Smoking restrictions win support(Smoking Nazis)

AUGUSTA — The air eventually may be cleaner in homes and cars where foster children live and ride if a bill that awaited Gov. John Baldacci's signature Monday becomes law. The bill is one of several smoking-related measures that are working their way through the Legislature.

The bill calling for new rules restricting smoking where foster children live and ride was weakened from the original version, which would have imposed a flat-out ban in those surroundings.

The enacted version orders Maine's Department of Human Services to adopt rules by July 2004 that take into account the rights of foster parents, said its sponsor, Rep. David Trahan. The rules will be reviewed by the Legislature.

The rules could, for example, set aside "safe areas" in homes where foster parents could smoke, said Trahan, R-Waldoboro. The rules would also have to apply to foster parents' vehicles.

The American Lung Association of Maine would have preferred a stronger bill, but supports the version that was sent to the governor, said Ed Miller, spokesman for the health advocacy group.

"Just by raising the issue in the bill, I'm sure there have been changes in foster homes across the state," said Miller.

A separate bill that awaited final votes Monday would prohibit smoking where beano or bingo games are played. The House and Senate have both agreed to allow exceptions where high-stakes beano or bingo games are conducted by Indian tribes.

Baldacci has signed another beano bill, which will allow someone running the games to fill in for a player who is taking a restroom break. The bill does not apply to high-stakes games.

A measure to extend Maine's public-smoking prohibitions to bars, pool halls and off-track betting parlors won initial Senate approval by a 32-2 vote Monday. The bill faces further Senate and House votes.

Maine's list of places where smoking is restricted grew to include restaurants in 1999. The remaining exceptions allowed under state law have troubled some lawmakers, who said they sent an inconsistent message to the public.

Internet tobacco sales - especially to underage Mainers - are the target of a bill that was successful in its first House vote Monday.

Without debate, representatives gave initial approval to a measure to prohibit the delivery of tobacco products to consumers in Maine unless the seller is licensed as a tobacco retailer. Violations could result in fines from $50 to $1,500.

The lung association's Miller said the bill addresses sales of tobacco products through the Internet. Some sellers not only avoid applicable state taxes, but also get around having to verify purchasers' ages through cyber sales.

Miller said that in many years of working on health issues in the State House, he has never seen a more diverse array of advocacy groups support a tobacco-related bill.

In addition to health and insurance groups, supporters included grocers, merchants, convenience stores, distributors, pharmacies and the state Attorney General's Office.

Well, I stopped smoking (cold turkey) 8 1/2 years ago after 17 years of tobacco enjoyment. Make no mistake about it- I loved to smoke. Still when you get down to it, smoking is a thoughtless gross, habit that will kill you or at least compromise your health.

That being said, I do beleive in your right to do what you want to your body. If you would have told people 20 years ago how the extremists would use concern of your health to invade your privacy, you would have dismissed 'em as a right wing kook. Unfortunately,people are all too willing to surrender to big brother because he knows what's best for you and your neighbor.

Ever notice how, the further North you go, the more "progressive"? The highest taxes are in places like New England and Minnesota; ditto anti-smoking hysteria.

I did a study on AFDC rates (welfare payments)per family, by state. Topping the list is Minnesota. And then Twin Citians wonder why the minority population rose 4x in the last decade: the highest gain in the nation!

Go further North, and you have Canada: socialized medicine, cigarette cartons that cost as much as a car, and so-forth.

You'll find the same thing in Europe. Compare Spain or Portugal with Norway or Sweden, and you'll see what I mean.

Now it seems to me that Northern places should be doing just the opposite. I mean, who wants those awfully cold winters?

House gives final OK to smoking ban in bars
By Glenn Adams, Associated Press, 6/3/2003 16:29
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) Public health interests prevailed over warnings that personal freedoms are being eroded as the Maine House gave its final approval to a bill to ban smoking in bars and taverns.

Representatives' 95-47 enactment vote sent the measure to the Senate and put Maine a step closer to joining California and Delaware in imposing statewide bans on smoking in bars. New York's ban starts in July, and Connecticut's newly enacted ban on smoking in bars takes effect next April.

''We're tired of working in an environment that is not safe or healthy,'' said Rep. Leila Percy, a Phippsburg Democrat who works as a singer and bandleader in the haze of clubs that serve alcohol.

Rep. Roger Landry said that after his decade-long battle against cancer, he puts health concerns over personal freedoms cited by the bill's opponents.

''I don't think we're chipping away at people's rights as much as steering them toward a more healthy lifestyle,'' said the Sanford Democrat.

And Rep. Thomas Shields, a retired surgeon, said smokers are still free to puff away, but whether they should do it around others is a different issue.

''This bill is about protection of other people,'' said the Auburn Republican.

Opponents of the ban said more is at stake than personal freedoms.

Rep. Joshua Tardy, R-Newport, said a tavern owner to whom he rents living space fears a 30 percent loss of business when his patrons leave for a private club where they can smoke while they drink.

''It's going to shut that business down,'' said Tardy. ''It's going to put my tenant out of business.''

Rep. Matthew Dunlap, D-Old Town, said some eateries in his part of the state have shut down not so much because they lost business under Maine's 1999 ban on smoking in restaurants, but because the owners became exasperated over the stream of mandates from Augusta. Several other states have also banned smoking in restaurants.

Dunlap also found lawmakers' professed concern over bar employees' health ''absolutely hilarious.'' As a bartender, Dunlap said he finds that his low pay, bad working hours, threats from customers and abuse from angry table servers are more hazardous than secondhand smoke.

''Never once did I consider smoking in the top ten,'' said Dunlap.

Rep. Maitland Richardson said he's received a stack of e-mails from constituents who feel disenfranchised as they see their personal freedoms being taken away one by one.

''Let's think in terms of what we're doing to individual choice,'' said the Skowhegan Republican, noting that he long ago gave up smoking.

Another opponent, Fryeburg Republican Rep. Kevin Muse, used the words of a bar waitress to underscore his case: ''I sling beer and chicken wings to feed two kids,'' Muse quoted the woman as saying. ''You guys on the hill better leave us alone.''

The bill that passed Tuesday also bans smoking in pool halls, but allows smoking in designated areas of off-track betting facilities.

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/154/region/House_gives_final_OK_to_smokin:.shtml

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