Can I Buy You a Drink and Light Your Cigarette? (Cathryn Crawford)

The Washington Dispatch ^ | January 2, 2004 | Cathryn Crawford

[MHGinTN]

Well, you must be an exotic dnacer, because it use to be that bartenders got that exposure, but only Tunnel guards and exotic dancers are now so exposed.

[SheLion]

Yes, Patton! Thanks for the ping!!!!

[SheLion]

If it is illegal to drink and drive, why do bars have parking lots?

Ahhhhh you beat me TO it. LOL

[eternity]

Just think you can go on vacation to get away from it all and the hotel that you are staying at won't even let you smoke in the building. God Damn!

[SheLion]

Think of how much better the air would be if we converted all of the parking lots around the bars into tree planting areas.

Or to build another bar next door for the SMOKING PATRONS. Hey! Sounds GREAT to me!  Use the parking lots for Smoking BARS. Yesssssss!

[patton]

de nada. thought you might be interested.

[SheLion]

Soon we will have underground clubs called "smoke easys".

The public health issue is too creapy of socialism to be comfortable. What other thing will they ban as a public health issue?

The Government just BANNED ephedadrin.  I can't spell it, but you know what I mean.

[Scenic Sounds]

Sure ban smoking in hospitals,

Wow, that raises an interesting question. If, as some suggest, second hand smoke is not harmful, what justification was there for the ban on smoking in hospitals?

[SheLion]

Did you know there are air cleaners that are supposed to scrub the air? They are advertised regularly in "restaurant business magazine." Why did they not just mandate the use of these machines in smoking establishments than an outright ban?

That's what my favorite Tavern did here. They installed 4 huge ceiling "smoke eaters." You have to LOOK to see if anyone is smoking! You can't even SMELL smoke.

And that's what the Casino's in Vegas have. Yet, in Maine, this still wasn't good enough for the Health Coalition, who we can't even vote into office. They are all appointed by Liberal and RINO PIGS.

[Ichneumon]

So I suppose it's not illegal - it's just not a good idea to attempt it unless you have ID that says that you're drinking age - and I don't.

From your posts I had presumed you were much older. That's a compliment in case you weren't sure. :-)

[patton]

all that bottle O2

[Cathryn Crawford]

From your posts I had presumed you were much older. That's a compliment in case you weren't sure. :-)

Why, thank you! :-)

But I won't be drinking age till mid-2004.

[Ichneumon]

When someone makes a decision (any decision), they must decide for themselves what risks are involved, and weigh them rationally against the benefits.

One of the best one-liners on this topic, which makes the point concisely: One time a busybody saw humorist Robert Benchley drinking hard liquor and asked him, "Don't you know that stuff's slow poison?" Benchley replied, "That's okay, I'm in no hurry."

[Scenic Sounds]

all that bottle O2

Good point, but aren't there lots of patients who are not in rooms with heavy concentrations of oxygen? I'm hoping to hear more on the question of whether second-hand smoke really is safe.

[SheLion]

Smoke eaters, segregated dining and the posting of notices would seem to go a long way toward satisfying the legitimate concerns of folks who support these smoking ban laws. Have you learned of other steps that owners have taken to meet the prohibitionists halfway?

First off, they went from a Class B liquor license to a Class A.  Which costs a lot of money.

They enclosed a big room with glass, for the non-smokers.  The glass is gorgeous and the people who ever sit in there don't feel so closed in.  They have a big screen TV in there and dart board games, etc., for the non-smokers.

In the bar area, they have the bar, and a lot of booths and tables where people can eat, drink and smoke.  On the ceiling, there are 4 HUGE smoke eaters.  I thought I heard that just one smoke eaters costs $2500 dollars.

On the door outside is that sign "This is a Smoking Establishment."  They did EVERYTHING by the rules.  But now, with a state forced smoking ban, who is going to reimburse them for all that money?  Yea, you got it.  NO ONE!  It is all going down the toilet.

Forcing all the restaurants in Maine to go smoke free in 1999 wasn't good enough for them.  They just HAD to go after the Bars, Taverns and the Sports Inns.  They are all evil, IMHO.  I bet the State House has a very foul odor coming from it.  And it sure isn't the odor of smoke.  Unless some heads are smoking from this LAW!

[Cathryn Crawford]

I mean, I am never, ever going to drink. Ever.

[SheLion]

but only Tunnel guards and exotic dancers are now so exposed.

And it hasn't hurt any of us one bit!

[Scenic Sounds]

Yes, I understand what you're saying. I was truly impressed with all of the efforts made by your favorite restaurant. I liked the plug you gave them, too. ;-)

Where is the support for these prohibition laws coming from and what do you understand their interests to be?

[SheLion]

de nada. thought you might be interested.

I sure am! And I am going to pass you URL on, and I might even use it at my own site! Give it more exposure. What do you think?

[SheLion]

Wow, that raises an interesting question. If, as some suggest, second hand smoke is not harmful, what justification was there for the ban on smoking in hospitals?

Huge grants to chop off the heads of the smoking staff, patients and family members who smoke, paid for by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. To date, 48 states are now in the pocket of the RWJ Foundation working with the AMA.