Letter to editor on smoking

[Lobzi]

Quote:
Same for perfumes and anything else that "invades" another's space and therefore their comfort and health.

 

[SewingDiva]

Quote:
I think this really at the heart of the matter when it comes to public smoking. This is a public health issue and the government has a legitimate right to regulate a matter related to public health.

A few years ago I stood on a street corner. As I looked left to check the oncoming traffic before I crossed the street, a smoker walked right up next to me and blew an entire lungs worth of smoke right in my face and I inhaled the entire cloud. After a coughing fit (I don’t smoke, never have) I exploded at him, and he said something feeble about "having a legal right to smoke". I said to him, "I don't care if you destroy your health but you have no right to destroy mine." My lungs hurt for an hour.

This issue will always be a battle I guess.

Phyllis

 

[birdnutz]

First of all let me say,Joebryant-In respect of you I would never smoke in your house,even if you told me I could. Yours is now a non-smoking household. Terrielacy,I always make sure that I stand down wind of a non smoker. I agree that a non smoker has the right not to breath second hand smoke. It is unhealthy and I also wish to quit. I don't see how the smell on my clothes is a health concern though. If a business has posted a no smoking sign I have no problem with that. As they have made that choice as the owner of the business. That is their RIGHT to do so. There's a business in town (my feed store) that allows smoking. I have smoked in there,but when another customer has come in I've put out my cigarette.
The perfume is one that is always over looked. My DIL sprays so much that it fills my house up. To me it smells like raid. I do have allergies and it does trigger them. Also my parrots start sneezing. Having birds in my house has made me aware of alot of pollutants. No arisols are sprayed in the house,no teflon pans(cast iron is my choice) no perfumes etc. It always amazes me that some one worries about 2nd hand smoke then goes out and starts their car and goes home and cooks in a teflon pan while spraying Febreexe to make their house smell pretty. Anyway I'm getting way off topic here. My letter pertains to the rights of the property owner. Not my choice to smoke.

 

[HennyPennies2007]

Here is my complaint... here in Oklahoma they tax the snot out of wine. They say it's a sin tax... we are in the Bible belt... blah blah blah. A bottle of wine that would cast me ten bucks in California, costs me sixteen bucks here. OK now the way I see it is.... it's OK to "sin" as long as the government gets six bucks out of it. The government is getting paid for people to go to hell? What a clusterflop.

Now that I think about it... they did the same thing with cigarettes in Ca. The government is in our pants... I'm telling ya... one of these days we are going to have to ask permission from the government to use the restroom.

 

[LilRalphieRoosmama]

I'm a smoker and still remember when we could smoke in the office, grocery store, bank, etc and I am actually glad that we can't anymore. It was just the norm and we never thought about offending/hurting the ones who didn't. I have a sunroom in my house where I smoke (and sit as I type this) but I would never smoke or allow anyone else to smoke in any other room of my house and would never smoke in someone else's.

At first I was upset when they banned smoking in all restaurants, bars, etc but found that I don't mind it in restaurants. I do have a problem with the bars though if they don't have a separate section. I've seen so many go out of business and it's sad. I feel the owners should have the right to do what they wish and allow it or not. If people don't like it, then they can go elsewhere but the owners should be able to decide which group they prefer to cater to. At the one bar we frequent, on any given night you can walk in and see nobody inside except the bartender. Everyone else is outside smoking and drinking. That to me is just silly. If everyone in the bar smokes, then they should be allowed to do it inside. All it does is hurt the owner.

Oh - and in Ohio we have a "sin" tax too. They also tax the snot out of all alcohol and cigarettes. It was originally started to fund the new stadium, which it did, and now we can't smoke in it - anywhere. We PAID for it! And the sin tax is still in effect...That's a SIN.

 

[birdnutz]

Casper,Wy passed a total ban last year. Every bartender in the city went and applied for partial unemployment. They then revamped the code to allow smoking in bars. If they pass a total ban in Wyoming you'll be allowed to smoke outside of the bar,but heres the kicker, you would violate an open container law if you took your drink outside. The last law they tried to pass made private clubs exempt from the law. So you couldn't smoke in the bar with other adults,but join the Moose,bring your children,drink,smoke and be merry. Of course it didn't pass.
The goverment also subsidizes the tobacco industry.

 

[JennsPeeps]

DBF and I recently went to the ballet. The couple next to us were HEAVY smokers. They smelled so bad that we asked to be moved to new seats. It affected not only us, but the others around this couple and the concert hall, who had to accomodate us. Our real concern is that ours are season tickets, and it's highly likely that they will be next to us at the next performance.

My rights to swing my arm end where your face begins. So yes, smoking is a personal choice but when it negatively affects others, that right ends.

ETA: I always make sure that I'm upwind of a smoker and downwind from people when I have to break wind. Just like I'd rather be upstream of a sewage treatment plant, and downstream from a chocolate factory!

 

[birdnutz]

By the same token,if I'm sitting next to someone that is wearing heavy perfume or has bad BO. Is this an infringement on my rights? Or is a choice I make to move to a different seat so I'm not offended?
I know that smoking is a choice. The question I was asking is"Does the government have the right to pass laws that restrict what someone allows in their own place of business." If so then where does the infringement end?

 

[Easter_pink_silkies]

Lurky i love your sig!

 

[horsejody]

The problem isn't about other patrons in establishments that allow smoke. They can always go to another business. The issue is the safety of the employees' health. It's easy to say that they can just go work some place else, but that is not always true. Back during the industrial revolution people worked in atrocious conditions. The machinery was dangerous, and they were exposed to toxic conditions. The business owners' arguments were that, if they didn't like the conditions, they could go work someplace else. Finally, safety laws were passed for the protection of the workers. Cigarette smoke may not be as dangerous as some of the old time machinery and the toxins that used to be in the work place, but any lung cancer patient or family member can tell you that cigarettes are deadly and that expecting others to tolerate 2nd hand smoke is wrong. My husband's grandfather didn't smoke, but he died a horrible death from lung cancer. But maybe that's OK because his employers got to run their business their way, and his co-workers and customers got to exercise their right to poison.