Smoking Ban

I think it will be very hard to enforce, and yes money does buy you anything you want.

I think they should have met in the middle & allow desinated smoking areas, or smoking bars, etc

 

I agree with Craig, but we already had the ability to create nonsmoking bars. They just were not as profitable because the bar next door allowed smoking. I like the fact that everywhere else is non-smoking. Because no matter how far you sit away from the smoking section many places still smell like smoke or the smoke lingers over into the non-smoking section. At that point I did not have a choice, if I wanted to eat at that resturant, my kids and I were going to get second hand smoke. They should have made it legal to smoke outside of an establishment, but then you run into the fact that everyone will be standing out front or you will have bars going to the extremes they have in England. They have a smoking ban, to combat it the bars have cut holes in the wall so smokers can just hang their head outside to smoke. Necessity is always the mother of invention... /site/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/_default/emoticons/biggrin.gif

As for the casinos, that is complete CRAP!!! If anyone wants to get rid of this law, they built the way to kill it right in. No judge would uphold a violation if the state can not prove why they thought casino employees and customers should not have the same health rights of those in bars. That was why they built this law, to protect the health of employees and patrons. In my experiance there is always more employees and patrons in a casino. People at casinos typically spend more time there also. I guess there must be a price tag on public health...

 

I love it, but then again, I don't go to bars anymore anyway /site/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/_default/emoticons/wink.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0"> Smoking seems to go hand in hand with drinking, so I'm sure it sucks for those who like to do  that. For those who go just to socialize and have a few beers/drinks and hate smoke, it will be great. I agree, casinos shouldn't be exempt, that's a two faced law if I ever saw one /site/DesktopModules/NTForums/themes/_default/emoticons/sad.gif" align="absmiddle" border="0">

 

I'll admit that I smoke, though not as much as I used to. I happen to be one of those rare smokers who would like to see eating establishments made non-smoking but bars and casinoes should be allowed to do what the owner choses. Not sure I understand why smoking has been singled out this way. It's not illegal like, say marijuana. And if the true concern is to protect the health of others in the establishment, including employees, well they have a choice to enter or not. I can see the day coming very soon where other things get banned from areas. Pretty sure McDonalds has contributed to enough deaths by now. Or how about banning all cars that do not meet pollution standards for current production cars. Or make it illegal to water your lawn - ever! We're gonna run out of water according to the latest reports. Or how about sport hunting and fishing only be allowed if you eat all that you kill. The list goes on and on...

And back to my earlier comment... why is marijuana illegal? How does it differ from nicotine, really? Admittedly it is stronger and impares judgement, but so does alcohol. Maybe it should just be illegal to drive under the influence of marijuana. What gives the government the right to "protect us" by making it illegal? I love living in the US but when did I start paying them to make decisions like this?

 

Remember all those people that pass our laws we vote in. If we do not like a decision we need to be calling our local representative. I have called them a few times about getting safety inspections passed in Iowa for cars. They dont seem to listen much but my voice is heard.

 

Lucky for me it doesn't make a difference.... but I do think it's crap... if people don't want to smell like smoke then don't go nobody is making you. Kinda like the law requiring you to wear a seatbelt...it should be your own choice if your "driving" alone.

 

yeah, i wonder how many lunches and drinks at those lunches they all had, before they jumped in their cars to get back to the office on the days they were brainstorming this idea.

i can see wanting to protect non smokers and giving them the right to clean air, but in my opinion they have no right to outlaw it in all establishments.

the way i see it there should be establishments that are smoking and nonsmoking, the whole building.

the sign on the door says, you dont smoke? we dont care.

the other doors sign could say, come on in and live.

it was bound to happen.

 

Segregated establishments... Where have I heard of that before?

 

I think the whole thing is crap, if the people in Washington can't find anything wrong with this country other than a smoking ban they can feel free to give me a jingle and I'll point out a few things. It would be nice if the government would stop pissing away tax money for stupid crap like this. Work on something that "needs" to be fixed like hey lets work on fixing the 3 something a gallon gas prices or feed our hungry and homeless, maybe we could stop trying to save the world by going to war with everyone and take a look at home....cause my picture of home doesn't look so hot. It gets really irritating when people have millions to blog the tv's full of crap filled ad's so they can be the next president and we have billions to have wars for other countries who could care less about our country and it's ok? People in America cant even find a job that pays enough to feed there families and keep a home anymore and the rich just keep getting richer.....what happens when the working class stops working because it costs them more to go to work than to stay home, this country is rolling down a huge crap hill, hopfully something will change the tumble

 

Posted By glaspie69 on 04/17/2008 5:15 PM
I think the whole thing is crap, if the people in Washington can't find anything wrong with this country other than a smoking ban they can feel free to give me a jingle and I'll point out a few things. It would be nice if the government would stop pissing away tax money for stupid crap like this. Work on something that "needs" to be fixed like hey lets work on fixing the 3 something a gallon gas prices or feed our hungry and homeless, maybe we could stop trying to save the world by going to war with everyone and take a look at home....cause my picture of home doesn't look so hot. It gets really irritating when people have millions to blog the tv's full of crap filled ad's so they can be the next president and we have billions to have wars for other countries who could care less about our country and it's ok? People in America cant even find a job that pays enough to feed there families and keep a home anymore and the rich just keep getting richer.....what happens when the working class stops working because it costs them more to go to work than to stay home, this country is rolling down a huge crap hill, hopfully something will change the tumble  I agree with every word Jason.  Bravo

 

Posted By Travis on 04/17/2008 4:37 PM
Segregated establishments... Where have I heard of that before?
theres a big difference between forced segregation and your choice of entering an establishment.
now if you want to bring up a word, lets bring up freedom.
im not talking rights, im talking freedoms.
heres the real question you should have asked,
freedoms lost, where has that happened before.
i think everyone has a right to clean air, but they dont have a right to go anywhere and demand it.

 

They ban smoking in public and then turn around and want build coal burning plants in our backyards.....makes a lot of sense to me.
Personally i don't smoke cigarettes and think it will be nice to be able to go to certain establishments and not stink like a chimney when i leave. On the other hand if i own a bar or restaurant i think it should be my choice if i want to make it smoking or not, it shouldn't be up to the government to tell people where they can and cannot smoke as long as it's a legal substance. As far as not including casinos in the ban I feel is a total bunch of crap.

Just another way for big brother to keep you couped up hiding in your basement to get your fix. As long as you are out of sight to them, the problem has gone away.

 

Posted By glaspie69 on 04/17/2008 5:15 PM
I think the whole thing is crap, if the people in Washington can't find anything wrong with this country other than a smoking ban they can feel free to give me a jingle and I'll point out a few things. It would be nice if the government would stop pissing away tax money for stupid crap like this. Work on something that "needs" to be fixed like hey lets work on fixing the 3 something a gallon gas prices or feed our hungry and homeless, maybe we could stop trying to save the world by going to war with everyone and take a look at home....cause my picture of home doesn't look so hot. It gets really irritating when people have millions to blog the tv's full of crap filled ad's so they can be the next president and we have billions to have wars for other countries who could care less about our country and it's ok? People in America cant even find a job that pays enough to feed there families and keep a home anymore and the rich just keep getting richer.....what happens when the working class stops working because it costs them more to go to work than to stay home, this country is rolling down a huge crap hill, hopfully something will change the tumble
I am writting your name in this November!!! 

 

There are many non-smoking bars in Des Moines, and they do just fine next to, under, and on top of smoking bars. It has been and should be a market-driven issue.

 

So I heard a rumor about this last night at the bar that some bars are going to charge a membership fee every year to come in there bar for like a dollar that way they could be considered a private organization and allow smoking in the building but I dont know how much truth to this there really is. I can tell you from working at a bar that owners of most bars in cedar rapids are FREAKING OUT!!!
I personallly think it is a great idea because I smoke and I would love to quit but it is so hard when everywhere you go there is cigarettes. I think eventually cigarettes will be illegal all together but they do it in these small waves of banning them to generate fines and tickets people would get and then later totally ban them everywhere. If they made cigarettes illegal in all the states at once the government would not make near as much money from people breaking that law as they do spanning it over 10-20 years. Kindof like they will never make marijuana legal becuase it generates way to much money through fines and arrests. When a large drug bust with hundreds and thousands of dollars and product get seized where do you think that goes?

 

Posted By Phathead on 04/24/2008 11:39 AM
So I heard a rumor about this last night at the bar that some bars are going to charge a membership fee every year to come in there bar for like a dollar that way they could be considered a private organization and allow smoking in the building but I dont know how much truth to this there really is.


I was reading about that in the paper last week and the "MAN" pretty much has all the loopholes covereved up in that aspect.  If I remember correctly the law still applies as long as there are paid employees working there.  So even at the local amvets, legion, elks lodge, etc.... you won't be able to smoke if anyone on staff is a paid employee.  

 

hmm so even private golf course bars... No more cigars at the 19th hole...

 

Yep, at least that's the way I understood it when I read it in the paper.