Like in FINAL solution?
Posted on 12/17/2002 3:37:04 PM PST by Mark
Texas, San Antonio to be Anti Smoking Battlegrounds
LAST UPDATE: 12/17/2002 12:26:17 PM
(SAN ANTONIO) -- An unlikely coalition of health and community action groups says it is poised to make Texas the 'most unfriendly state in the nation for big tobacco' in the coming year. The groups, which include health organizations like the American Cancer Society and community associations like the PTA, along with a core of experienced public interest lobbyists from Austin's political community, are pushing initiatives on the state and local level with the goal of outlawing smoking in all workplaces and public buildings in the state.
"Buying a pack of cigarettes does not entitle you to take away the clean air from the 85% of Texans who do not smoke," the group's spokeswoman Suzanne Lozano, a San Antonio nurse, told supporters today.
Among the initiatives include proposals before the Texas Legislature to raise the cigarette tax a dollar a pack, and to outlaw what's called 'pre-emption,' a tactic used by tobacco lobbyists to pass luke warm smoking limitations statewide and then forbid cities from passing stronger measures.
Julie Winckler of TRUST for a Smoke Free Texas says that's a prime tactic of the tobacco lobby.
"We feel it's easier to pass anti smoking measures on a local level," Winckler said. "We feel people are more passionate there."
The anti tobacco forces today released a Scripps Howard poll showing 74% of residents of San Antonio support a tough measure being proposed here, which would ban all smoking in all public places, and even place restrictions on smoking outdoors. San Antonio would join Boston among major cities with the country's toughest smoking control laws, and the San Antonio measure is seen as a model for proposals the groups hope to approve statewide.
San Antonio is seen as a key battleground for anti smoking laws because of it's huge tourism base. Bars, restaurants, hotels, and other businesses that cater to tourists generally resist restricting the behavior of their clients.
"Second hand smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States," San Antonio Emergency Medical Services director Dr. Don Gordon said. "It is responsible for 56,000 innocent deaths per year."
Dr. John Nava of the Bexar County Metropolitan Health District compared smoking cigarettes with carrying a loaded gun in public.
"You have no right to place the lives of others in danger," he said. Nava said the prime beneficiaries of tough anti smoking laws will be waitresses, bartenders, and other service industry workers.
"Working in the service industry does not force you to give up breathing clean air," he said.
Lozano said the measures would leave citizens with the right to smoke "in their homes and in their cars and nowhere else," adding that businesses would not only be required to ban smoking inside, but the current practice of allowing smokers to lurk around entrances smoking would also be outlawed.
"There would be an area within so many feet of a public building where smoking out also not be allowed," she said. "It's not fair that people have to hold their breath and run a gauntlet of smoke in order to get into a building."
The groups are also pushing for 'comprehensive' tobacco prevention measures in schools, citing statistics released yesterday which show smoking among high school students hitting its lowest level in more than a quarter century.
"Now that we have proven solutions to reduce tobacco use, Texas' leaders have more of an obligation to implement them in our state than ever before," said Carter Headrick of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.
"You have no right to place the lives of others in danger," he said.
Oh don't worry- we'll get the guns next.(/lib spin)
1. Houston
2. Chicago
3. Detroit
4. Philadelphia
5. Dallas
6. Columbus, Ohio
7. San Antonio
8. Fort Worth
Like in FINAL solution?
I always wonder if they will figure out how few are the numbers of voters who are also JEWISH. Getting the minorities(voter-wise) is always the answer, especially when they want more revenue-- $10.00 more per carton in this article alone.
Maybe the state of Texas should crack down on all of the nurses who are getting "easy to fill" prescriptions of Xanix.
Oh, that wasn't the kind of "putting lives in jeopardy" that these medical professionals were talking about.
Attack one person's vice while harboring their own.
They would have done just as well to get the driver's license data for the area and compare height to weight (along with age/sex).
American Cancer Society Admits "Mistake" in Ad
53,000 deaths caused from second hand smoke?
American Cancer Society Admits "Mistake" in Ad
See how they lie? This guy said "56,000" deaths, and the AMA admits they LIED about the 53,000. The anti's sure are disgusting.
NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!! I am trying to get my happy a$$ hired in San Antonio! AAAUUUUUUGGGGGGGRRRRRHHHHHHHH
LETTER: Top of the list
Source: New York Daily News, 2002-12-16
Author: Thomas Lent
Intro: People who work in bars make very little in salary, and rely on tips. The reduction in business from the smoking ban will result in a reduction in their wages. Their priority is to make a living. If their priority was to avoid secondhand smoke, they wouldn't have taken bar jobs in the first place.
Well you ain't lookin' in MY direction then, because I am one p!ssed off smokin' conservative. First Dallas... Anybody know how that meddling wench of a mayor is gettin' along with her butt-stomping crusade? Last I heard there was a push to ban smoking in all public places or something like that...
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