Smoke 'em if you got 'em
Today's the day: the last day you can light up in Minneapolis bars and restruants, and various establishments in Ramsey and Hennepin Counties. The smoking bans go into effect Thursday (check local listings for exact time). Smoke 'em if you got 'em.
Many bars in town are planning blowouts to mark the occasion.
Me? I'm going to go out Thursday and celebrate. No more second-hand smoke! No more tortured breathing! No more stinky clothes!
posted by Luke Francl @ 11:37 AM |
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15 Comments:
Advancement of the nanny state.
I'd rather decide where to go and how much exposure to smoke I want to tollerate myself.
I guess you're not much of a music fan, decaf9. It drives me nuts that the trade off for seeing a great band live is that my clothes and jacket will stink and my throat will feel like I smoked a pack. I don't see why the shrinking minority should force that upon the rest of us.
Your right to smoke ends at my nose.
I'm a smoker, and I could care less. Just remember, today it's something I enjoy, Tomorrow it could be something you enjoy that our fine state decides is no good.
John, I would like to go downtown to a bar, enjoy some good music without my car getting broke into, dirtbags hassling my wife and I, and getting home without a drunk driver killing me. Should we start getting counties to shut down bars? I'm pretty sure there our more people dying from drunk drivers than second hand smoke.
Scott K
Mary Mother of God on a pogo-stick, first they legislate that you can't smoke in a private business (nevermind what the owner may think), then you can't smoke in a car containing a kid (see: California..not a law yet but by gum they're trying), next thing you know they're banning the consumption of tobacco in your own home. There is such a thing as good legislation; this isn't it. Call me an extremist free-market liberal but if you don't want to smell like cigarette smoke, don't go to places where they allow smoking. I, for instance, detest the smell of rank body odor. I deal with that problem by keeping free and clear of the hygienically challenged and Michele Bachmann supporters. Radical concept, no?
...maybe we should just make drunk driving illegal... oh wait...
Seriously though, Scott, I go downtown often and haven't had my car broken into, my wife and I haven't been hassled (sans folks begging on occasion) and I've never had a run in with a drunk driver. However, every time I go to First Avenue or any number of bars and clubs around Mpls., I always come home smelling strongly of smoke.
ryan -
Then don't go there.
If you think you are the majority, open your own smoke free club and use your better idea to shut down the practice. (Not to mention getting rich.)
luke,
I agree with you. In public places like courtrooms, the DMV and other places you are compelled to go, no smoking should be mandatory. You are absolutely right.
But your right to do what you want ends when you enter my business, and if you don't like it, please leave.
john,
No one is forcing you to go to the show.
This is a horseshiat law (and I'm not a smoker.)
A smoke-free bar in a city with other bars that allow smoking just doesn't seem to work... I've seen a few of them come and go in places that I've lived and they just don't work. Why? In my experience, we tend to be more accommodating to those who chose to smoke. For a lot of us, I think it's because overall, we aren't overly concerned about whether or not we're around smoking and we'd just as soon have out friends who do smoke come along with us to whatever establishment we want to visit. Cigarette smoke never stopped me from going to my favorite watering holes. However, now that folks who are more concerned with indoor air quality have done all of the legwork, I'm supportive of it.
decaf9 -- there AREN'T any smoke-free clubs, at least not until now. and not with music i want to see. up until now, to enjoy live music i've had to endure smelling like an ashtray when i go home.
i'm sympathetic to the civil liberties concerns of smokers, but it's far outweighed by the health benefit. smokers will be more inconvenienced -- i will be cleaner and healthier and will go to *more* shows. the inconvenience and ill health effects should shift to those who choose the nic habit.
Chuck -
There aren't any smoke free venues because they aren't popular. Why would you force a business to adopt an unpopular practice. Its like asking Cub foods to get rid of the produce section for all green beans (which are PROVEN to be good for you.)
What's next. Prohibition again? No red meat? Maybe no ugly people? (They totally ruin my club experience.)
I want to decide for myself what I do, and I don't want to decide for you. I want you to be responsible for you.
So then can I assume those of you begging for a chance to get second hand emphysema are against the legislation of seatbelt use and believe that people ought to be able to shoot up heroin or meth in bars?
Can I also assume your'e the sort of individuals that are for legislating how much a pregnant woman can drink but against legislating against parents smoking in enclosed spaces with their children?
-Kelly
Smoking ban like Cub foods and green beans?
That's the worst analogy I've ever heard!
the san francisco board of sups recently okayed a measure that will outlaw smoking in public parks here, how they are going to enforce this, i do not know.
no one complains about the horror of going outside and smoking a cigarette here in The City, of course, it is much more inviting to step outside the middle of december when it is 60 degrees, while in minnesota one faces hypothermia. come on, class action lawsuit, smokers!
-lj
Folks, you're all missing the point behind the new laws. Secondhand smoke is much more than an annoyance -- it's a proven health risk to the thousands of hospitality workers, musicians, etc who are exposed to it for many hours. White-collar workers are protected from this very real health risk , too many Minnesotans still working in bars and restaurants that allow smoking are not protected from secondhand smoke.
Unlike many public health issues, this one is easy to solve. It just takes leaders with good common sense and the guts to do what they know is right.
PS to my fellow vets: support your local smokefree service club. I recommend the pork chop lunch special at the Bloomington VFW.
For more on this, visit the American Lung Association of Minnesota website (www.alamn.org) or blog:
http://www.alamn.org/media/blogger.html
why can't the establishments put in smoke purifiers for thier patrons that smoke? They clean the air of smoke and other bad air particols, no matter what the establishment you are,they are even put in furnaces for homes and it won't leave oders on clothes either.
just another
smoker....
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