I was watching the news this morning while I was on the treadmill. They were covering this story about a town in California, called Calabasas.
What’s so special about that town? Well, it’s where Jessica Simpson lives. But that’s not what makes the town so special. The town has banned smoking in any place whatsoever. You can’t even smoke outside. You can’t smoke anywhere.
The reporters had asked people, who lived in the town, their opinions about the smoking ban. Gino Belson had just moved to the town last week, and he is now considering moving again. “To be outdoors and to be able to enjoy yourself and choose to smoke a cigarette or a cigar,” said Belson, a longtime smoker. “It’s your God-given right if you want to choose to kill yourself.”
I’d be slightly pissed if I moved to a town, and within a week, I find out that I’m not allowed to smoke anywhere in my town (that is if I were a smoker, but I’m not).
I just wonder how they came about the smoking ban in the entire town. Did everyone go to the town meeting and have a vote? Or did the town council just decide to vote on it themselves? It would be interesting to see how they came up with this decision. Was it a majority vote? How do you come up with a law that bans smoking in any public place?
NYC has a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, which is really great because we can go out, and not have to come home smelling like a cigarette. DC is working on the smoking ban to go into effect in 2007. But to ban smoking in public, that just seems a little harsh. I don’t quite get it.
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I just wonder how they came about the smoking ban in the entire town.
It started with one little ban for workplace safety, and then grew, and grew, and grew.
I’ll start the timer in January 07.
http://www.deafdc.com/blog/jul.....und-sorry/
Smoking, through secondhand smoke, harms the public’s safety and health. Even when done outdoors, smoke travels far. And don’t get me started on littering. Does Calabasas allow smoking in the privacy of your own home, or outside on your home’s porch? If no, wow. That’s the one area where I do support people’s right to inflict idiocy upon themselves (provided, of course, that it doesn’t cause harm unto others).
People’s individual rights versus public safety; this is a no-brainer to me.
Who are you to call smokers Idiots. What gives your the right to be so damn closed minded. I take offense because I am a smoker. Maybe you are the healthiest person in the world but if your not then Im sure you have your own bad habits. I by no means agree with blowing smoke in peoples faces but I know there are people who do. The point is that smoking is a habit that people have and they dont need people like you throwing your little comments out about what your think.
Julie is right. There was a recent study showing how incredibly harmful second-hand smoke is. I know I can smell smoke from 20-25 feet away, so there is no doubt in my mind that I am inhaling smoke when I smell it, and that puts me at risk. 20-25 feet is certainly around the distance of many front porches to the sidewalk. Alcoholics have the right to inflict harm on themselves, yes. Heroin users, yes. Smoking is different because it harms the public. It’s a no-brainer to me too - smoking should be banned in ALL public places, including the outside (no matter who owns said outside property).
Another thought - from a legal perspective, smoking is not a right; it is a privilege. I had to do an analysis on this topic in one of my prelaw classes, and my finding was that smoking is a privilege that can be revoked at any time. My prof agreed, saying that the case law and precedents support this.
In my personal opinion - I am getting tired of the hubris of smokers who angrily proclaim that they have the right to smoke. NO, THEY DO NOT.
I’ve seen other people smoke in parking lots, on sidewalks, 1 foot from entrances to buildings, stores and malls and I always have to hold my breath and run inside since I’m allergic to smoking. Smokers have NO respect for anyone and they do not have a right to kill other people, including children and animals with second-hand passive smoking. I totally agree with this smoking ban and I’d love to live in a town with with this law in effect!
There was an article about the Calabasas ban this morning in the LAT: http://www.latimes.com/news/lo.....-headlines
According to the article, there will be procedures for setting up designated smoking areas in public. Also, residences, backyards, patios, and the like will be okay as long as they don’t abut a common area. So it’s not a complete, total ban on smoking everywhere in Calabasas, but it’s definitely intended to curtail smoking and secondhand smoke where possible. Will be interesting to see how this one plays out…
In response to Jenny’s comments, I would like to point out that Jenny’s way of thinking is one of the perfect examples of how our freedom is slowly detriotrating here in this country. How is she doing that? She represents a certain majority of people *ahem* who strive to take away our rights as citizens.
Ex: Animal rights groups rally to stop people from consuming meat and poultry products. While their cause is a noble one, it is just… silly.
Ex: Environmental activists protest against the contamination of our lands and use of oil. All the while, they drive trucks.
Believe me when I say this, if smoking didn’t reek - Jenny would have not said these things. Period.
In addition, I’d like to point out that if it weren’t for the tobacco giants, meat and poultry meatpacking plants, oil companies, etc… - many of us would not have jobs. These companies help make our economy flourish.
By shutting down these companies, Jenny - what would you have us do? Pick out daisies and sing songs?
She also contradicted herself by comparing smoking to drinking. It is proven that drinking is far more dangerous than smoking, because it has caused car accidents and claimed the lives of many human beings.
On a light note, I definitely support the idea of smoking ban in the bars and restaurants! :)
By the way, I am a cigarette-smoking carnivore who drives a SUV. But hey, I hold a decent job, donate money to charities and pay taxes. Thanks.
http://www.nbc5i.com/news/8169246/detail.html
The Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission sent a message to bar patrons last week.
TABC agents and Irving police swept through 36 Irving bars and arrested about 30 people on charges of public intoxication. Agency representatives say the move came as a proactive measure to curtail drunken driving.
North Texans interviewed by NBC 5, however, worried that the sweep went too far.
At one location, for example, agents and police arrested patrons of a hotel bar. Some of the suspects said they were registered at the hotel and had no intention of driving. Arresting authorities said the patrons were a danger to themselves and others.
In response to Carninvore…
Let’s leave personal opinion and the health effects out of this for a minute and simply look at the legal aspect of smoking.
Your right to drive a SUV and to eat meat is not under dispute here. Please do not lump me in with other people who seek to narrow what Americans can do.
In the eyes of the law, smoking is a PRIVILEGE, not a right. Therefore, it can be limited, and yes, even revoked. There is case law that shows this. (It’s packed away in one of several boxes that got packed when I changed fields, and I’m a secure enough person that I don’t need to spend hours looking through boxes just so I can cite specific cases and legal authors to prove this point.) However, for many reasons, mostly political and financial, the federal government as well as some state governments, are not about to take smoking away, which answers your sarcastic question about “picking daisies.” But they CAN, because smoking is NOT a legal right.
The comparison between smoking and drinking was done purely from a legal standpoint. Drinking is a privilege. So is smoking. No comparison of health risks nor danger to others was made. Please do not get into Prohibition and how it was repealed thanks to the Mafia. Smoking is probably not going to be banned by the federal government for many of the same reasons Prohibition was eventually repealed, but the point remains. Both are privileges, not rights, and as such can be regulated.
I am pretty amazed by the controversy and discussion on smoking. I am a non- smoker and I am asthmatic.
1.I go to a bar and have had to frantically search for my inhaler, thanks to the smoke around!Is that fair? So what will you now tell me- “don’t go to bars where smoking is allowed.” Why??!
2.Nothing wrong in comparing it to drinking- you can drink in bars BUT you can’t drink & drive. Why? Because it is a threat to public safety.Similarly for smoking..it IS a threat to public health.
3.Maybe smokers don’t quite realize the effect of their smoking in public- tell me is it fair that my brathing is effected for 1/2 hr because you like smoking?? Why should I pay a price for your quirks?
4. And please, don’t compare it to factories & cars!!!While, I agree that it would be awesome to control the air pollution thanks to them , but hey,cars and factories are not a personal choice- they are mostly neccessities. Now tell me smoking is a neccessity:)
I have friends who smoke but they always were considerate of us non- smokers and woulod step out, if required.
Nick Lachey
I live in a condominium complex with a walkway going past each apartment door from one end to the other. I have always been able to keep my door open, with just my screen door closed for three years, enjoying the warm fresh air of Florida.
A couple of months ago, the owner of the apartment next door to me rented it to two chain smokers who are retired and in their seventies. They have both had strokes. They invite a friend over, and they sit outside on the walkway and smoke all morning and afternoon, so I have to keep my door shut to keep the smoke out of my apartment. The owner of their apartment of course will not allow them to smoke inside the apartment, he doesn’t want a smoke smell on his furniture or walls. OK, I guess, if it gets all over mine.
I have to walk through their smoke to get to the stairs. These people have no regard for not only their own lives, but the lives of others. They are only concerned with their own comfort level and enjoying themselves. They have no problem complaining if someone else makes a lot of noise, as apparently, they feel it is not ok for THEM to be annoyed. People like these make me sick both figuratively and literally.
My father died from emphysema, and it is a horrible way to die, you actually suffocate from lack of oxygen because your lungs cannot release the carbon dioxide and therefore oxygen cannot get into your lungs.
I guess the fact that these people smoke indicates their intelligence level, which explains their complete lack of consideration for others. Although I have known retarded people with better manners.
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