Posted on 06/21/2005 11:16:06 AM PDT by Pyro7480
D.C. Council's Schwartz: Ban alcohol along with smoking in bars
Tim Lemke
Staff Reporter
D.C. Councilwoman Carol Schwartz introduced a bill Tuesday that would ban the sale of alcohol in all bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Suddenly, the debate over a proposed smoking ban in D.C. is getting fun.
In what appears to be a statement against anti-smoking legislation, the councilwoman, D-at large, introduced "the Worker Occupational Safety and Health Amendment Act of 2005, Part II," a response to a public health bill that would ban smoking in bars and restaurants in the District.
"I never thought I could ban drinking just because I didn't like it, but now I know I can," Schwartz says in a lengthy, satirical statement. "The impending smoking ban has empowered me."
It's unclear whether her argument for a drinking ban will change the minds of the nine members of the D.C. Council who support a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants. Schwartz has successfully blocked efforts to institute a smoking ban in each of the past three years and recently introduced compromise legislation to encourage smoke-free bars rather than mandate the practice.
The council could vote on the anti-smoking ban before the July recess.
No word yet on when an alcohol ban could come up for a vote. In a release, Schwartz says D.C. Council Chairman Linda Cropp describes the measure as "very thought-provoking."
Schwartz makes clear that a ban on drinking in bars and restaurants does not mean people can't drink at home and outside.
"It had just never occurred to me that I could simply choose to ban a legal choice for consenting adults in a private place where the public does not have to go, and where workers do not have to work, and then get six other people to agree -- and then just do it," Schwartz says.
The councilwoman says she is now looking at other things to ban, including driving and sex, "for they, too, can be dangerous to your health and the health of others."
you might be right, using absurdity to point out the absurd, but i'm afraid the anti-smoking nazis won't get the point.
Hey, Einstein, she's pointing out the absurdity of the smoking bans.
You're the reason sarcasm tags were invented.
I know Carol Schwartz. I understand the piece and what she's doing. My post merely points out that DC is a stinking morass of stupidity.
Thanks for your note!
We Should Study Her Brain ping
Any chance you could read the whole article instead of just the headline?
You have something in common with Linda Cropp.
You should see the other side of DC. It is an entire world within-a-world.
Like the river rats - they are like an entire culture, that the tourists NEVER see. Complete with their own economy.
The world is an amazing place.
well, she's got a point. Sex while driving is EXTREMELY unsafe.
It's called "satire".
Absolutely!
I'm sorry dirt, but I'm starting to think some folks around here are so busy being angry about everything, they've forgotten how to really laugh once in awhile...
Schwartz was hoisting the anti-smoking nuts by their own petard.
No drinking in bars? hehehehehe (ah, before you focus on her Letter Assignment, look at what she's saying)
Serously, I'm starting to worry that if she had an R after her name, some around here would twist themselves into a pretzel trying to defend the idea of No Drinking in Bars...
I'd be in favor of that. At least, ill-behaved children of liberal yuppie parents who consider any form of discipline as child-abuse.
Why are Cigars exempt from this? The town right next to ours is instituting a smoking ban, yet a cigar/Wine bar is getting all sorts of praise.
Isn't second hand cigar smoke full of carcinogens as well?
Hehehe, I had to reread this a couple of times ;-)
You mean like Anacostia? It's going to get turned into condos and riverfront restaurants within the next decade or so.
I kid you not.
"It's called satire." Exactly.
She should push it further and propose a ban on 'bars' in bars.
;-)
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