ALEILEUIA! Smoking ban in NC!

[whatevergirl]

*I don’t know about the selfish aspect…many are addicted to the habit. I will say that I agree 110% with you CW…on equating it with other types of laws.

If you are infringing on someone else’s right to breathe clean air…you don’t have that right. My daughter took a course on the harmful effects of smoking…the chemicals that are put into those things is horrible! I don’t want to inhale that!

I have a right to go to a restaurant, and not have someone punch me in the face right? Or verbally assault me? I have a right to not have to breathe in smoke. It is just that black and white to me. *

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

If your hurting others, then you don’t have a ‘right’ to do it…really, it’s that simple. I will say this…I was surprised when Florida adopted this for restaurants and bars…I even think Pittsburgh was turning to it, not 100% sure on that. At first, it was public buildings…private business, but public property. Ok, that made sense. Then, when it went to restaurants, etc…I was surprised. But, I hate smoking, so for me, it is a good thing–and I think that again–smokers have the right to smoke all they like…but they do not have a right to hurt others with their smoking.

People have a right to drink…but don’t have a right to drink…and drive. People have a right to walk down the street, but don’t have a right to jaywalk. This is right along with that.

*I just hate smoking, I have deep rooted personal reasons behind my loathing of it, I won’t ever bend on this issue…I don’t disagree with your and others’ sentiments, but it is not a right to harm others. That’s not a ‘right.’ *

Hmm, what are your thoughts on “Hookah bars”. Should the government tell all the owners they need to close down their bars, that they don’t have the right to keep it open, or that they have to change the concept of their business? (To be honest, I have never been to one, but anyways).

 

[whatevergirl]

*I have no idea what that is…

A restaurant that is family oriented …non smokers should have the right to sit there without breathing in smoke. If the entity you speak of is for explicitly smoking purposes, then there wouldn’t be non smokers in the building, but I am clueless as to what a hookah bar is. *

 

[shannyk]

A hookah bar is an entirely different case. It’s explicitly for the very purpose of smoking tobacco.

They’re not telling bars they can’t serve alcohol, or restaurants that they can’t serve food, so I fail to see the parallel…

Restaurants and bars will stay in business JUST FINE as has been proven in other places where the bans have taken place. Why? Because their business hasn’t changed AND they are making accommodation to the vast MAJORITY of their customers who don’t smoke, and don’t want to be around the stink of it.

 

[whatevergirl]

*Oh, ok…thanks shanny.

I like the example that CW gives…

I can drink alcohol, that’s legal, but I can’t drive with an open container…is that an infringement of my rights? If not, why? Because I can HARM someone if I’m drinking and driving. Smoking shouldn’t be illegal, no one is saying that – but smoking at this point should have restrictions, and one of them being…you can’t infringe on other’s space. I can’t even see very well, when I am around a smoker…my eyes are red, I start coughing…it’s harming me.

So, that’s how I see it. Keep it legal, with restrictions, like alcohol. *

 

[whatevergirl]

A hookah bar is an entirely different case. It’s explicitly for the very purpose of smoking tobacco.

They’re not telling bars they can’t serve alcohol, or restaurants that they can’t serve food, so I fail to see the parallel…

Restaurants and bars will stay in business JUST FINE as has been proven in other places where the bans have taken place. Why? Because their business hasn’t changed AND they are making accommodation to the vast MAJORITY of their customers who don’t smoke, and don’t want to be around the stink of it.

 

[Jennifer_J]

As far as I know, there are no exemptions from the no smoking around here, doesn’t matter if your business was 100% for smokers, a smoking bar or whatever, NO SMOKING

found the exemptions for MN:
<<Casinos exempt: The law does not apply to Indian casinos or Indian lands.

Other exemptions: They include: scientific studies, sleeping rooms of hotels and motels, tobacco shops, small family farms, traditional Native American ceremonies, and theater productions. Smoking would also be permitted at the Disabled Veterans Rest Camp in Washington County, and locked psychiatric wards.>>

These same “banning” people want to ban ALL SMOKING–outside, inside your own car, in apartments, in homes, in cars with children…and so on–your right to do something LEGAL will be limited even on your own property, if they get their way. If that’s the case, the gov’t just needs to make tobacco illegal…

 

[whatevergirl]

As far as I know, there are no exemptions from the no smoking around here, doesn’t matter if your business was 100% for smokers, a smoking bar or whatever, NO SMOKING

These same “banning” people want to ban ALL SMOKING–outside, inside your own car, in apartments, in homes, in cars with children…and so on–your right to do something LEGAL will be limited even on your own property, if they get their way. If that’s the case, the gov’t just needs to make tobacco illegal…

*No, I don’t see that. Florida has had this law for a while, and people are allowed tos smoke on property outside an office building 50 feet away, and in their cars, homes…etc…
I can see it being legal, with restrictions…that’s the way it should be. *

 

[CWBetts]

As far as I know, there are no exemptions from the no smoking around here, doesn’t matter if your business was 100% for smokers, a smoking bar or whatever, NO SMOKING

found the exemptions for MN:
<<Casinos exempt: The law does not apply to Indian casinos or Indian lands.

Other exemptions: They include: scientific studies, sleeping rooms of hotels and motels, tobacco shops, small family farms, traditional Native American ceremonies, and theater productions. Smoking would also be permitted at the Disabled Veterans Rest Camp in Washington County, and locked psychiatric wards.>>

These same “banning” people want to ban ALL SMOKING–outside, inside your own car, in apartments, in homes, in cars with children…and so on–your right to do something LEGAL will be limited even on your own property, if they get their way. If that’s the case, the gov’t just needs to make tobacco illegal…

I don’t see a problem with banning the nasty stuff

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

I have no idea what that is…

*A restaurant that is family oriented …non smokers should have the right to sit there without breathing in smoke. If the entity you speak of is for explicitly smoking purposes, then there wouldn’t be non smokers in the building, but I am clueless as to what a hookah bar is. *

The OP mentioned the law is for all places of employment, including bars, etc. If a family oriented restaurant knows what is best for them, and wants the business of families like ours, they should have their restaurant set up so you don’t have to smell a smokers smoke.

A hookah bar is an entirely different case. It’s explicitly for the very purpose of smoking tobacco.

They’re not telling bars they can’t serve alcohol, or restaurants that they can’t serve food, so I fail to see the parallel…

Restaurants and bars will stay in business JUST FINE as has been proven in other places where the bans have taken place. Why? Because their business hasn’t changed AND they are making accommodation to the vast MAJORITY of their customers who don’t smoke, and don’t want to be around the stink of it.

Actually, all Hookah bars aren’t solely for tobacco, in fact the one that was close to us in college served Middle Eastern food, so it is still a restaurant. I was just reading up on them and in some places where the ban on smoking has caused them to have to close or remove the tobacco.

roanoke.com/news/nrv/wb/201623
richmondbizsense.com/2009/03/03/smoking-ban-might-extinguish-hookah-bars/

cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/03/10/uk.smoking.ban/index.html

I think in this case it is comparable to making alcohol illegal at a pub. It is ridiculous and odds are it does affect their business.

BTW, I wouldn’t be surprised if the smaller local restaurants that have their “regulars” will be more affected than the bigger chains.

 

[shannyk]

Restaurants, bars gain business under smoke ban

From the article…

George Harrington has run a restaurant and bar in downtown Salem for 15 years, and on Friday night, his Lyceum Bar & Grill was electric with activity. There was a time when his bar was a haven for inveterate smokers, so he greeted a tobacco ban with trepidation.

But, then, something unexpected happened.

''We’re serving a lot more food at the bar," Harrington said, over the clink of glasses and clatter of plates. ''People like sitting at the bar, chatting and eating. They didn’t do it before because there might be somebody sitting next to them smoking. That’s been a major plus for our bar business.

Actually, all Hookah bars aren’t solely for tobacco, in fact the one that was close to us in college served Middle Eastern food, so it is still a restaurant. I was just reading up on them and in some places where the ban on smoking has caused them to have to close or remove the tobacco.

Or stop serving food? They seemingly choose what was more lucrative, which is operating as a restaurant.

 

[Cat]

Alcohol is legal, but there are restrictions on where/when it can be sold. I guess this is government intrusion as well. Sex-oriented businesses cannot be opened near residential areas (in my location), but the businesses are legal, so the govenrment should not be able to say anything. Smokers are inherently selfish. They just don’t care that their habit has a detrimental effect on others. (BTW, in Ohio, cigar and tobacco shops are exempt, so they do have a place they can go!)

Oh, come on! That is quite a generalization, and very wrong.

Smokers suffer from an addiction.

And do you all really buy the “proof” that second-hand smoke is harmful? Unpleasant, maybe. But there are a lot people who live around smokers for decades and never get sick. And about 25% of the people who get lung cancer are never around smokers.

I personally don’t believe that the proof is iron-clad. I think it’s trumped-up, just like global warming and the population explosion.

I don’t smoke, BTW, and never have.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

Restaurants, bars gain business under smoke ban

From the article…

Or stop serving food? They seemingly choose what was more lucrative, which is operating as a restaurant.

From the article I posted earlier:

“It would not apply if they stopped serving food,” Hickey said.
But that idea doesn’t sit well with Santos.
“Even if hookah is two-thirds of my business and food is just one-third, I’m still losing one-third of my business,” Santos said.

Well, they didn’t need a law to make their bar smoke-free, they could have chosen to do so on their own, yet on the other hand these people don’t have a choice if they want to offer smoking:
Smoking ban slows bar business in Grand Island

"No citations so far, but a lot of bar owners say the ban is killing their business.
…
“I have seen business drop way down - up to 30%,” said Chada.

But management said they have no choice but to go smoke–free."

There are many articles on this if you google it, it seems like it can help some businesses and hurt others. The businesses who are thriving on this, could have imposed their own smoking ban, that is the beauty of giving the owner freedom, yet the businesses who are hurting because of this have their hands tied.

 

[CWBetts]

I just don’t get why people are upset because it is becoming harder to commit suicude via lung disease

 

[Feanor2]

Hmm, what are your thoughts on “Hookah bars”. Should the government tell all the owners they need to close down their bars, that they don’t have the right to keep it open, or that they have to change the concept of their business? (To be honest, I have never been to one, but anyways).

Hookah bars and cigar places are never included in smoking bans.

Country clubs are also exempt.

Establishments focused almost entirely on smoking are exempt. This makes total sense to me.

 

[lifeisbeautiful]

Hookah bars and cigar places are never included in smoking bans.

Actually, that is not true.
Smoking ban vote now, hookah bars not exempt and cry foulIn NC they petitioned and were allowed to be exempt, but as you see above in Wisconsin they are planning on not exempting them. In VA they weren’t planning on exempting them as of April, and some part of CA they were included in the ban and not exempted until a while later. Anyways, I was just using them as an illustration of a business where the owner had planned on allowing smoking, a legal activity, in his facilities and where I think it should be up to the owner, and not the govt, to decide whether or not it will be allowed. A smoker might decide they want to open a bar where all their smoking buddies can come, without it being a cigar place or hookah bar, and I don’t see why that should be illegal. If it fails because no one wants to go because of the smoke, then so be it, but if smoking is legal, why wouldn’t it be legal for an owner to allow it in his/her facilities?

 

[Jennifer_J]

Hookah bars and cigar places are never included in smoking bans.

Country clubs are also exempt.

Establishments focused almost entirely on smoking are exempt. This makes total sense to me.

No, they aren’t, at least not in MN. The exemptions were listed above…

 

[tambourine]

As much as I dislike smoking, I think this is wrong! I hate that the government is growing more and more controlling. What about freedom? Telling people how to run their businesses is disturbing.

 

[Feanor2]

I must say that I am happy that the tide seems to be turning towards a further application of smoking ban policies.

Within the next 10-15 years smoking in restaurants in the US will be a thing of the past- just like smoking on planes, and I am thankful for the change.

The less smoke I and my family smell the better!

 

[Bataar]

Hookah bars and cigar places are never included in smoking bans.

Country clubs are also exempt.

Establishments focused almost entirely on smoking are exempt. This makes total sense to me.

That’s false. Here in Washington, you can’t smoke in cigar shops or bars. Needless to say, there are no more cigar bars. Another fine example of the nanny state at work. Non smokers are happy now, but wait until the nanny state comes in and makes something they like illegal.