Posted on 11/20/2005 9:35:49 PM PST by FranklySpeaking
Ahhhhh. Fresh Air!
Thank you Washington! (State)
"Initiative 901 in Washington State: protecting our right to breathe clean indoor air where we eat, work and socialize.
Thank you Washington! Your overwhelming support makes Washington the next smoke-free state!
I-901 goes into effect on December 8, 2005
Everyone has the right to breathe clean air where they work, eat and socialize. I-901 will protect families, children, workers and the elderly from secondhand smoke, which is associated with a number of illnesses, including asthma, bronchitis, pneumonia, lung cancer, and heart disease
Secondhand smoke kills more than 38,000 Americans every year. Secondhand smoke contains more than 4,000 toxic chemicals, including the deadly toxins such as formaldehyde, arsenic and cyanide.
People shouldn’t be forced to breathe toxic chemicals and smell like smoke just to go to a favorite restaurant or to see live music.
That’s why I-901 is supported by the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association of Washington, and the American Heart Association"....
Ahhh, fresh money. Loss of revenue from cigarette taxes. Businesses fold shop and leave in droves.
Lets see, the next thing we don't want Americans doing will be, ah, ah, BREATHING, of course without a permit! Drinking alcohol, o, yea, that has been tried, ah, how about eating at McDonalds!!!!!!!
How many Death Certificates list "Secondhand Smoke" as a Cause of Death?
BTW, I'm an ex-smoker
On the other hand, have you looked at how much cigarette smoking costs us?
It basically destroys your lungs, compromises your immune system, leads to chronic illness, heart disease, poor dental heatlh, and the list goes on.
You're paying for all of that through your insurance premiums. And lost days on the job.
Maybe I'm not a fan of banning them, but I say tax the fire out of them. Smokers cost us all a ton of money.
You should hurry up and invest in one of those businesses that are going to flourish before they go belly-up.
"People shouldn’t be forced to breathe toxic chemicals"
Every car out there puts out toxic fumes and people are forced to breathe them. These fumes are probably far more poisonous than second hand tobacco smoke.
So lets ban cars too.
Horse vomit. Bars and restaurants are losing tons of money where smoking bans are enacted.
workers can breathe, CUSTOMERS can breathe and suddenly food becomes the main focus!
(1) Nobody's forcing workers to work at an establishment that permits smoking
(2) Nobody's forcing customers to patronize an establishment that permits smoking
(3) Government has no business dictacting what businesses do within their confines
(4) If smoking is so fricking bad, then why not push for an outright ban of the product?
Everyone needs to understand that this is the UN sticking it's nose in the everyday lives of Americans again, and preventing Americans from deciding what it is that they want to do!
If a smoker harms someone with his/her second hand smoke then sue them in a Court of law. You don't push your UN supported anti-smoking liberal agenda on every American because this is what you want!
Before you start with a smoke free environment looney rant, I am a NON SMOKER. I don't want to push my believes on other Americans, nor should you!
Read the following to really understand what is going on here:
"Do Smokers Have Any Rights?
by Alan Caruba
07 February 2005
The Framework Convention on Tobacco Control is yet another example of the United Nations’ intention to control every aspect of the lives of everyone on planet Earth.
Do people who enjoy smoking have any rights? Increasingly, the answer is no. It is essential to keep in mind that smoking cigarettes, cigars or pipes is an entirely personal choice. No one is required to smoke. Millions voluntarily stop smoking every year. People have been smoking and enjoying tobacco products for a very long time, but now they have been demonized and ostracized.
Using the power of government to tax, smokers are being ripped off at every level. Recently New York City sent letters to 2,300 residents giving them thirty days to pay the taxes on the cartons of cigarettes they had purchased over the Internet. It’s the law. A single pack of cigarettes in New York City comes with a state tax of $1.50, a city tax of $1.50, and a federal tax of 39 cents. A pack of Marlboro cigarettes will cost you $7.00. A ten-pack carton will cost you more than $55.00. Purchased at an international airport’s duty-free store the same carton retails for just $16.00.
There are few, if any, people who do not know there is an element of risk involved in the decision to smoke. There is risk involved when any American gets into his car and goes anywhere. Driving kills over 40,000 Americans every year. It is the price we pay for the mobility and other benefits cars and vehicles provide. There is, in fact, risk in every human activity including the enjoyment of alcoholic beverages and even the simple act of eating.
The US engaged in a hugely failed experiment called Prohibition to stop people from drinking alcoholic beverages at their favorite saloon. It took a Constitutional amendment to end it. For many years now, the same thinking that imposed Prohibition has been at work to achieve the same outcome with smoking.
It is un-American in the most profound sense of that term. In a nation founded on the individual right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, preventing people from the enjoyment of smoking runs contrary to the inherent right to enjoy this lifestyle option if you want.
Consider, however, some events in 2004. The first worldwide antismoking treaty -- the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC) -- was ratified and is now in effect. It is yet another example of the United Nations’ intention to control every aspect of the lives of everyone on planet Earth. Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) is the lead organization in America and it has promised to “now concentrate on enforcement efforts.”
During 2004 six nations imposed a no-smoking ban. Among them were Ireland, New Zealand, Norway and Sweden. These nations are notable for their liberal, i.e., socialist political agendas. Here in the US, so-called “nonsmoker’s rights” became law in Idaho, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. At the local level, thirty-two jurisdictions passed comprehensive workplace smoking laws in 2004 along with “less comprehensive smokefree workplace laws.
There’s more. Eleven States, including Virginia where historically tobacco was the crop that encouraged its establishment and growth as an American colony, substantially increased their cigarette taxes. Consider the example of New York City and multiply it by other cities and states, cashing in while, at the same time, banning smoking indoors and out. That is obscene.
Now imagine a similar level of taxation on a candy bar, a cup of coffee or soft drink. Think it can’t happen? Think again.
ASH has big plans for 2005. It plans to “take advantage of a new ruling which now makes it possible for sensitive nonsmokers to sue states which do not provide them with reasonable protection from tobacco smoke pollution.” These suits will eventually cost taxpayers millions, draining vital financial resources from serious needs such as infrastructure improvements. ASH will push for more and more bans on people who smoke outdoors on beaches and elsewhere. In California, it is already against the law to light up on the beach.
Let’s say you’ve just bought a condo or moved to an apartment. ASH intends to encourage and assist lawsuits by apartment dwellers who object to neighbors smoking in their own apartments. In the name of protecting children, ASH will pursue laws that ban parents from smoking around their children by getting courts to issue orders to ban smoking in custody cases or by a foster parent or in a car while driving children anywhere.
All this is happening in the “land of the free and the home of the brave,” as well as around the world where the UN antismoking treaty bans any advertising for tobacco products, requires health warning labels similar to those on products sold in the US, bans any secondhand smoke in workplaces, public transport, and indoor public places.
It empowers a vast law enforcement program against smuggling and there will be smuggling, leading to cartels that rival illegal drugs. There’s more, but the ultimate objective is to eliminate smoking anywhere on the face of the Earth.
This is pure fascism using the power of the state to deny this simple pleasure from being enjoyed anywhere. And when the national and global antismoking campaign is successful, these same people will turn their attention to banning the consumption of meat, fish, cookies, candy, potato chips, soft drinks or anything else they decide you should not enjoy.
Do smokers have any rights? Apparently not.
Alan Caruba is the author of Warning Signs, published by Merril Press. His weekly commentaries are posted on the Internet site of The National Anxiety Center."
Do you know which legislators are proposing this? I would like to send them a little missive...
It basically destroys your lungs, compromises your immune system, leads to chronic illness, heart disease, poor dental heatlh, and the list goes on.
You're paying for all of that through your insurance premiums. And lost days on the job.
Maybe I'm not a fan of banning them, but I say tax the fire out of them. Smokers cost us all a ton of money.
So by that logic, can we send your health insurance company in to audit your lifestyle? You eat too much red meat and not enough fish? You like to bungee jump? You engage in risky sexual practices? Pay up through higher premiums and sin taxes, you're causing my rates to go up!
(Examples not really aimed at you specifically, of course)
More EPA/liberal media/left-wing interest group propaganda
Maybe I'm not a fan of banning them, but I say tax the fire out of them. Smokers cost us all a ton of money.
If you "tax the fire" out of them people will just buy it underground or through other nefarious means. Apparently basic economics isn't your strong suit.
I hate being around smokers. They smell awful and after being around them so do you. But why should the government be the one deciding what a private bussiness owner should do? So long as tobacco is legal it should be up to the property owner to decide whether he wants smoking on his property, and the customer to decide whether or not they want to patronize that a smoking or non smoking bussiness.
"
More EPA/liberal media/left-wing interest group propaganda "
You serious? You honestly don't think smoking is bad for you?
I quit my 10 year 5 cigar a day habit last April, cold turkey (it was easy)because I thought it was causing me breathing problems. However, it turned out to be allergies according to my doctor. But since I had quit I just stayed quit. But I am thinking of starting it up again just because of this fascist anti smoking horsecrap going on....in fact....I think that is why I started smoking in the first place.
Where's my lighter, I need to piss off an anti smoking fascist!!!!
Of course I would never start smoking again just to piss someone off...I really enjoy a good cigar....the pissing fascists off is just a fringe benefit...:)
I quit my 10 year 5 cigar a day habit last April, cold turkey (it was easy)because I thought it was causing me breathing problems. However, it turned out to be allergies according to my doctor. But since I had quit I just stayed quit. But I am thinking of starting it up again just because of this fascist anti smoking horsecrap going on....in fact....I think that is why I started smoking in the first place.
Where's my lighter, I need to piss off an anti smoking fascist!!!!
Of course I would never start smoking again just to piss someone off...I really enjoy a good cigar....the pissing fascists off is just a fringe benefit...:)
I quit my 10 year 5 cigar a day habit last April, cold turkey (it was easy)because I thought it was causing me breathing problems. However, it turned out to be allergies according to my doctor. But since I had quit I just stayed quit. But I am thinking of starting it up again just because of this fascist anti smoking horsecrap going on....in fact....I think that is why I started smoking in the first place.
Where's my lighter, I need to piss off an anti smoking fascist!!!!
Of course I would never start smoking again just to piss someone off...I really enjoy a good cigar....the pissing fascists off is just a fringe benefit...:)
Sorry about the triple post....I really do need a smoke!
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