How in the hell do city governments ALL across this nation get away with banning a COMPLETELY LEGAL 'FREEDOM' as smoking cigarettes in PRIVATE businesses??? It's totally a matter of individual choice for the American people and it's business owners. FREEDOM OF CHOICE! Do you HEAR ME? You know, like abortion. Like drinking. Like talking on a cell phone in your car. Are there sooo many more non-smokers these days than smokers that they can now say "we don't like your choice so you have to stop doing that in our presence?" WTF!!! Since when does one persons "choice" supersede another's in America??? Where is the outrage? What the hell, people! Do you not think the "majority" isn't going to come after what YOU like to do some day...and take YOUR rights away?

And since WHEN did this nation become a majority rule??? Don't we have freakin MINORITY RIGHTS all over the law books? Don't we uphold the oppressed? What the hell does anyone care if we CHOOSE to smoke? Does anyone care if you fuck up your body or life by drinking excessively? Do you not think that just around the corner the "majority" isn't gonna come after YOUR FREEDOM???

Give me a FREAKIN BREAK!!!

To me, it's a public health issue. Someone having a drink next to me doesn't directly affect my health. Someone having a cigarette does.

States (and ergo municipalities) are free to make their own laws -- that's part of the constitution too -- see the 10th Amendment. If the local government believes a behavior to be hazardous they have the right to outlaw it. The federal government can only override it if it violates the Constitution.

Those business owners are also free to move their business to municipalities or states that allow them to operate how they want.

My problem with this new version is that Casinos get to continue -- that is crap -- it's either a law or it isn't.

This is a democracy. The most points win.

Or are you saying that maybe Memphis won the basketball title even though they scored less points?

What do you mean "minority rights" ... specifically?

I actually did a speech on this for school. Even as a non-smoker, I don't agree with the ban because of choice.
Everyone has a choice - the bar owner, the smokers, and the non-smokers: Bar owners should have the choice to allow smoking or not, the smokers should have the choice to smoke where they want, and the non-smokers have the choice to go into a smoking bar or not.
I'm not talking about a restaurant where you are having a meal, that's a different story completely. Kids are allowed there; it's not a room full of only adults.
That's the way I look at it. At the same time, I'm not ignorant to the fact that second hand smoke is extremely harmful - I don't go to bars at all unless it's for a show (but that's also because I don't drink, even if I was old enough!). And I know before hand if there's smoking allowed there or not... so I choose whether to go or not. I think that's the best way to resolve the issue: if you don't like it, don't go.
And I know someone will say they should be able to go anywhere they want without being bothered by smoke, but smokers will say they should be able to smoke anywhere they want without being told they can't, especially in a place where it's 18 or over! The whole subject is a good debate for both sides, really.
There's a question that I didn't get answered before my speech though: if you're going into a bar, you're going in there to drink, right? And you're that worried about secondhand smoke?
I'm glad someone pointed out drinking because drinking (including drunk driving) kills more people than secondhand smoke, almost twice as many a year I believe. And yes, the person drinking next to you is not harming you... but if they leave the bar and drive, they are a risk to EVERYONE on the road. Of course if they get caught, they are arrested. But what happens when they've already killed someone? They get less time in prison than they actually should.
I respect both sides... but I'm usually very supportive of the freedom to choose and when that gets taken away, I usually don't agree.

Last edited June 12, 2008 1:25:04 pm

The kids issue is irrelevant. The parents are free to make the decision to not take their kids to restaurants that allow smoking if they so choose. I don't have a responsibility to worry about other people's kids. That's the parent's job, not the government's and certainly not mine!

Whatever happened to the free market? The penchant towards a nanny state is a very slippery slope. What's next, a ban on serving red meat? Perhaps a ban on live music? After all, loud noise is the cause of hearing loss. So, no smoking and no live music.

Let's find a way to ban sex and we'll be all set!