Smoking in public places is in retreat across the country, and now Charlie Brown, the state representative from Gary, wants
to ban it in bars, casinos and other enclosed places in Indiana.
Brown plans to introduce a bill during this yearâ??s General Assembly, and will probably get immediate push-back from interests including bars and restaurants.
Indiana isnâ??t the only place where smoking refuses to die without a fight. In the Netherlands, some bars are refusing to heed new anti-smoking laws.
What do you think? To what extent should smoking be banned, and in which locations?
Brown plans to introduce a bill during this yearâ??s General Assembly, and will probably get immediate push-back from interests including bars and restaurants.
Indiana isnâ??t the only place where smoking refuses to die without a fight. In the Netherlands, some bars are refusing to heed new anti-smoking laws.
What do you think? To what extent should smoking be banned, and in which locations?
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I sometimes go to Nikki Blanes bar (off the circle) not just for the marttinis but also the atmosphere of the ciggars. If bars are banned from smoking inside the building, then places like Nikki Blanes will lose half of their product and most of their customers.
Family oriented places, in my opinion, should have the ban, but places that require a 21 and over ID, i say, let them have smokes, (and eat it too ;) ).
By all means, I have not smoked a day in my life, but to Hinder those who are smokers (regulars or otherwise), I feel that I shouldn't hinder their smoking privlages in bars. It just seems that if you are going to go to a place to intoxicate yourself (with beer) it goes hand and hand with smoking (first or second hand).
Smoke gets in your eyes (and everywhere else)
A friend sent me some interesting data Sunday. First, he e-mailed a story from Los Angeles, where terrible fires were raging. It said that public health leaders had issued a smoke advisory because of the health risks posed by fine particulate matter in the air. Citing what's called a PM2.5 reading of 226, they deemed the air quality very unhealthy.
Next, my friend sent a study of indoor air quality in Indianapolis prior to passage of our city's smokefree-workplace law. It showed an average PM2.5 reading of 432--even more dangerous than the very unhealthy air in L.A.
Because Indianapolis made many of its workplaces smokefree, our average reading today would be far lower.
But because we exempted from that law such places as bars, adult-only restaurants, bowling alleys and gaming establishments, people who work in those environments still must inhale very unhealthy air, shift after shift, day after day, year after year.
And because many Indiana cities, towns and counties still have no smokefree ordinance whatsoever, employees in those communities have no legal protection at all.
There's movement afoot to provide for Indiana what's been delivered in 24 U.S. states, including Illinois and Ohio: a statewide smokefree workplace law that protects workers in all workplaces, including restaurants and bars.
My view: We'd all breathe easier if Indiana enacted such a law. And a level playing field would provide the fairest economic climate for all businesses. What's your view?
www.tellhetrick.com
Actually, it was the first time since college that I went to a bar because I could breathe easy and enjoy the music without a smoke-induced migraine.
If Chicago can do it, so can we. Smoking isn't a right, it's a privilege! It's bad enough that so many kids are exposed to smoke from parents that smoke in their homes and automobiles - where are their rights? It's time this country started putting people and not bad habits first.
Too, I couldn't agree more with Bruce Hetrick's post today. As a resident of both Indianapolis and Los Angeles, I am very happy with the fact that while in Los Angeles I do not have to worry about being forced to inhale carcinogenic second hand cigarette smoke -- anywhere. However, when I'm in Indianapolis, it's a constant concern. As an example, two weeks ago I was invited to dinner with friends at the Great Divide on east New York street. I hadn't been in there in a year or more. Their food and service are very good, but when the smokers began lighting up, I was reminded of why I don't go there. It was terrible. I had to open the back door just for some fresh air. I kept thinking of what it was doing to my lungs, and was reminded of my own mother's death from smoking-related lung cancer ten years ago.
Hundreds of thousands of Americans die unnecessarily from smoking-related illnesses each year, an added financial burden in the billions of dollars for the rest of us as tax payers. Let's finally ban smoking in all public places, including restaurants and bars. It's being done successfully and without harm to businesses in half our nation already. If cities like Buenos Aires, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and many others can do it without harm to their businesses, so can Indianapolis and Indiana.
I assume that you just want to stir things up rather than have a civil discourse. How is it a choice when you want to attend a concert or event at a bar but can't because the place is so smoky that you end up having an asthma attack? And if you think that's BS, talk to a doctor.
If you are going to a 21 and over establishment, whose sales are primarily alcohol, then you're not doing something healthy either. Last time I checked, alcohol isn't healthy for your liver (and if you say studies have shown wine is healthy, well, those studies/articles say only 1 a day... most people that go to a bar aren't having just 1 drink).
I completely agree that all other places should be smoke-free (such as restaurants, AND bowling alleys, etc.). But, 21 and over establishments shouldn't be included. Anyone going to a 21 and over establishment is choosing to go there, no one is forcing them to go there. Also, since they're 21 and over, no one can force their kids to be subjected to the smoke. And no one is forcing anyone to work at a 21 and over establishment. If you're a bartender, there are plenty of restaurants that are smoke-free to work at.
If it bothers you that much, there are plenty of establishments that are smoke-free that serve alcohol... they may not be 21 and over, but they're smoke-free and have alcohol.
So, let the 21 and over establishments choose whether or not they want to be smoke free... just as you choose whether or not to visit that 21 and over establishment.
Kudos to Charlie Brown and colleagues for taking on this issue and trying to join the ranks of a majority of the country. But we don't have to wait for the state to finish it's 'long session'...can't the Indianapolis Council fix what it started 3 years ago?
Look, my wife has asthma, and I hate ciggy smoke. So, yes, we don't go to smokey bars if we can help it. There is nothing Cool about smoking, and yes, 95% of the smokers out there WISH they could quit.
Smoking is for losers, and only losers support smoking. :duh:
Be a man and quit.
Sure, I agree, if you want to smoke in your home, in your car, or at a legally designated area, then fine, have at it. However, the majority of the people in this country do not smoke, and we shouldn't have to capitulate to a group of people that choose to kill themselves.
You can die on your own terms. I shouldn't have to die, too.
Just silly...
:blech:
Granted, I don't support smoking by any means neccessary. It has claimed my grandmother, grandfather, and hindered my father's life span, but atleast they respect my wishes to living spaces (where children can be) being smoke free.
If you want a smoke free location, there are alot of business (besides Chuck-E-Cheeses or whatever) who serve Drinks without smoking. Applebees and TGI Fridays for instance. If you go there after 9, most children are gone (if not all). On top of that, Children are not allowed to be in the Bar section (which is seperated from the rest of the restaruant). Drinks there are cheaper than at some other bars which I have gone to.
Please ban smoking EVERYWHERE. Businesses might find that more people will come out who have been avoiding smokey bars.
eventually everything will be smoke free. You know its coming.
I will admit because of this and a couple of other factors, I'm a little biased. My mom passed away due to emphysema and my dad already lost part of one lung thanks to lung cancer.
You're right, your health is most important. That's why you use your brain and don't go to places that cause you harm. You probably wouldn't participate in the Bull Run in Mexico expecially if you were in a wheel chair either. I wish there were no smoking everywhere, honestly. But I am sick of the government sticking their noses in the business owner's matters. Simply put, if someone has a successful establishment that cater's to smoking, such as a cigar bar downtown, I'm not going and you won't either. Just don't ask the government to give you a crutch so you can go beat it over the head of the successful business owner.
You can't be serious....assault??? Are you in law school to be an injury lawyer and can't wait to get on the cover of the yellow pages??? That attitude may be more dangerous than the casual smoker.
Don't forget, we haven't made the product illegal, but we want to ban it's use. Careful, if you ask the gov'mint for something you'll get more than you bargained for..........