actor_au wrote:
If I injected a syringe filled with acid into my heart, cut my arms off, drank poison, drank fifteen bottles of vodka or went to a concert for any cast member from Australian Idol and somehow lived I would be sent to a hospital until I was mentally better and less suicidal.
But if I inhaled toxic smoke on a daily basis people will stand up for my rights to do it?
Seems an odd double standard.
No, I support your right to suicide too. Also legalized pot. So why would I be in favor of the slow criminalization of tobacco ... ?
We've already established that it's legal to buy and smoke tobacco, and we've had separate smoking/non sections for years. These new laws make no sense, except as a tool to marginalize smokers.
Herbal Enema wrote:
There was nothing in the rules stating that the 'non-smoking' section had to be bigger than the 'smoking' section. If the bar has a non-smoking section that met the requirements, then more power to it.
Sounds like your town has a more reasonable policy than mine, though I do wonder about the requirement for a totally separate ventilation system. Here, "smoking section" means <i>"an outdoor area no less than 20 feet from any enclosed area"</i>. Otherwise, we've managed to prohibit smoking indoors anywhere except homes, private clubs, hotel rooms, and smoke shops.
Quote:
We're the only patrons in there. Someone comes in a lights a cigarette, does the whole restaurant suddenly become smoking?
Also:
Do you need to breathe?
Do you need to smoke?
Well, in that situation the restaurant has a policy of allowing smokers. So apparently, it always was a smoking establishment. A fact that in real life you would probably smell when you entered.
A little smoke isn't stopping me from breathing. You (presumably) and I can both still breath if the air has a little smoke in it. You WANT smoke free air for the same reason a smoker WANTS smoke; you both think it will make your dinner better.
A typical set of lungs comes with all kinds of cilia and mucus to keep bad stuff out. Unless you're living or working every day with a smoker, a whiff of smoke is doing you no more harm than anything else in this dangerous, dangerous, world of ours.
Your brother NEEDS smoke-free air, and to what extent we should to legislate about other people's property and business to support his needs is a different ball of wax.
Re: Enforcement
Columbus's ban states that the health department (not the police) will issue violations after receiving two citizen complaints of the business allowing smokers. (Hooray for narcs...) I'm not sure what other cities do.