Gov. Bredesen assaults freedom, liberty - wants to ban smoking in public

#52
#52
VolunteerHillbilly said:
House, Senate leaders expect passage of smoking ban - Nashville, Tennessee - Friday, 02/16/07 - Tennessean.com
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I guess the bars exception may make some sense...but when I go to a bar now in TN after living here in Boston, I find myself wanting to leave pretty soon because the smoke is ridiculous...I forget how much I like going to a bar here without being covered with smoke until I go back home and try to go to a bar. They would certainly get more business from me if they didn't allow smoking.

On a side note - I think that the laws here in Mass have created a breed of summer chain smokers and winter occasional smokers. In the summer, you see all kinds of smokers outside restaurants and bars...but in the winter...VERY FEW :).
 
#53
#53
The beauty of it from my persepctive is that most of the better watering holes in Nashville are restaurants. The smokers will be pretty much banished to a few nightclubs and some real dives.

Next step is to require smokers to wear plastic domes on their heads.
 
#54
#54
Nothing better than having Uncle Sam telling us what is best for us and making it law. Don't smoke. Soon it will be drinking....you know all of those spousal abuse cases, DUI's, etc. Fatty foods. Stay out of the sun too. We pay for too much cancer operations. Imagine what excuses will come from high healthcare costs when cigarettes are all gone.
 
#55
#55
VolunteerHillbilly said:
The beauty of it from my persepctive is that most of the better watering holes in Nashville are restaurants. The smokers will be pretty much banished to a few nightclubs and some real dives.

Next step is to require smokers to wear plastic domes on their heads.
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I wonder how that line will be drawn. Almost all bars serve food. Do you think that it will be limited by the number of non-bar seats in an establishment??
 
#56
#56
CSpindizzy said:
Nothing better than having Uncle Sam telling us what is best for us and making it law. Don't smoke. Soon it will be drinking....you know all of those spousal abuse cases, DUI's, etc. Fatty foods. Stay out of the sun too. We pay for too much cancer operations. Imagine what excuses will come from high healthcare costs when cigarettes are all gone.
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Drinking is already regualted to an extent.
Trans fats are on the list.

the point is that non-smokers have no choice but to inhale your smoke, add to that with out a filter, so we should all just suck it up and go where there are no smokers- oh wait that place doesn't exist in TN. I am all for people being able to smoke - if I don't have to breath that air - maybe they should have sealed rooms in public establishment for smokers, much like the airport???
 
#57
#57
CSpindizzy said:
Nothing better than having Uncle Sam telling us what is best for us and making it law. Don't smoke. Soon it will be drinking....you know all of those spousal abuse cases, DUI's, etc. Fatty foods. Stay out of the sun too. We pay for too much cancer operations. Imagine what excuses will come from high healthcare costs when cigarettes are all gone.
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Already been tried with disastrous results. It will not happen again in the lifetime of anyone who is presently living. Right now smoking is an acceptable target for the do-gooders. Clinton made it that way so if you want to blame someone...

TennTradition said:
I wonder how that line will be drawn. Almost all bars serve food. Do you think that it will be limited by the number of non-bar seats in an establishment??
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It will be drawn on whether or not they admit minors. We already have a law in Tennessee that prohibits smoking in places where children tend to be (schools, museums, zoos, etc.). This will be an extension of that. Most bar-'n-restaurant places will take the family and nonsmoker business over the smoker business.

I can hardly wait to visit a smoke-free bowling alley.
 
#58
#58
VOLracerx said:
the point is that non-smokers have no choice but to inhale your smoke
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sure they have a choice, they don't patronize establishments that permit smoking. I don't smoke, and I'm smart enough to be able to avoid smokers when I need to. The government doesn't need to step in and hold my hand.
 
#60
#60
Volitics said:
Business owners are perfectly capable of making the decision of whether to allow smoking on their own property - they don't need the government making the decision for them.
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A few years ago they banned smoking in restaurants and bars...Surprise, Surprise, i know, as i'm from Connecticut, but most bars added decks or patios where patrons could smoke and drink outside, some even have rooftop patios...

But, alas, the evil bar owners found a loophole in the law, so the anti-smoking groups are harping about this now.

I smoke, and i know it is bad for me, but, for the time being, I will continue to smoke. I don't smoke at the dinner table, or while others nearby are having dinner, out of respect to them. But at a bar, one that allows smoking, if the smoke really bothers you (despite the $$$ ventilation systems that they were made to install years ago), then find a non smoking bar. Or sit on your back porch rather than go out for a drink. I rarely go to 'bars' now anyhow, preferring either the K-Club (Polish Club in town), or the Moose, which are private establishments so smoking is allowed per the discretion of the club. But if Jim Jackson is the owner of the neighborhood pub, isn't it privately run as well, and smoking should be regulated at his discretion?
 
#61
#61
This happened here in Arizona a while back, and here is my idea:

Let the bars and restaurants decide if they allow smoking or not. The state could make up two different window decals to put on the doors (close to the Visa/Mastercard, Chamber of Commerce, and other decals).

One showing that smoking is allowed and one showing that smoking is not allowed. Now the owner can decide how to run their business, AND the consumer will have a choice, too.
 
#62
#62
If you don't want to smell smoke then don't goto places that allow smoking. If you don't want to do that then don't complain when someone lights up.
 
#63
#63
g8terh8ter_eric said:
If you don't want to smell smoke then don't goto places that allow smoking. If you don't want to do that then don't complain when someone lights up.
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Problem is, this makes too much sense for modern America. If something offends you, complain loud and hard. If .1% of people complain loud enough, than the other 99.9% will have to change their behavior to accomadate the much smaller, but much louder, .1%....sad fact, the inmates officially run the asylum...and i'm not talking about smoking, to prevent any statistical genius informing me that smokers do not constitute 99.9% of the population
 
#64
#64
JTrainDavis said:
Problem is, this makes too much sense for modern America. If something offends you, complain loud and hard. If .1% of people complain loud enough, than the other 99.9% will have to change their behavior to accomadate the much smaller, but much louder, .1%....sad fact, the inmates officially run the asylum...and i'm not talking about smoking, to prevent any statistical genius informing me that smokers do not constitute 99.9% of the population
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Yeah, common sense seems to not be an attribute of society anymore. I just wish people would stop being offended for people they don't even know and the government would stop protecting us from ourselves.
 
#65
#65
To all Tennesean smokers:

Thanks in advance for helping to fund the schools. Maybe property taxes will take a little dip. See ya'll at my soon-to-be smoke free favorite restaurants.
 
#66
#66
VolunteerHillbilly said:
To all Tennesean smokers:

Thanks in advance for helping to fund the schools. Maybe property taxes will take a little dip. See ya'll at my soon-to-be smoke free favorite restaurants.
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If you believe those first 2 lines, well...the politicians did their job.
 
#67
#67
Volitics said:
Perhaps I should have been more specific. Bredesen wants to ban smoking in ALL places of business (including private offices) and ALL restaurants.

The only question is are we going to stand idly by and let Bredesen take away the freedoms and liberties for which so many Americans have fought and died.
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he is taking ohio's lead on this they have already passed it. now they wonder why many little bars are closing up.
 
#68
#68
champyvol said:
he is taking ohio's lead on this they have already passed it. now they wonder why many little bars are closing up.
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I hear that Cincinnati is having a pretty difficult time with the smoking ban. But, that is to be expected because there are decent bars in Newport, KY that a lot of people are going to instead. Most of Tennessee won't have that particular problem....but I don't know what other effects are being seen throughout Ohio that could be seen in TN.
 
#69
#69
smoking will not be banned in litte bars so long as they do not admit anyone under the age of 21. It's all the nice, comfortable places where it will be banned. Enjoy the wooden barstools and stench of stale urine emanating from that dark hallway in the back of the bar.
 
#70
#70
TennTradition said:
I hear that Cincinnati is having a pretty difficult time with the smoking ban. But, that is to be expected because there are decent bars in Newport, KY that a lot of people are going to instead. Most of Tennessee won't have that particular problem....but I don't know what other effects are being seen throughout Ohio that could be seen in TN.
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i've noticed in toledo that many resturants and bars have closed. there are articles in the blade saying that buisness in some places has been down 20 to 40%. they just head to michigan probably.
 
#71
#71
JTrainDavis said:
Problem is, this makes too much sense for modern America. If something offends you, complain loud and hard. If .1% of people complain loud enough, than the other 99.9% will have to change their behavior to accomadate the much smaller, but much louder, .1%....sad fact, the inmates officially run the asylum...and i'm not talking about smoking, to prevent any statistical genius informing me that smokers do not constitute 99.9% of the population
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Another way of looking at it is that 1 person smoking in a restaurant can ruin the experience for every other person there.

If this weren't a health issue (- American Lung Association site, and just an annoyance, I'd agree that the government shouldn't step in. But we know second-hand smoke is harmful, and if the government didn't study its effects or try to implement change, we'd still be inhaling 2nd hand smoke and not realizing that it could be killing us. I mean, the government regulates our food source to ensure we don't eat bad meat or drink water with lead - why shouldn't they have a say on this issue that can cause cancer, asthma, and more?

I don't know each city or state's policy, but it seems an appropriate course of action isn't to ban smoking in these places but to either install ventilation systems that eliminate second-hand smoke (if you've been somewhere with these things, they work) or have completely separate areas for smokers and non-smokers. Smokers get to smoke, non-smokers who choose can avoid smoke. What's wrong with that?
 
#72
#72
sort of makes you wonder how our republic survived the 1950's and 60's. Everybody, it seemed, smoked. Contestants on game shows had ashtrays, news anchors frequently had lit cigarettes, Hollywood stars prominently displayed their butts. Yet somehow, with all that second hand smoke, America came through.
 
#73
#73
MG1968 said:
sort of makes you wonder how our republic survived the 1950's and 60's. Everybody, it seemed, smoked. Contestants on game shows had ashtrays, news anchors frequently had lit cigarettes, Hollywood stars prominently displayed their butts. Yet somehow, with all that second hand smoke, America came through.
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tough titty. back of the bus smokers
 
#75
#75
allvol123 said:
More like back of the bus common sense.
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Yes, allowing other people to poison the air that we all must breathe in the name of freedom of expression makes perfect sense. Using that logic we should all be allowed to spray cans of nerve gas inside public accomodations so long as the property owner allows it. :crazy:

Game. Set. Match. Smokers lose.
 
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