Kill the Intolerant!
Posted on 08/25/2016 6:15:31 AM PDT by Drango
By now, there’s little doubt in anyone’s mind that smoking is dangerous both to smokers and those around them, though that doesn’t stop 40 million American adults from lighting up almost every day. Banning cigarettes outright might encourage people to kick the habit, but a blanket prohibition on smoking seems unlikely to happen any time soon. Rather than focusing on banning cigarettes themselves, states (along with cities and the federal government) have passed various tobacco laws making it more difficult for people to smoke. They’ve raised taxes on tobacco, banned smoking in many public and private spaces, and required warning labels on packs of cigarettes.
Evidence suggests these laws do help to curb smoking. Cigarette use falls after the introduction of smoke-free workplace laws and policies, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Increases in cigarette taxes also seem to discourage people from smoking, though the decline might not be as dramatic as lawmakers sometimes like to imply, research has found. In areas where smoking is banned in public places, heart attacks and other cardiac problems are less common.
Despite evidence that these laws do help to reduce smoking and improve public health (not to mention increase tax revenues), not all states have rushed to embrace anti-smoking legislation. While dozens of states have bans on smoking in public spaces and others levy taxes of $3 to $4 per pack of smokes, a handful of states have taken a hands-off approach to regulating smoking. Though more restrictive local tobacco laws may exist, in these states, cigarette taxes are low, smoking bans less extensive, and smokers are still able to light up with relative freedom.
1. Missouri
Missouri is the best state in the country for tobacco freedom, according to the libertarian Cato Institute. Show-Me State residents enjoy the lowest cigarette taxes in the country — 17 cents per pack, well below the national average of $1.65 per pack, according to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. Smoking is banned in enclosed public spaces statewide, but there are several exceptions, including bars and restaurants that seat less than 50 people and bowling alleys, note the American Lung Association’s (ALA) Tobacco Policy Project (TPP). There is no statewide ban on smoking in workplaces. The ALA gave the state an “F” in both smoke-free air laws and state tobacco taxes.
2. Kentucky
Kentucky is a tobacco state, though the industry has less of a presence there than it once did, with many farmers no longer planting the once-dominant crop. So it’s not surprising that tobacco laws are relatively loose here. The state has no statewide ban on smoking in public places, but cities and towns are allowed to pass laws further restricting smoking. Smoking is not specifically banned in childcare facilities and restaurants, but it isn’t allowed in schools and hospitals. Cigarette taxes are just 60 cents a pack. Kentucky also has one of the highest smoking rates in the U.S., with about 26% of adults regularly lighting up, according to the CDC.
3. Virginia
Philip Morris USA – one of the biggest tobacco companies in the world – is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, the state’s capital. Accordingly, the state’s anti-smoking laws are fairly weak. It ranks number 3 in the U.S. for tobacco freedom, according to the Cato Institute, and it has the second-lowest cigarette tax in the country, at 30 cents per pack. Smoking is prohibited in schools, day care centers, and state government buildings. Smoking in restaurants is allowed provided it happens in an area that’s separately ventilated.
Unlike some states, local governments are not permitted to pass smoking laws that are more restrictive than the state-wide regulations, according to the TPP. The state did recently pass a law banning smoking in cars if a child under the age of 8 was a passenger.
4. Georgia
Georgia ranks second in the U.S. for tobacco freedom, per the Cato Institute. Cigarette taxes are 37 cents per pack. Smoking is banned in many public places, including health care facilities and schools, and in most enclosed areas at workplaces. Smoking is allowed in bars provided they’re not open to people under the age of 18, and in designated areas of restaurants, such as outdoor patios or enclosed private rooms. However, since the state’s “smoke-free” law passed in 2005, the percentage of bars and restaurants permitting smoking has almost doubled due to loopholes in the law, a 2015 study found.
5. Wyoming
Wyoming has few statewide anti-smoking laws. There are no bans on smoking in schools, private workplaces, child-care facilities, restaurants, or bars. Local governments are permitted to pass stronger anti-smoking regulations, though, and more than 25 communities have smoke-free laws, according to Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights. The tax on cigarettes is 60 cents per pack.
6. Oklahoma
Smoking is banned on state government property, in indoor workplaces, at schools and child care facilities, and at zoos in Oklahoma. But various exceptions mean smoking is still permitted in many areas, including bars, restaurants with designated smoking sections, and private offices. Cities are specifically banned from passing more restrictive anti-smoking laws. The cigarette tax is $1.03 per pack.
Banning cigarettes will work just as well as banning the sale or manufacture of whiskey did 100 years ago.
Except for the free people who smoke. Then, when the non-smoking free people vote to tax them, they can experience the tyranny of the majority.
Nothing like true democracy!
The answer to everything is more government and higher taxes.
All hail the Nanny State!
Fixed it - Not a smoker myself, but what people do to their own bodies is their business. Smoke free buildings are OK following the "your right to swing your fist ends at my nose" changing to "your right to distribute smelly carcinogens ends at my nose" philosophy, but the sort of mindset that restricts people from smoking in the privacy of their homes or outdoors or tries to tax the behavior out of existence is impinging on personal liberty.
This is the same mindset that bans guns
Ban jogging because of future medical problems for andkles,knees, shins and joints, ban biking on roadways because of the danger to self and drivers, ban skydiving, scuba diving and anything associated with having public costs for rescue and emergency treatment. Ban tofu (we’ll figure out why), ban liberals (we know why). Ban those ninnies that say “we need a law for .......” Ad nauseam.
Correct, not as long as the government stands to lose billions of dollars in taxes every year.
People have to keep smoking!
It’s for the KIDS!!!!
Or the banning of marijuana, heroin, meth, etc.?
Kill the Intolerant!
Typical commie lib. Her solution to improve the quality of life demands less individual freedom, and greater government control over people’s lives.
Liberalism is a far worse cancer than anything caused by smoking.
These totalitarian commie freaks wants you to select your gender, but they don’t want you to smoke? Back-off.
[but what people do to their own bodies is their business. ]
I agree, but I take issue when it’s affecting MY body. As an ex-smoker, I enjoy the fact I am not smelling smoke in restaurants, bars, or other establishments.
My biggest beef with smokers is the littering that results. It makes me sick to go to the beach, put my feet in the sand, and pull them out with old butts stuck between my toes.
Banning cigarettes will work just as well as banning the sale or manufacture of whiskey did 100 years ago.
Tobacco is not like alcohol. If it were not physically addictive, it would probably have died out a couple of decades ago. Alcohol brings “benefits” that are, frankly, universal. Smoking much less so, by several orders of magnitude.
However, the concept of banning them would disgust me. In a free country, people need to have the right to choose how they handle the available vices, up to the point where it directly affects others. Also, it really should be a local issue. If Mayberry wants to be dry, it should have that right.
And second hand smoke is bad for cats. That is all that has been proven. A LOT of stuff that is no problem for you, your dog or your mice is bad for cats.
I say this as a non-smoker (though I have a cigar on the front deck every six months or so) and cigarette smoke makes me sick. I am in “bar bands” and loved, in the Seattle area, being able to finish a gig without my clothing and equipment stinking. But It should be voluntary. There were clubs that prohibited smoking over ten years ago. They were my favorite places to play.
Now I’m in Kentucky. I pass many tobacco fields on my way to work. A lot of people in my church smoke. Cancer rates are higher here, but not by much. And we are a commonwealth, which means much more control is at the county, rather than state level. It’s why we have both dry and wet counties.
Regarding tobacco production, there is a push here to grow hemp rather than tobacco. However, the FedGov is fighting it because the DEA in their helicopters can’t tell the difference between hemp and Marijuana with their infrared sensors. When growing hemp becomes legal, tobacco production will almost come to a halt here. The hang up is the FedGov and the DEA.
For a quick check on that anecdotal statistical, visit about any doctor's office or take a stroll around your local hospital.
The hypocrisy is staggering.
I’ve got a strong beef with their recruitment of minors. Not overt recruitment, but they are turning a blind eye to kids becoming addicts. 90% of adult smokers started as teenagers, got hooked and can’t quit.
Georgia: “ the percentage of bars and restaurants permitting smoking has almost doubled due to loopholes in the law” Not so, completely wrong. I live here and haven’t been into a restaurant allowing smoking in many years.
Not so, completely wrong. I live here and haven’t been into a restaurant allowing smoking in many years.
Ditto that, FRiend. I have not been in any building since 2005 where people are smoking here in GA...other than a private residence.
Or maybe snotty Millenial bloggers living in Boston or Brooklyn need to stop trying to tell the people of Kentucky or Georgia what their tobacco laws ought to be.
Ditto.
My last cigarette was in March of 1986.
I quit cold turkey and never looked back.
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