How do you feel about the proposed smoking bans?

Question

i feel that smoking should not be made illegal, because it should be the restaurant owner's decision. If you do not want to go there, don't. If Smokers don't want to go to a non-smoking restaurant, then they have the right to do so. if a non-smoker wants to go to a non-smoking establishment they also have the right to do so. bet they can also go to the smoking establishments. that's really all that some people do is they go out to have a drink and a smoke. Restaurants and other establishment's will lose money due to the loss of smoking. tell me what do you think? If all you can do is spew hate at me please go answer someone else's questions.

I did not suggest non-smokers giving up their right to walk around. i kind of took that as spewing hate at me because of teh way it was worded. I am merely suggesting leaving it up to the establishment owners. However, the smokers also have a right. I've been around second hand smoke for 14 almost 15 years now. It has not really affected me. I have grown used to the smell, and cannot say that i have a problem with getting it out of my clothes or off me. My grandma is now in her late 70's. She had been smoking for probably almost 60 of those years. aside from back problems she is healthy. and she smoked almost two packs a day. She quit because she just decided it was a waste of money. so i think that it should be up to the owner's and you, the people to decide wether or not your going to sit around the smoking or non-smoking section.

Answer 1

I smoke. I feel that I should be able to smoke without being glared at or asked not to. I have the right to smoke just as others have the right to breathe clean air. Smoking, in my opinion, is not a state matter. As far as bars/restaurants, it should be up to the owner, and a good mix of smoking and non-smoking establishments is good. I choose not to frequent the non-smoking establishments, but not on principle. I just want a cig.

Answer 2

I agree with you 100%. It's not even just about the smoking issue,it is that the government feels it can strip away our rights one at a time and there is nothing we can do about it.
I am a smoker,however,I do not smoke when I am in a public place. My adult son is a non smoker,so when we go out to eat,we sit in the non smoking section. I can wait till I get home to smoke. I respect his right to have a smoke free meal. I don't go to bars,but when I did,most in there were smokers.
I feel it should be up to the person who owns the establishment to decide how he wants to run his business,it shouldn't be a government issue. We should all have a choice as to which business we want to patronize,either one that allows smoking or one that doesn't. The way the ban is now,non smokers have all the rights while those who smoke have none. It is also taking away the rights of the business owner to run his business the way he wants,after all,he is the one that is paying the government taxes to have that business.

Answer 3

Smoking in ALL public areas (including bars and restaurants) has been banned in Ontario for quite some time.

I'm sure that a certain amount of money was lost at the begining but people have adjusted and have gotten used to the idea. I have yet to see someone breaking the law by smoking in any of these places.

I now can finally bring my son who has bad asthma to any restaurant or shopping mall without worrying he is going to have an attack.

Answer 4

I am a restaurant manager in Oklahoma where smoking indoors at a restaurant has been banned. We saw no appreciable difference in sales year over year and the vast majority of our guests and all of our employees appreciate the change. Smokers are in the minority on this issue and the purpose of government is to serve best the interest of, or at least the most participartory group within, a society. Smoker's can boycott establishments and gauge the response.

Answer 5

I am not a smoker, I think it's disgusting and I prefer not to be around it. That said, I think the market should decided - if people don't want to be around smokers, they can stay away from the bars. In Montgomery County, MD about 5 years ago they made all the bars put in expensive exhaust systems so that the non-smoking sections would be smoke free. Two years later that banned smoking all-together. I could not tell the difference in many places. In Delaware all the smokers now eat outside. So if I want to avoid them, I can't eat outside. I kind of liked it the old way better.

Answer 6

Lee you are a Capitalist, and for the longest time I thought I was the last one on Earth.

We have ENTIRELY too much government interference in private business. If there is more money in non-smoking establishments, guess what, the number will grow. The idea that congress can legislate common sense or morality is a moronic concept embraced by both sides.

That's the reason I claim no political affiliation when I vote and it's why I very seldom vote for an incumbent. Someone said politicians are like diapers, they should be changed frequently and for the same reason. The voting public keeps returning the same diapers to Washington DC over and over again. If you ask me, we have the government we deserve.

EDIT: To the morons who say there has been no decline in their business, what option is available to smokers? If it was possible to open ONE smoking restaurant and bar in a town with a complete ban, you would have something to discuss. It is like outlawing Chevrolets and having a Ford dealer tell you that it helped his business. What are you brain trusts going to do when they come after you? Don't stand up now, and there will be no one to stand when they come for you.

And to the MAJORITY RULES guy, there goes civil rights into the crapper. And are there more women or men, one or the other can be stopped from voting. More Republicans of Democrats, let’s ban a party.

A FREE market will find its own level. And it will do it nicely if it is not screwed with by a few dozen Libs or a handful of Bible Thumpers.

Answer 7

I don't smoke but, I don't think it's too hard for someone that smokes to not light up a cigarette for an hour or so. If they smoke, all they have to do is step outside for a few minutes and smoke and then go back in the restaurant. I think that smoking in restaurants should be banned, everyone doesn't wan't lung cancer. People that smoke are doing nothing but killing themselves anyway. Anyone that smokes should stop smoking now. One of my teachers had a brother that started smoking when he was 14 or 15 and died before he was 35 years old of cancer. Learn from his experience.

Answer 8

I think it would make more sense to require establishments to post visibly on the outside of the building if they are a smoking or a non-smoking Establishment. That way the owner is given the choice of what he does with his business, and the customers know before going in if it's smoking or non-smoking....no one is subjected to second hand smoke without prior knowledge.

Answer 9

All restaurants should be smoke free. You can't have a smoking and non-smoking section because the HVAC systems circulate the air all throughout the restaurant.

Having a smoking section in a restaurant is equivalent to telling people it is okay to urinate in one corner of a swimming pool but nowhere else in the pool. The point is, the smoke circulates.

Answer 10

I don't believe it should be illegal entirely but the last several times I've went to a restaraunt & I always sit in the non smoking section, I still smelled cigarette smoke. For those of us that don't want to smell the secondhand smoke or be around it, the smokers should respect that.