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Should cigarette smoking be allowed in some bars & restaurants?

Should cigarette smoking be allowed in some bars & restaurants?

  • Total voters
    107
vesper said:
Well a lot of states here in the U.S. are doing the same. And there are many who do not apply the same standards to smoking weed to cigarettes which makes not a damn bit of sense.
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Like here in California, where smoking violations normally carry a $500+ fine.

Where as smoking marijuana in the exact same situation carries only a $50 fine.

Carjosse said:
I'm goign to get addicted and eventually get lung cancer form marijuana as marijuana is not a public health risk. The current restrictions should apply but it does not need to be regulated past that and I would allow that in bars (coffee shops) and the advertising ban on tobacco would not apply to weed either.
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And here is where the real insanity starts. Obviously weed has some kind of magical smoke which does absolutely no harm at all. Where as tobacco smoke is custom designed to seek out and kill non-smokers.

Amandi said:
If perfumes started sickening enough people then, yes, they should be banned too. Where I was raised, before the law, there were 0 resteraunts and bars that were smoke free.
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There are places that already ban them, and have for decades. Sausalito passed it's ban way back in 1991. Ironically it was illegal to wear perfume in bars there while it was still legal to smoke in them.
 
Superfly said:
Had there been other choices, I would have walked out. I guarantee that if there was a restaurant where I live that allowed smoking, I'd never patronize the place. I'd choose somewhere else. But I was on a road trip, and as I mentioned, this was the only place around for a while.

Also, I don't have to worry about restaurants changing their policy. The government has taken care of that for me.
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There ARE choices. You were not forced to eat at the Cracker Barrel. Again, you have to right to another's property or labor.
 
Carjosse said:
We tax it to stop hope using it, for example I believe New Zealand is slowly increasing cigarette taxes to 100% in an effort to eradicate smoking. I don't knwo about where you live but smoking is frowned upon by almost every group on both sides of the political spectrum, except maybe the older generation (65+). I don't care if you smoke weed, weed is fine cigarettes are not.
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Cigarette tax in America is already over 100%
 
Superfly said:
Had there been other choices, I would have walked out. I guarantee that if there was a restaurant where I live that allowed smoking, I'd never patronize the place. I'd choose somewhere else. But I was on a road trip, and as I mentioned, this was the only place around for a while.

Also, I don't have to worry about restaurants changing their policy. The government has taken care of that for me.
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Where exactly do you draw the line at what the government should take care of for you? I don't see how the government should have the power to tell a business owner what he/she should allow in their business. I agree wholeheartedly that people should have the choice to eat there or not, but they should not be forced to conform their establishment simply because you dont like it. This crap is part of a much larger picture where the government takes away peoples rights to choose. Like you said, they are making your choices for you.
 
What I thought was hysterical was having lunch in Washington DC in the office where our representative was. They had a huge cafeteria, but inside there was a smoking section. As I recall, it was a glass enclosed room that totally segregated the smokers. The workers never went in that I saw. We were about 10 feet away, and when they opened the door, smoke was not pouring out, so it must have had a halfway decent exhaust fan - although you could clearly smell the smokers as they passed :roll:
 
radcen said:
Should cigarette smoking be allowed in some bars & restaurants?

Most states have blanket bans against smoking in all bars and restaurants. No exceptions. As a result, you often see smokers huddled in small groups outside partaking in cigarettes.

I am not, and have never been, a smoker but to me this in inherently unfair. IMO, the state should set aside special permits for a small percentage of bars and restaurants where smoking be allowed. To pick a number, I would say 10% to 15% of bars and restaurants should be allowed to have smoking inside. Have them post a large sign at each entrance notifying potentials customers, so everyone is fully informed and able to make their own choice. No one needs to go in and act surprised.

I don't see the need to make them age-restricted to 18+ or 21+, but I could live with that compromise.

What think you?
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I think a bar or restaurant should be able to allow smoking if they choose. The only caveat I have is that they should be required to clearly state "This establishment allows smoking" so that people who are really bothered by it can go somewhere else.
 
Kreton said:
Where exactly do you draw the line at what the government should take care of for you? I don't see how the government should have the power to tell a business owner what he/she should allow in their business. I agree wholeheartedly that people should have the choice to eat there or not, but they should not be forced to conform their establishment simply because you dont like it. This crap is part of a much larger picture where the government takes away peoples rights to choose. Like you said, they are making your choices for you.
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It's really a lazy and entitled mentality and when dealing with such shortsightedness things like "where does it end" don't really come into play. Please government save us from thinking, from intelligent consuming, from allowing others the choice to live their lives!

I don't get it personally.
 
radcen said:
Should cigarette smoking be allowed in some bars & restaurants?

Most states have blanket bans against smoking in all bars and restaurants. No exceptions. As a result, you often see smokers huddled in small groups outside partaking in cigarettes.

I am not, and have never been, a smoker but to me this in inherently unfair. IMO, the state should set aside special permits for a small percentage of bars and restaurants where smoking be allowed. To pick a number, I would say 10% to 15% of bars and restaurants should be allowed to have smoking inside. Have them post a large sign at each entrance notifying potentials customers, so everyone is fully informed and able to make their own choice. No one needs to go in and act surprised.

I don't see the need to make them age-restricted to 18+ or 21+, but I could live with that compromise.

What think you?
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I think tobacco should be classified as a harmful drug. In a perfect world I'd support outlawing it altogether. However, due to centuries of it being legal and being a realist I know that's not happening any time soon.

- No smoking in public including outdoors and establishments that are open to the public.
- No smoking in private if children are present.
- No smoking in private in inclosed structures where children will be present within ???? unless there is code certified ventilation apparatus installed.
- Smoking allowed in private homes, outdoors on private land, in private clubs not open to the public and in private vehicles (cars, boats, RVs etc.); provided second-hand smoke protections for children as described above are followed.
 
God forbid we let people make their own personal choices....
 
where i live, they can still smoke in most bars, though it has been banned in restaurants and within thirty feet of doorways.

i used to get heated about this issue when i was in the cigarette trap myself. now i just don't want to be around it that much. sure, stay out of bars, i know. however, i play bar gigs, and then i have to inhale it. if i go into a bar in my town, it's an absolute pea soup of smoke. would i shed a tear if it was banned? no. however, i'm not one of those self righteous ex smokers who goes around chastising someone for smoking outside. i hate assholes who confront people like that.

here's a compromise position :

i've played many bars, and the problem is as much air circulation as it is the smoke itself. so, why not let bars install devices in smoking areas that suck out all of the smoke? it will be expensive, but if they want to allow it, they can invest the money and become the places that smokers gravitate to. exceptions : VFW and other private clubs for vets. they should be able to do whatever the **** they want, and honestly, the government should pay for the damned drinks. we sent them to war and included cigarettes in their rations. is it any wonder that they smoke? yeah, they earned the right to do that.

about ten years ago, i would have raged against my even lukewarm support of a ban, but i've since learned that the habit is useless, and it was actually pretty easy to stop. to those who smoke now : don't worry, you won't miss it if you do it the right way. you don't even have to earn it like weight loss. once that last one is put out, you're instantly a nonsmoker and then you can go on about your life without carrying that parasite.
 
Phil_Osophy said:
God forbid we let people make their own personal choices....
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Especially if their choices give other people cancer or create medical expenses other people will be expected to share. (facetiously speaking)
 
specklebang said:
My state has been reasonable.

Bars with little food can choose. Many restaurants share the building with the bar so people can eat in peace and drift over to the bar to smoke.

For once, we NV got it fair and balanced.
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You do know that they are just protecting their casinos and smokers who lose a lot of money there. Can you imagine how much money they would lose if smoking was banned in the casinos?
 
There should be no government regulations on smoking in a restaurant and bars. It should be on the owner of the place to determine if the establishment is smoking or non-smoking.
 
I live in a state that allows smoking in bars. It's based on the % of business done for food compared to alcohol or something (not an expert).

That being said...most don't allow smoking in doors and (even though I smoke when I drink) I avoid bars that allow smoking in doors like the plague. Your eyes burn, it's smoky, it's dingy. I guess if some place wants to allow smoking and they just serve alcohol it should be allowed.
 
Helix said:
where i live, they can still smoke in most bars, though it has been banned in restaurants and within thirty feet of doorways.

i used to get heated about this issue when i was in the cigarette trap myself. now i just don't want to be around it that much. sure, stay out of bars, i know. however, i play bar gigs, and then i have to inhale it. if i go into a bar in my town, it's an absolute pea soup of smoke. would i shed a tear if it was banned? no. however, i'm not one of those self righteous ex smokers who goes around chastising someone for smoking outside. i hate assholes who confront people like that.

here's a compromise position :

i've played many bars, and the problem is as much air circulation as it is the smoke itself. so, why not let bars install devices in smoking areas that suck out all of the smoke? it will be expensive, but if they want to allow it, they can invest the money and become the places that smokers gravitate to. exceptions : VFW and other private clubs for vets. they should be able to do whatever the **** they want, and honestly, the government should pay for the damned drinks. we sent them to war and included cigarettes in their rations. is it any wonder that they smoke? yeah, they earned the right to do that.

about ten years ago, i would have raged against my even lukewarm support of a ban, but i've since learned that the habit is useless, and it was actually pretty easy to stop. to those who smoke now : don't worry, you won't miss it if you do it the right way. you don't even have to earn it like weight loss. once that last one is put out, you're instantly a nonsmoker and then you can go on about your life without carrying that parasite.
Click to expand...

Smoking in public accommodations is outlawed statewide where I live. I think it was by ballot initiative. I know a restaurant owner who moaned and groaned when it was being enacted saying it would hurt the restaurant business. After it passed, he ate crow and said he never would have expected it but his business went UP after the smoking ban.

Prior to the ban there were so-called "non-smoking sections" at restaurants. At some restaurants including his, the difference between the smoking and non-smoking sections was a joke; the left side of the restaurant vs. the right side. No wall, no special ventilation; nothing. The only separation was an imaginary line a few feet wide. Ask for a non-smoking seat on a busy night and they'd put up right next to the smoking section with no way of keeping the smoke away. Freedom to breathe clean air for smokers means the right to stay in your house and never leave home.
 
Smeagol said:
Especially if their choices give other people cancer or create medical expenses other people will be expected to share. (facetiously speaking)
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Because car exhaust is healthy. Flouride is healthy. Nothing is safe. Do you want to ban everything?
 
Smeagol said:
Smoking in public accommodations is outlawed statewide where I live. I think it was by ballot initiative. I know a restaurant owner who moaned and groaned when it was being enacted saying it would hurt the restaurant business. After it passed, he ate crow and said he never would have expected it but his business went UP after the smoking ban.

Prior to the ban there were so-called "non-smoking sections" at restaurants. At some restaurants including his, the difference between the smoking and non-smoking sections was a joke; the left side of the restaurant vs. the right side. No wall, no special ventilation; nothing. The only separation was an imaginary line a few feet wide. Ask for a non-smoking seat on a busy night and they'd put up right next to the smoking section with no way of keeping the smoke away. Freedom to breathe clean air for smokers means the right to stay in your house and never leave home.
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it's basically just a matter of time until it's outlawed everywhere. casinos will be the last holdouts, and then it will include them, too. probably another ten years or so. i won't miss smelling it and smelling like it after i go out. i have to put my coat in the dryer for about forty minutes with dryer sheets just to get the smell out from being around it for a couple hours.
 
Oozlefinch said:
Like here in California, where smoking violations normally carry a $500+ fine.

Where as smoking marijuana in the exact same situation carries only a $50 fine.

And here is where the real insanity starts. Obviously weed has some kind of magical smoke which does absolutely no harm at all. Where as tobacco smoke is custom designed to seek out and kill non-smokers.

There are places that already ban them, and have for decades. Sausalito passed it's ban way back in 1991. Ironically it was illegal to wear perfume in bars there while it was still legal to soke in them.
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Well cigarette smoke contains many dangerous chemicals where as marijuana does not.
 
radcen said:
Should cigarette smoking be allowed in some bars & restaurants?

Most states have blanket bans against smoking in all bars and restaurants. No exceptions. As a result, you often see smokers huddled in small groups outside partaking in cigarettes.

I am not, and have never been, a smoker but to me this in inherently unfair. IMO, the state should set aside special permits for a small percentage of bars and restaurants where smoking be allowed. To pick a number, I would say 10% to 15% of bars and restaurants should be allowed to have smoking inside. Have them post a large sign at each entrance notifying potentials customers, so everyone is fully informed and able to make their own choice. No one needs to go in and act surprised.

I don't see the need to make them age-restricted to 18+ or 21+, but I could live with that compromise.

What think you?
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So long as its clearly posted, it should be up to the owner.
 
Smeagol said:
Especially if their choices give other people cancer or create medical expenses other people will be expected to share. (facetiously speaking)
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What about letting people decide for themselves?

Look, nobody here is really saying that all business should allow smoking, simply allow a businesses to do so if they choose to.

Or does personal choice mean that little to you?
 
Phil_Osophy said:
Because car exhaust is healthy. Flouride is healthy. Nothing is safe. Do you want to ban everything?
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Cars provide a vital service mankind now depends upon. Fluoride is a by product of aluminum manufacturing if I'm not mistaken, an important material. Plus science has figured out a dental health benefit for it. Tobacco does nothing except give its addicts their latest fix.

BTW: another topic but I support significantly reducing car exhaust with aggressive development of electric cars. I good friend of mine got one on lease this year and loves it. $250 a month, under $30 a month in electricity and no gas, no oil changes.
 
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