Flawed road to smoking ban vote

York County Maine Journal Tribune ^ | September 2, 2003 | CHRIS CHURCHILL

[Just another Joe]

The measure, LD 1346, passed in the House with no argument

Buncha no guts wussies

He learned later that his remarks were inaccurate.

Suuurrre he did.

Rep. Thomas Murphy, a Republican from Kennebunk who supported the ban.

A RINO from Kennebunk

But Douglas Rooks, spokesman for Speaker of the House Patrick Colwell, D-Gardiner, said it was "entirely coincidental" that Eder's special sentiment came before the vote on the smoking ban.

Entirely coincidental that all 19 hijackers on 9/11/01 were muslim extremists.

"It doesn't change my view that environmental smoke in the workplace, after 15 years of exposure, can cause someone to come down with lung cancer," he said. "There are other people out there who have come down with cancer from working in bars."

Name one person that has gotten lung cancer from ETS that there is scientific proof that ETS caused the cancer.

[Just another Joe]

Puff for lies, more lies, and damn lies.

[uglybiker]

Coming to a state near you.

They'll ge going after perfune and hairspray next.

[Conspiracy Guy]

Just more barf from the spewers.

[theDentist]

No sense in letting facts get in the way of unnecessary legislation.

[CSM]

"and an opponent told him he planned to speak against the bill — but didn’t because of his comments."

The most efficient way to disarm a society is through guilt. The perceived notion that the opponent would not sound compassionate, led him to feel guilty for his opposition and therefore he allowed private citizens private property protections be eroded.

Sickening.

[Great Dane]

They just can't stop lying, can they......... the anti's ought to see somebody about that problem.

[metesky]

Back door prohibition, Joe.

They zone everything so that there are no bars in the workingman's neighborhood, lower the BAC to .08 and ban smoking in bars that they'll never see the inside of.

Nice trifecta for putting the saloon owner on the unemployment rolls.

Johnny "The Red" Baldacci, our unesteemed governor, is from Bangor and his family owns a couple of smoke-free restaurants.

I've been asking the owners of the workingman's bars that I frequent if the governor has ever stopped by for a drink, even on the campaign trail.

The answer is always no.

[Madame Dufarge]

Well, well, lookee here:

"Kathleen Donnellon of Hollis, a former coworker of Greer’s, said she doesn’t believe he would have supported a ban on smoking at bars in Maine because he was such a firm believer in individual freedoms. And he certainly wouldn’t have wanted to be a “poster boy” for the smoking ban, she said."

They Got It Secondhand

[Madame Dufarge]

And, by the way, (while I'm in a ranting mood) this is what passes for "thought" in the Maine Legislature.

See how fast the "Republicans" cave to the touchy-feely stuff?

Maine, the testicles-free state.

[SheLion]

In January, our pure do no wrong legislation, Guv Baldacci and the PARTNERSHIP FOR A TOBACCO FREE MAINE have further put their filty claws into the "private" bar and tavern business's in Maine. They just won't quit!

What with the economy in Maine and business's struggling, all our lawmakers can think about is keeping the adult smoker out-of-site.

The wait person knows beforehand that if they take a job in a bar/tavern, there is going to be smoking. This goes without saying. I just received the following letter (in response to my letter to Gov. Baldacci), from Health and Human Services on this issue:

“This letter is in response to your correspondence to Gov Baldacci regarding the legislation banning smoking in bars. Because the earlier legislation banning smoking in restaurants didn’t include bars, we did have an UNEVEN PLAYING FIELD. With this legislation bars have the same restriction.

This law is about PROTECTING WORKERS and the PUBLIC FROM THE HEALTH HAZARDS OF SECONDHAND SMOKE. The law only bans smoking in public places as defined by law. While YOU MAY FIND THIS NEW LAW UNACCEPTABLE, (JUST ME??? I DON'T "THINK" SO), the VAST MAJORITY of citizens in Maine, including MANY SMOKERS, are in FAVOR of such legislation.

Smokers have not lost their right to smoke. (HEH) Adults who smoke have a RIGHT to smoke where their SMOKE doesn’t harm the non-smokers.

Sincerely,
Mary Bourque, Public Health Educator
PARTNERSHIP FOR A TOBACCO-FREE MAINE”

Level playing field my arse! Is Health and Human Services going to reimburse the Par and Grill for the separate glassed in non-smoking section? Will Health and Human Services reimburse the Par and Grill for the huge smoke eaters that they invested in? Oh no! They could care less.

Can you see ANY of us going outside in January, February or March to grab a cigarette in the harsh bitter cold winters that WE GET?

Nothing is good enough for these people. They take the taxes from the adults who choose to smoke and use that money to stick it to us.

I still can’t believe they think they can go into a private business and tell them how to run it. They just won’t leave well enough alone. A lot of us smoke in Aroostook, and until the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Maine put ideas into the non-smokers heads, everyone was happy.

Like I said: if smoking is so bad for us why doesn’t our Maine government just ban it! Pull it off the shelves. Oh! But wait! Then they wouldn’t be lining their pockets with OUR MONEY!

Anyone can voice their displeasure at the following email address's:

Consumer Health - Maine

Partnership For A Tobacco Free Maine

[Just another Joe]

She, why is "PARTNERSHIP FOR A TOBACCO-FREE MAINE” answering your letter to the governor as if they were "Health and Human Services"?
I think I might be asking that question to the "Health and Human Services" folks.

[Great Dane]

“There are other people out there who have come down with cancer from working in bars.”

That not to say the man would't have gotten lung cancer, had he never set foot inside a bar.

[SheLion]

She, why is "PARTNERSHIP FOR A TOBACCO-FREE MAINE” answering your letter to the governor as if they were "Health and Human Services"?

Hey Joe! Well, I will work on scanning this letter and posting it in here for you all to see.

Their letter head states:

State of Maine
Department of Human Services
11 State House Station
Augusta, Maine 04333

And you have a POINT. However, Partnership for a Tobacco Free Maine works under Human Services in the State House.

Human Services collects the taxes from Maine smokers and divies it out to Partners so they can control and restrict the Maine smokers. Also, they are using our tax dollars to put on TV a few nasty azzed ads!

[SheLion]

Here's the letter:

[Just another Joe]

I would still ask why someone from the 'partners' is answering that letter.
I would also ask them for proof of any health hazards.
You think they would send you any?

[SheLion]

You think they would send you any?

I have sent them information in the past, but since they have "tunnel vision," they would just throw back the same old song and dance. Truth? They don't want to HEAR the truth!

[Max McGarrity]

In this hot 'n heavy Gubernatorial Recall out here in the People's Republik of Kookiefornia, I've managed to get anti-smoker quotes from a few of the many candidates( Bust-ya-bankbook, Puffington Huffington, etc) so I've made up a little poster for smokeshops and freedom fighters who will put it in their car windows. It says (with pictures of the dastardly dems) THESE PEOPLE HAVE STOLEN YOUR MONEY AND YOUR FREEDOM! DON'T GIVE THEM YOUR VOTE! So far no word from Arnold's handlers and he hasn't mentioned "tobacco tax."

[Madame Dufarge]

THESE PEOPLE HAVE STOLEN YOUR MONEY AND YOUR FREEDOM! DON'T GIVE THEM YOUR VOTE!

Well, just damn Max! That's great.

Any statistics yet on how many cars have been keyed by the tolerant diversity-loving crowd?

[Madame Dufarge]

Wait, I amend my TF remark.

"But, in regard to the oft-quoted stat that there is only one smoker in Maine for every three non-smokers, what does he think his chances are? "I think they’re pretty good actually," he says. "The petitions are no problem."

And once it gets to a vote, "the chances are very good," he says, "because let’s say two out three are non-smokers, but two out three Mainers are not Nancies. So the problem that the other side is going to have is convincing people in Maine that they should violate other people’s freedom, and that’s going to be a tough sell for them. By the way, the non-smokers are signing that petition, so it’s not the issue, it’s the principal that’s being put forward here."

John Michael and Stavros Mendros