smokeitup! on Oct 31, 2008 11:58 am

i don't think that i have ever seen so many comments fueled by a misunderstanding of the issue before....i agree that smoking bans are absurd, but get your facts straight....im just going to go one by one from top to bottom and correct all the misunderstandings that were made....for the 3rd comment down.....they cannot ban smoking in your car as it is not a public place....its private property regardless of weather or not its leased or owned considering that it is titled in your name either way....rented cars they may be able to do that but the company will never make a complaint that you smoked in their cars because technically the fine is issued to the smoker and the owner...and the owner incurs a considerably larger fine so it would not be in their best interest to do so....if you would like to boycott the bans you can do so in a way that is legal and still makes a statement.....get a bunch of people together and stand outside the door of an establishment (the correct distance of course) and smoke that shit out so it still bothers all the bitchy assholes that voted yes on the smoking ban in the 1st place....show them that they have to face the fact that regardless of what they do this is our right and if they don't like it they can either stop breathing or ef off.....the 4th comment down....if this is the ohio ban that you are talking about your wrong about not being able to smoke in your apartment located in the same building as your business....once again your ‘home’ is your private property and as long as you are not smoking in your business you can smoke in your apartment because it is a separate entity.....also the ‘additives’ in cigarettes do make people sick but so does the tobbacco....if you think that you are just smoking leaves why would you buy a 4.50 dollar pack of ciggs.....just go rake your yard and roll that up and smoke it.....look on the side of your pack next time you buy one or go on Winston's website and see how much tar and nicotine is in your ciggs.....its in there because those are the products that come from burning tobacco leaves....8th down, good job! this should change their mind because if they do actually have to enforce it aside from just at their leisure it will eventually become way to expensive for them to find it effective anymore....good comment at the end too.....9th down, good point but alcohol is not a narcotic!.....and its definitely not a hallucinogen.....its a depressant and it slows down ones ability to react and for the brain to process things that's why its a danger when people drive drunk because the alcohol disables a persons reaction time to situations....as well as slowing down body functions and making it harder to control a vehicle.....10th down, good point and as well they have never done studies on second hand smoke that have actually been effective....the majority of second hand smoke comes from the exhale which they have to remember is filtered through the filter and through the smokers lungs..and i highly doubt they have someone chain smoking blowing it into a rats cage, its most likely an apparatus or just a lit cigg sitting there.....not really a realistic study....i feel everyone's pain here as im a smoker in ohio and it sucks to have to go out in the cold and not even be able to enjoy your smoke.....if everyone really wants to make a difference petition to get it overturned.....simple as that....it amazes me that when you go to a bar there's only like 2 people that aren't smoking and the rest of us are huddled outside smoking....ill put 1 million dollars down on the fact that the majority of people that voted yes to pass this issue don't even go to these establishments but have to feel power by controlling someone....which is bullsht

Rick Paxton on Jun 02, 2008 1:45 pm

I'm a non-smoker, but I can not believe how the government has infringed on the rights of Americans. I believe that private restaurant owners should be able to decide which legal activities they allow in their establishments, not the government. If people do not want to be around cigarette smoke, DO GO THERE?!?!?! I am all for repealing this stupid ban in any way that I can.

JD on Feb 20, 2008 2:53 am

The frightening thing about this ban is that it allows the government to say what you can and cannot do in your own private property. I live in the same building in which my business operates, and by this law I can be fined for smoking inside it... so basically, I am no longer legally able to smoke in my own home.

Since the smoking ban, I have suffered from bronchitis that developed into pnuemonia, which I feel is from having to stand outside in Jan and Feb so that I can enjoy a cigarette.

I have never been sick before. I smoke Winston Ultra Lights which have no additives because I believe it is the additives that make people get ill from smoking, not the tobacco-- which is just crumbled leaves, for goodness sake.

In my opinion, car exhaust is more hazardous than cigarette smoke.

The recent trend to pass laws to "protect" us from ourselves is just another step toward our once proud and free country becoming just another Totalitarian state. Bring on the Nazis, right? So long as it's for our own good.

David R Holmes on Jun 13, 2007 4:16 pm

Akron, OH June 2007 staus: less than one month after the new law began to be inforced 2 long time businesses dowtown have closed it's doors. Akron has went the extra mile and banned smoking in a large OUTDOOR area where the public is invited to free weekly concerts (called Lock 3), completely at the will of the mayor. There's no going back, is there? So wrong! I want to help repeal this insanity power tripping crap. HOW?

Eric Munson on May 22, 2007 11:20 pm

Independence Missouri recently enacted a smoking ban with no exceptions of any kind. Bars, private clubs, even cigarette/tobacco shops are now no smoking areas. The wording of the legislation even bans the use of incense for any reason (guess the Catholic church will have to get involved). Many of the bar owners have retained lawyers, who are working on finding a way to get the ban declared unconstitutional. Well, the ban does meet constitutional muster, unfortunately. So, we smokers in Independence are going to take a different tact. We are going to make the city enforce the ban to the letter. Any violation; whether it be someone smoking inside their own business after closing, a city employee smoking in a city vehicle, or a business that has not posted a "No Smoking" sign in accordance with the ordinance will get a complaint registered. The city's health department is responsible for enforcing the ban, and as such will soon be inundated with complaints that they are legally bound to investigate, and cite the violators. We plan to make this law such a hassle and such an expense to enforce, that the city will alter it or repeal it. So far, even K-Mart, Hardee's, several law firms, the US Post Office, and even the insurance agency owned by the man responsible for funding the drive to get the ban on the ballot in the first place have had complaints registered against them for failing to post "No Smoking" signs.

We may not have a constitutionally guaranteed right to smoke. But, neither does a person have a constitutionally guaranteed right to a smoke free environment.

NANCY BREWSTER on May 17, 2007 12:56 pm

I thought that I was an American living in America, more and more I am beginning to doubt it. It is creeping on us very slowly, our rights are being taken away. As far as secondhand smoke, naturally if you put a bunch of rats or any other animal together in an area that contains lots of cigarette smoke, they will get some form of disease or death. Also, back a few years, there was a statement from the surgeon general, that secondhand smoke was not as harmful as they thought. Most of my friends are non-smokers and they don't object to smokers, and I respect the fact that they don't want someone smoking in their homes, and I expect that I have a right to smoke, naturally there is a lot of places that is only common sense not to smoke there. Why do the people that voted on the smoking ban, hate me so much. I have been a decent citizen all my life. What right am I and other smokers going to lose next.