SMOKING BAN, what do you think?

[flo]

Now, for you people that think this is about how smoking hurts your body and how much second hand smoke bothers you, JUST HOLD YOUR HORSES AND PUT ON YOUR BRAKES.  This is about what do you think?  Should city government have the right to tell private business owners how to run their businesses? If so, how long till they can come into your home and tell you what you can and cannot do there also?  I personally think that private business owners should have the right to allow or not allow smoking.  If smoking bothers a person, then there are plenty "non-smoking" establishments they can patronize.  Thank you for your time and I'm sure I've opened up a can of worms.

[Teresa]

Well you KNOW I can't keep my mouth shut.. so I'll tell you what my opinion is.

I think that you should be able to do whatever you want to in your home and in your own business. If you own it, you should be able to call the rules and whatever rules you have made ..those that are in your home or business will abide by those rules or ......go elsewhere.
I do think that most smokers out there are more than considerate to the majority of the public and the non smokers. I have seen lots of people hold their cigarettes away from others while smoking. And cigarettes and liquor are taxed out the yazoo... and I don't think that is fair. But that is another issue.

I could go on and on and on.. but I won't.
In fact I erased a huge part of this.. and I will just keep it simple and to the point.
You are welcome for that! 

[Joanna]

Well, my folks would never believe this, but I think that the business owners should have the authority to decide if their establishment is smoking or non.  I hate cigarette smoke, it actually makes me ill.  I think it's because I grew up in a smoking home.  My brother and I still have trouble believing that my sister took up smoking, because we hated it so much! 

But that doesn't mean that I think I'm the boss of everyone else in the building... unless it's my building .  Even then, when I'm around smokers, I try to be gracious.  But, like you've already pointed out, most all are very considerate of others and always wait till they are outdoors or back in their vehicle to light up.  When we go out to eat at my folks' favorite restaurant, they make an effort to keep the smoke away from me as much as possible.  I believe that most of the smokers I know are just as courteous.

I'm never going to like smoking, and if I have a free choice I'll chose a non-smoking establishment to do business in.  Many times I've decided against going to a certain place because I'm not up to dealing with the smoke; bingo, bars or restaurants come to mind.  I do believe that it should be the business owners that make that decision though. Government should not be interfering in personal lives and businesses to this extent.

[Judy Harder]

I wasn't going to add my two cents to this, but my fingers have a mind of their own and seem to want to comment.

I was a smoker for 33  years give or take...........my choice and I have been smoke free for,Seven years, five months, two days, 13 hours, 57 minutes and 26 seconds. 94870 cigarettes not smoked, saving $15,653.37. Life saved: 47 weeks, 9 hours, 50 minutes.
= and I am proud that I  manage to keep myself smoke free.


I didn't develop cancer till I had been smoke free almost 3 years. But, I know that the smoke, cigarettes and that junk is what caused my cancer. Mine was of the soft tissue of the mouth about where tonsils are suppose to be if you have any.

I believe each of us should have the say in whether we smoke or not and all the other issues that THEY want to tell us we can't do.

For some strange reason when someone tells me I can't do something, I want to go do it anyway.........I DON'T CARE IF IT IS GOING TO BITE ME........it should be my choice. Yes it does help to use brains that God gave us.

Each time government takes away one freedom, than the next time they go after another freedom we just shake our heads and let it happen. (LOOK AT OUR GAS SITUATION)

Smoking is an addiction and we all know that. Addictions must be dealt with. But, I don't want anyone coming into my home or my business and telling me that I can't smoke...or drink or eat or take a deep breath or well I could go on and on and on.

So, there are my two cents......now for someone else...
Oh, I want to admit that I am so happy that I can smell the flowers and even tho my allergies won't let me have cut flowers in the house..........that doesn't stop me from taking a whiff or two when I am outside.
Smoking stinks and so do smokers.....but I still sit in the smoking area when I go to cafe. MY CHOICE!

[frawin]

I, like Judy was going to pass on this one, but felt that I had to at least give my opinion on the subject. It is going on 10 years since I  had a cigarette or an alcoholic drink . I smoked for almost 40 years, I tried to quit many, many many times with no success. The biggest incentitive that made me quit was my first grandchild. My oldest son and his wife neither one could stand cigarette smoke,. They were visiting us when she was pregnant with our first Grandchild, I light a cigarette and she stomped her feet and said"I can't believe you are going to keep smoking those cigarettes and shorten your life where you can't enjoy this Grandson I am caring for you that you keep saying you want so bad". Well that was it, I made up my mind right then that I was going to quit and shortly after I did and I am so thankful that I was able to do it. I am so much better off physically and in everyway. I am 67 years old with no signs of heart problem no signs of emphysema or cancer. I can walk all day and Quail hunt, I love bird hunting and have a great birddog. I jusyt recently completed many heart and breathing tests and my heart Dr says I am in great shape and no signs of damage from years of smoking, thank the Lord. In addition my wife has  some heart  and breathing problems and can't stand smoking at all so that makes me more thankful that I don't smoke. I am the youngest of 15 Children, I have lost two brothers to causes probably related to smoking and I have lost 2 sisters that both had lung cancer and emphysema, I have another sister on Oxygen and 2 more that will probably be on Oxygen in the near future. One of my sisters said "I am coming to see you" and I told we would love to have her visit but she could not smoke in the house, she said in that case I am not coming, I told her that was her choice.
I strongly believe that non-smokers have more right to clean air than smokers have the right to pollute it. There is no question that smoking is bad for the smoker and the non-smoker, industry statistics show that smoking is the cause of more sickness in those that smoke and those that are subjected to it. My greatest regret is all of the years I smoked in the car and house and Myrna and the kids had to endure it and suffer and I know there is probably some lasting damage to them for it.
I think we should double the tax on cigarettes and alcohol and continue to raise the tax until nonone can afford either of them How can someone be opposed to a tax on something that does as much damage as cigarettes. With reduced smoking we can raise more food products on the lands that now raise tobacco. In recent years the government has subsidized the Tobacco Farmer, how dumb is that.
I think back over the friends and family that I have lost as a result of smoking and it saddens me very much.
I lost a sister last month to Cancer and emphysema and I went to Topeka to visit her in Hospice House 2 days before she died and it is a scene that I will  never forget. I told one of my sisiters that smokes that I wish she would go to Hospice House and spend one day and it would make her think about quitting.
Enough on that subject from me.
Frank

[Lookatmeknow!!]

I am also from a family that smokes.  I used to try it now and then, but to tell you the truth it really bothers my allergies.  But I think that business owners should have the right to decide if they want to be smoke free or not.  I think that Toot's is smoke free now and I know that Lannings is, too.  I also think Poplar might be.  But that is their choice.  I dont think that the Government should be allowed to tell the business owners what they can and can't do.  I mean, I know first hand, businesses seem to already have alot of regulations that they have to follow, many good, but some just bad!!!  Of course, me being a daycare there is no smoking, but never had a problem with that!!  But I do have many rules and regulations that I must follow, some good and some bad.  But to tell them they have to ban smoking in there facility is CRAZY!!!

[flo]

Now, for you people that think this is about how smoking hurts your body and how much second hand smoke bothers you, JUST HOLD YOUR HORSES AND PUT ON YOUR BRAKES.  

many of you forgot to read the first line.  Great that you have quit, etc etc.  I want to know your opinion on whether or not you think government has a right to tell a private business owner what they can and cannot do in THEIR OWN BUSINESS.  If they can, then what is their next step? Your Home? Your Car? Your Yard? That business owner bought that business, built it up, pay their taxes, meet numerous govermental rules and regulations, now they're told who to serve and who to not? think about it, folks.

[frawin]

I think Smoking should be banned in all buildings, Public and Private. If people want to smoke in their homes that is up to the individual. I agree that the government gets involved in many facets of our life, and while I don't always agree with some of the rules I know that we have to have rules to protect the masses from the vices of the few. I often hear people complain about government intervention and rules from the government being bad. What is good and what is bad is in the eyes of the beholder, what is good and bad depends on "WHOSE OX IS BEING GORED". Not everyone is going to be for every law and rule mandated by the government but every rule and law has been beneficial to some. Our duly elected officials, elected by a majority of the people make the rules, that is a democracy.
Frank

[Wilma]

Doesn't that depend on the definition of "private business"  If the "private business" hires workers, it isn't so private any more.  If it serves the public, it definitely is not private.  Here I need to go back and read Flo's post once again, excuse me for a moment.!@#$%^&*()+  ok, I'm back.  Maybe as the proprietor of a private business that serves the public, they should be allowed to decide about the smoking issue.  But, now, I know that if there is a choice, I will not do business where I have to put up with second hand smoke.  And if I feel that way, don't you think enough other people do to, that it would hurt the business to allow smoking? 

Does the government has a right to try to the protect the health of it's citizens by banning smoking indoors?  I would say yes, because in the long run the health of these citizens is costing the government.  It has already cost the government for sick days I had to take because a co-worker smoked at his desk which was upwind from mine.  I haven't had strep throat since the government banned smoking in their buildings.

I am sure that if the cost of allowing smoking were taken into consideration, many, many more people would say no smoking.  I know that as a landlord, there was more cleaning and repairs needed on a home after smokers moved out than when non-smokers had lived there.  And the smell is atrocious.  How can you stand to be close to a smoker even when they are not smoking.  They stink.

[Bonnie M.]

Smoking in any building (other than your own home) in a non-issue in California.  It's not allowed.  Period!  And, there are very few complaints!  You actually get used to being "smoke-free" in a hurry!  Many restaurants have outdoor seating to accomodate the people who want to smoke.