the tobacco industry.

Being a former smoker I can see where people who smoke feel it is a right, but one of the priorities of government is to provide for the safety and welfare of people. It is a fact in law that rights can be restricted in the interest of public safety, even the right to free speech is restricted in this way. You have to believe the earth is still flat to believe that smoke doesn't kill. Isn't that reason enough to restrict this freedom from public places?

But the employees interviewed on the news at Casinos, restaurants and bars don't want the ban. They say it will put them out of work. Shouldn't they have a choice now like they did when they applied for the job? It's one of those "we know what's best for you" laws.

Stlhead

I also saw reports where employees were happy about the ban. Just depends on who writes the article.

Yes I've seen that too but those people had a choice to work there or not knowing full well that smoking was something they'd be dealing with. Nobody is forcing them that I am aware of.
Anyway, my take on this is ban the sale of cigarettes. Stop companies, the federal government and states from profitting on death. All tax payers need to stop the hypocrosy and buck up the lost tax revenue. It'll be billions but people will have a healthier smoke free environment. But that's not the push. The push is that we want people to smoke and pay all of that tax revenue but just not around me or any where I might wish to go. And now we are going to tell all privately owned businesses that they can no longer allow a legal product that every one of us benefits financially from in their establishment if they choose to do so.
I sound like I have a stake in this or something but I don't. I don't need to smoke when I go out to a restaurant with my wife and we don't frequent casinos or bars. I just feel that there should be places, if there's a market for it, that people can legally hang out and smoke if they wish to since it's legal to smoke.