Michigan finally passed a smoking ban!

Great Debates
#1

The Michigan legislature just passed a bill to ban smoking in public places. They tried to do this last year, but our idiot lawmakers couldn’t agree on a final version of the bill. The House (controlled by Democrats) passed a bill that contained an exemption for Detroit’s casinos. The Senate (controlled by Republicans) passed a bill that had no exemptions. Neither side was willing to compromise, so the bill died :rolleyes: This time, the Republicans agreed to give the casinoes their stupid exemption, and the governor is going to sign the bill so it’s pretty much all set and done.

Starting next May, we’ll be able to go out to eat and not come home smelling like smoke! Yay! :cool:

#2

38 states have done so. It is about time. Every time we stop for a couple beers my clothes reek with smoke. I am sure my lungs are filling up with a lot of poisons too. The smokers have had their way for decades. It is finally out turn . It will help the smokers out too.

#3

You mean I can finally go to a restaurant, and I don’t have to let them know I’d like a non-smoking table? And they don’t even have to ask?

It’ll be like living on an alien planet.

#4

I’ll appreciate the ban as soon as I can afford to go to a restaurant or bar.

#5

Yay, woohoo, one more step towards government intrusion in the private life.

I’m not a smoker, and I think it’s a disgusting habit. I also think that in a private establishment, the owner or proprietor of the establishment should have the freedom to allow or disallow smoking. And drinking. And fornication, for that matter, but that’s another topic entirely.

#6

I am sad this actually passed. I’m not a smoker and can’t stand the smell. The problem, however, is that there are now hundreds of ‘concerned citizens’ who are going to have to find a new problem to fret over and lobby against. I expect to not be able to eat fat-heavy foods in restaurants soon or some other such nonsense.

#7

As long as this took, I wouldn’t wait for some other "right " to fall. Smoking is different. If you eat badly and get diabetes, I will not get it if I am in the same room as you.

#8

And if you smoke chronically and get lung cancer, I will not get it because I will not be in the same room as you.

#9

I’m normally a big fan of personal liberty, and I don’t care if smokers want to give themselves bad health and smelly clothes, but I do care if they give me and my family bad health and smelly clothes. This is one of those cases where “your right to swing your arm ends where my face begins.”

#10

Right. And I think a private entity ought to be able to say, “Hey, c’mon in. But just so you know: we’re doin’ some arm-swinging here, so if you do come in, you’re assuming the risk of one of those arms hitting your face.”

#11

Exactly. I’m all for banning smoking anywhere that people HAVE to go, and I’m even willing to give a lot of leeway for “have to” .

But bars and restaurants? Nuh uh. No one has to go to (or work in) any particular bar or restaurant.

#12

Personally, while I can understand a restaurant, because non-smoking sections don’t help all that much, and you’re primarily there to enjoy a meal in a hopefully aroma-neutral zone. That goes without using the belabored arguments about 2nd hand smoke.

Yet, I don’t get the ban in context of a bar. In a Family Feud episode, I might expect the question “What are the top 3 things people do at a bar?” The answers would be:

  1. DRINK
  2. PICK UP MEN/WOMEN
  3. SMOKE

What else is a bar for?

#13

There are, or were before the Columbus, Ohio smoking ban, completely smoke free restaurants. Just because a city/state doesn’t ban smoking, doesn’t mean that everywhere is required to allow it.

#14

Look at it this way: your odds of getting laid just increased by a third.

#15

Nitpick: a sixth…

#16

At the very least, you could encourage your legislators to include the employer’s right to provide a smoker’s breakroom. I live in Washington state, and it really sucks to lose a warm place to smoke in the winter due to a smoking ban. And by the way, that room is now storage for Sharpies, signage and printer paper.

#17

Being a married guy, it’s not usually a problem. But still… sweet!

#18

I’ve always thought this whole thing could be avoided if they’d just try to make a relatively cheap way to get nicotine into people’s bodies that doesn’t produce smoke. It shouldn’t be that hard.

And if such a thing already exists, why the heck aren’t smokers taking advantage of it?

#19

We call it gum or the patch. There’s also chew, snuff, aka Copenhagen.

#20

Threatening someone while rubbing the patch on your arm, or while holding a piece of rubber between your teeth… just not the same.

I’m a smoker, and I wholeheartedly support smoking bans. It’s a workplace issue.

Employers have to be responsible for their workers, in my opinion, and the restaurant or bar worker can’t take or refuse a job based on what might or might not happen that day with regard to the proclivities of their clientele. They have no control over that.

HOWEVER, as a smoker, I think that there should be designated smoking areas, even if they’re in areas that are slightly inconvenient for me to get to. And, if one of those overzealous hippie fake-coughers pulls his passive-aggressive bullshit in my area, well, he should be liable for the same fines that I would have to pay were I smelling up his precious 95% of the rest of the world.