Smoking in Public Places..Should you be allowed or Not

[marygalla]

i feel that smoking should be allowed in public places.  with todays technology their are units establishments can install that will pull the smoke from the room.  yes., i smoke my hard earned money from the taxes i pay for my cigarettes helps numerous government programs.  we get second hand smoke from vehicles, we get numerous unknown toxins in our systems from daily living.  our food, our soap products, our water even.  there are so many things that cause cancer and breathing issues it's become a way for people to hate a group of people.  what if all smokers quit for even a week good many say okay now the government is going to come up with another group of people to tax. you drink sodas you're the next list because you are causing overweight issues.  who is next. 

[billermarie]

yes they should be allow to smoke in public

[makedoughonline]

I hate smoking, but have nothing against any smoker personally.

[mommiespeanut]

people should be allowed to smoke where they want and for those that dont smoke, avoid it!

[tzs]

MAN!!! That's just like people going to play bingo that dont smoke, when they know that there is smoking, and walk through the smoking enterance, covering their faces and coughing, basically putting on a show for all of the smokers to see! Guess what, there are 2 entrances into the bingo hall, Duh!!!. I'd just assume stick my foot out and trip the next person I see doing that! They get on my nervous system!!!!

[thyme4fun1]

  Being a non-smoker, I am all for NO SMOKING in public places. However, I believe bars and nightclubs should not be included here.  And it's a shame they are because they are the places that people go to unwind; have a few drinks, a cigarette or two, throw darts, etc....   My brother owned a bar for five years and had to close it down due to dwindling revenue and a big part of this was the smoking ban on establishments such as bars.  Just another ridiculous law we can't do anything about

[Mickey001]

Yes, smoking should be allowed in public places.  I should be able to smoke a cig on the sidewalk of a street that I am walking up and down on.  Five years ago, I received a $25.00 ticket for doing just the same on a street in San Fransico.  How ridiculious is that?   

[marieelissa]

As long as you're outside then what's the big deal? If you don't like the smell then walk away...problem solved.

[marygalla]

here i go again lol

you don't like our smoke it smells ok it causes you breathing problems ok yes i agree it's not the best habit, but a few questions to you

where is your government going to get all that nice tax money from if we all quit smoking
have you ever seen an article in a newspaper man smoking in car causes death of family like drunk drivers  do

i personally have numerous allergies from perfumes this has nothing to do with smoking i had these allergies as a child and have even passed out from one old ladies perfume odors.  like i said before you drink soda fine you get to pay fifty cents extra per can because the government has decided you need to control your weight.  oh you eat chocolate extra tax fat again.  when are people going to wake up and see that
you are discriminating against people, and it's ok .  everyone has a vice that can be taxed and if people continue to let others tell you who to discriminate against your turn will someday come.  something to think about. 

my only other question is what happened to the days when people minded their own business and kept to themselves about opinions of others.  judge not lest ye be judged. 

[snewoyelhsa]

Definitely shouldn't be allowed. Especially in a restaurant. You're smoking around people who could have some type of illness that they physically cannot be around it. It smells horrible and not only are you risking your health, but you're risking the health of people around you. I believe that because it was YOUR choice to take up such a disgusting habit, you should have to suffer the consequences and take your cigarette outside if you need it that badly.

[Beverly10]

:'(One of the most controversial issues in 2010 was whether or not smoking should be allowed in public places. What is your take on the issue?

Depends on the Public place is it an outdoor location where a multitude of people go to watch a oh band or the like then No; is it in a public outdoor park or beach Yes smoking should be allowed!  But this is just my thought.

[tech2d]

Being a smoker, I understand about not smoking in resturants. I don't like to smoke and eat either! But going as far as banning smoking in say public parks, I think that is insane. As some on this forum have already said, cars emit smoke and fumes also. Well, I guess you better ban cars. I also understand the health issue, but not too long ago they were telling us that smoking actually did you NO harm. And lastly, where is the government going to get the extra money that cig taxes bring if you completely ban smoking. Fast food joints, etc are next!

[mattymatt79]

Definitely shouldn't be allowed. Especially in a restaurant. You're smoking around people who could have some type of illness that they physically cannot be around it. It smells horrible and not only are you risking your health, but you're risking the health of people around you. I believe that because it was YOUR choice to take up such a disgusting habit, you should have to suffer the consequences and take your cigarette outside if you need it that badly.

A restaurant is NOT a public place. Public means that it is opperated by the government via tax dollars. The individual OWNER of the establishment means exactly that. PRIVATE. To quote you exactly, if you don't like being around smoke inside of a resturant YOU can go somewhere else. Your tax dollars do not provide opperation of the said establishment. If you don't want to be around YOU can go elsewhere. The owner should be allowed to do as they so chose inside of their resturant or whatever else establishment it is. Government bans on a legal substance is absurd in my opinion because you're taking private out of private resturant.

[lvstephanie]

I'm a non-smoker, but I actually side with smokers on this issue. Too often I think that the laws to ban smoking in public places are more about power-hungry politicians and self-righteous nannies wanting to impose their own ideals onto a subset of the population that has become easy to vilify in recent years. I think that if tobacco is a legal product, then smokers have the right to enjoy it freely.

Similarly there has been a growing trend to impose more and more laws regarding food consumption. The FDA has new laws regarding trans-fats. Several cities are wanting to regulate foods in other ways, be it based on salt content, sugar, calories, etc. I wouldn't be surprised to see lawsuits against fast-food restaurants similar to the smoking suits from a few decades ago. I could easily see McDonalds being required to put a warning on their Big Macs: "WARNING: The Surgeon General warns that consumption of this product may lead to high cholesterol and increased risks of strokes and heart disease."  

I do think there should be a better middle-ground than what we have now. Too many places have it illegal in any public setting, which I think is completely ridiculous. When my state of MN put in their smoking ban, it went way beyond rationality and intruded on a smoker's freedom to consume a legal product. A restaurant (in St. Paul, I believe) had spent several thousands of dollars to completely enclose a smoking section and to put in state-of-the-art air filters, thereby the business could cater to both smokers as well as non-smokers. However after the law went into effect, the restaurant had to dismantle everything, thus wasting all of that money for no reason. Similarly several businesses wanted to create smoking / hookah lounges -- an indoor establishments that sold smoking paraphernalia and allowed smokers a warm place where they could relax and smoke. However once again because the state law prohibits smoking in any public establishment, a smoking lounge would be considered illegal (actually the laws allows "sampling" at tobacconists, so the issue is really on the wording of the law: whether fully consuming a product can be considered "sampling" and thusly can be exempted from the ban, or if it is different thereby making actual lounges illegal)!      

I know that one person's freedom to smoke may intrude on another person's freedom to breath clean air, so I think that the laws should revolve around that solution. I think it's fine for a restaurant to have a smoking section, as long as it's completely enclosed and ventilated. I feel that entrepreneurs should be able to provide the service of a smoking lounge that caters specifically to smokers without having non-smoking nannies disparaging that business or the people that patron that establishment.

[PMZ908]

Do you mean inside or outside public places? I can see the reason inside but I have trouble with why smokers can't smoke outside. Again, it is a witch hunt for all smokers........smokers should have rights too you know.