Posted on 02/08/2006 8:54:37 AM PST by arkady_renko
Smoking Could Be Banned In All Public Places
(AP) SPRINGFIELD, Ill. Smokers, beware.
Illinois lawmakers are considering a statewide ban on smoking in public places, like restaurants, bars and bowling alleys.
Health advocates say smokers shouldn't inflict their smoke on employees and other customers.
One expert says a waitress who breathes second-hand smoke for eight hours has essentially smoked a pack of cigarettes.
But business groups oppose a ban. They say customers can vote with their feet and choose whether to go to places that allow smoking.
They also note that it was just a few months ago that lawmakers let individual cities decide whether to ban smoking. They say that process should be given more time.
A House health care committee approved the bill six-to-four, sending it to the full House.
There is pretty big group of us around here who have been trying to get that point across for several years, yet it continually falls on deaf ears.
Cigarette-aphobes.
Maine went totally smoke free in 2004. That was my recreation: going out for meals a few times a month. It was wonderful. I didn't know how wonderful it was until we smokers in Maine lost that right.
So, take it from me! Enjoy the places that can continue to accommodate you and the ones who still have smoking sections!
"Downstate Illinois is against (mandatory) smoking bans. The rest of the state has very little interest in instituting smoking bans," said Garnet Dawn, Midwest director for the Smokers Club Inc., a national smokers' rights group.
She said the fact that so few Illinois communities had used their new smoking-ban powers was the best indication available that a mandatory statewide ban would go against the wishes of most Illinoisans. State legislators "are ignoring what the communities want," she said.
Garnet gets it right.
It seems that the towns that have gone smoke free have been losing business but instead of repealing their own bans, they want everyone to be in the same boat. Stupid, stupid, stupid..........
Agreed. In other news today, apparently Chicago wants to go after amusement taxes on scalped tickets. They should also go after waitresses who are breathing second-hand smoke and NOT paying cigarette taxes. Seems only fair to me. /sarcasm
The anti-smoking zealots like double-cross.
Same thing happened in Madison, WI. The city agreed to allow smoking if the bars and restaurants installed ventilation systems or had patios for smoking. They did - and guess what? Not enough. The city went ahead and banned smoking anyway.
It is time for Congress or the USSC to intervene on these smoking bans. Why is a legal product being banned in private establishments? Are cigarettes not a legal product or not?
When are they going to ban skis? Those things are really dangerous...
You sure have THAT right, Gabz! And our fellow Conservatives to boot!!!
Has Illinois gone muslim?
That's the sort of lie believable only to primitive savages.
Every truly scientific study has found this silly, but oft-repeated claim to be unequivocally false!
It seems that the towns that have gone smoke free have been losing business but instead of repealing their own bans, they want everyone to be in the same boat. Stupid, stupid, stupid..........
Sure! They want that "level playing field." I just wish the private businesses would realize how much revenue they are going to lose!
That's what bothers me most.
Like a poster said the other day:
There's no such thing as a Big-Government Conservative!
Tell me about it.
It won't be long before ALL communities in America will be smoke free.
I don't agree.
The ones that don't pass the bans and those that repeal them do not get the media attention of those that are passed.
Agreed.
Well, we will just have to disagree.
Check this out, Maryland now requires boaters to wear life jackets at all times on the water. If you read this you will see how they are applying the same philosophy to boating as they did to smoking, and soon fatty foods and drinks.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/Commentary/com-2_8_06_TRB.html
February 8, 2006
The Nanny State Comes to the Chesapeake
By Trevor Bothwell
Excerpt 1:
Apparently not content to confine their legislative excess to Wal-Mart and small business, Maryland Democrats now are threatening the property rights of Maryland boaters, proposing a new bill ostensibly aimed at nothing more than attempting to “protect us from ourselves.”
Excerpt 2:
Alas, it is becoming ever more apparent that our bureaucrats increasingly view taxpayers as little more than revenue generators -- serfs to be exploited through violation of bizarre regulations -- through which these lawmakers can finance pet projects for their own self-gratification.
Thanks for the ping!
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