TheAgitator.com
Over My Dead, Shriveled, Cancer-Blackened Body
Friday, October 17th, 2003Here come the nannies. The anti-smoking crusade has now firmly set its sites on Washington, D.C.
I don’t smoke. I have a pipe at home, which I smoke about once every couple of months, alone, because I think pipes are far too pretentious to smoke in public. Nevertheless, I’ll fight this ban tooth and nail. Foremost because of the principle of personal liberty. But also because, as Gene Healy said today, “I just think smoky bars look cooler, atmospherically.”
At least two D.C. city council members are already on board. Mayor Williams looks as if he’s ready to follow suit.
Wanna’ know who’s behind the effort to strip D.C. residents of their tobacco rights?
Say it with me, altogether now….
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
A $250,000 grant.
When They say “workplace” what They mean is “bars and restaurants”. You see, even waitresses deserve a smokefree workplace (as I rack my brains for an example of a waitress of my acquaintance who doesn’t smoke).
Rise up! Fight!
Michael Tinkler
Non-smoking Resident of the Smoke-Free State of New York
“Tobacco rights” seems a little huffy.
I scramble to try to find places where I don’t have to breathe others’ cigarettes.
Bars: out.
Casinos: out.
Many mom and pop restaurants: out.
Anywhere that won’t seat me exactly where I want to sit (far away as possible): out
It’s kinda funny – I’m a little-l libertarian (about to attend a function in about 30 minutes), but the smoking thing is a big deal to me. You really can’t avoid it in social situations. And everyone says, “oh, just don’t go those places.”
I don’t go those places. And often people think I’m a bit off/odd for standing up for my convictions.
That being said, and invoking my little-l libertarian spiel (because I believe it), until we’re certain secondhand smoke harms people other than me, it shouldn’t be outlawed in bars and restaurants. And the minute it is proven, the 70 some odd percent of us who choose not to poison ourselves should not be made to ingest the other 23 some odd percent’s poison.
And if it’s too smoky (read: we’re in the smoking section for this event), I’ll just leave and pick my husband up later.
And everyone can continue to think me weird. Funny what a cardiovascular exercise fetish, oral cancer, and bad fall adult-onset allergies will do to an individual.
(So, in short, I agree with you and hate doing so, but I must because I’m too damned rational).
hln
Second hand smoke is about as bad for you as the air already is in D.C. in the summer-time anyway. If it’s about health, I say there be a law we can’t go outside.
There is also an article in this week’s City Paper “Loose Lips” column – at the bottom under “POLITICAL POTPOURRI”
http://www.washingtoncitypaper.com/lips/lips.html
Carol Schwartz (the Republican member of the city council) is against it too. She says â??I want [Montgomery County smokers] to come here.â? The Republican argued that market forces will take care of nonsmokers. â??I do want separation,â? adds the at-large councilmember. â??I think there should be nonsmoking restaurants and bars, for nonsmokers like myself.â?
I’m sorry but this fight is already lost. You are asking for sensible thought from DC and the leadership there and that just isn’t going to happen.
Second hand smoke is a phony issue from a health standpoint, but not as a nuisance. As a non-smoker, I cannot handle high concentrations of smoker-discharge.
But, before we start outlawing such behaviors, we need to develop a list and do it on a priority basis.
To me, cat dander is a much more serious health hazard than second hand smoke. A huge percentage of the population is allergic to cat dander, yet cat owners think nothing of bringing the stuff on their clothes and on their person into public places.
Larry is on target.
Tobacco smoke is mainly olfactory noise that most people would class with squalling babies or walkie-talkies at the next table. But the health arguments are hard to take seriously, especially when they come, as they often seem to, from overweight people who drive to the corner market.
I avoid loud, party atmosphere restaurants most of the time but don’t expect to find one that is library quiet, and that’s okay. I ask for seating in non-smoking (or did before we made smoking unconstitutional in Florida) but a few wisps finding their way to my table won’t spoil dinner.
We non-smokers should expect be able to find smoke-free places to eat, but we have no right to insist that every bar and restaurant conform to our preferences.
A bit off subject but funny. A freind of mine who works for an ad agency that does alot of business for the anti-smoking folks ran out of smokes the other day. Her solution was to raid the displays that the company was working on. The displays featured real live boxes of cigs. to scare high-school kids. The bold caper involved sneaking into her supervisors office. She claims that butts pilfered from the anti-smoking forces are the best tasting ever.
We have no bar-smoking ban here in Vt. I, as a non-smoker, exercize my economic freedom and only go to one of the two bar’s in town that is non-smoking. If other bars want my cash then don’t allow smoking. Do I want the government dictating this? Nope.
As a guy who literally got off the plane from Japan earlier today, let me say that I like the Japanese solution to this whole mess. It’s painfully simple and elegant, too.
Want to run a no-smoking establishment? No one is going to stop you.
Want to work at a no-smoking establishment? No one is going to stop you.
For example, Starbucks and McD’s in Japan are all smoke free. Lots of other restaurants/coffee shops and nearly all bars are not smoke free. They do have killer air recirc systems to get rid of the smoke though.
Wow, that was hard, wasn’t it?
There was an amusing bit on NPR several weeks ago about the smoking-ban in NYC. One of the unintended consequences: really stinky bars. You see, the smoke covers the smells of vomit, urine, old beer, and sweat. Without cigarrette smoke, the bars are starting to smell like toilets.
Todd,
As a New Yorker, you are right. My favorite bar, which i admit is a hole in the wall, now smells like stale beer and bad BO. The cigs smelled like roses compared to the smell now.
This is a little o/t, but relevant: I just read something about a park in my lil’ town in NJ that is being made into a “smoke-free” park. Please keep in mind that this park, like many others across the country, is outdoors, where there is no shortage of circulating air. Also, like many other parks, it is public property, i.e. subsidized by the taxpayers, many of whom, I daresay, enjoy smoking.
Among the “reasons” listed as to why this’ll be a great idea, are:
- To help prevent fires. (Because the first thing I think of when someone says “Metuchen, New Jersey,” is “park fires!” Yeah.)
- To help set a good example for children. Children who want to grow up and run their own smoke-free parks, I guess.
- To cut down on littering, from cigarette butts. (Given this reason, I would have voted for a little-league/soccer-free park, because those idiots don’t seem to mind leaving tons of empty cups and wrappers on the fields after their games.)
- To cut down on second-hand smoke. In public. Outside. Where there is wind.
Asinine.
Except that everyone here seems to be ignoring the real issue, which is the property rights of bar/restaurant owners. This is especially important in this case because if bars in DC are forced to ban smoking, expect to see (a) a number of them go out of business as smokers (an unproportionately large part of their clientele) migrate to Northern Virginia bars and (b) prices rise in order to make up for the lost revenue. Mmm….I can’t wait to drink a nine dollar Carona.
On the other hand, I live in Northern Va and would love it if I didn’t have to drive as far to enjoy A-list nightlife.
Hel-lo?? Ventilation systems can remove the smell (sort of) of secondhand smoke but the cancer-causing poisons remain in the air. It’s kinda of like carbon monoxide: colorless, odorless, and just as deadly, only it takes longer. (Gee, now that I think about it, secondhand smoke has carbon monoxide in it!)
If people want to poison themselves, go at it. But don’t force the rest of us to be poisoned along with you. Ya know, the fewer places there are to smoke, the easier it is to quit. And there are damn few smokers who, when asked and answer honestly, say “Yeah, I love this habit. I love being a slave to my smokes and matches. I love smelling like an ashtray. I love huddling outside under the awning at work enduring the glares of everyone coming in and out of the door who have to walk through my cloud of smoke. I love coughing phlegm every morning. I love not being able to take a full breathe without hacking. I love waking up in the morning thinking about lighting up. I love not being able to run or walk without feeling out of breath.
Give me a break. It’s an addiction as strong as any and you want the rest of the world to not only accomodate you, but to breathe in your smoke too.