Raithere;
You're standing at a bus stop, sucking in diesel and gasoline exhaust with every breath you take... but it's the smoker who's gonna poison you.
Well, I don't know about you but when the bus arrives I promptly get on it, I don't sit their inhaling fumes. If I had a choice would take a bus that didn't emit poisonous gas. But, when I'm waiting for the bus in -25 weather and all the little shelters are filled with smokers, I get a little frustrated.
And if you don't like my smoking in the bar then find a different private establishment that disallows smokin
I agree with you 100% on this point. Note in my post I explicity stated that smoking should only be banned in public places. I think that whether or not a private establishment allows smoking should be a decision left to the proprietor. His right to run his own show overrides my right to clean air because it is my choice to enter (or not enter) his establishment-- it's the individual's responsibility. I think we're in agreement on this one.
And regarding how harmful 2nd hand smoke is...the only reason this issue concerns me is because my bronchitis really gets bad if I'm exposed to a lot of seconds hand smoke. Again, referring to Christmas with my family...after Christmas, without fail, my bronchitis gets really bad.
BTW, that Bill Hicks line is quite good
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MacZ;
You need to get a little perspective here. If you want to talk about burdens on society, talk about all the burdens including, for example, the huge law enforcement and other costs directly attributable to alcohol.
A large chunk of the cost of alcohol abuse is the result of drunk driving. The difference is that drunk driving is illegal-- it still happens or course, but at least the gov't has acknowledged that this act should be prohibited, and has taken steps to prevent it. I'm sure the costs would be much higher if the gov't did nothing. Isn't it time to do something with smoking?
I totally agree that alcoholism has a huge cost to society. I'm just saying that I think the reason anti-smoking bylaws are being enacted isn't so much the govt's response to anti-smoking sentiment, but rather the gov'ts attempt to try and reduce preventable health-related expenditures. Sadly, I don't know what more can be done to try and reduce alcohol related costs, short of banning the stuff...
Again, the reason that I support bans on smoking in public areas is simply because 2nd hand smoke directly affects my health. An alcohol abuser *generally* doesn't directly affect my health. And while I'm pissed that my taxes are higher because of alcoholism, again, at least the gov't is trying to reduce the cost. I praise the gov't for doing the same with smoking.
And your right to clean air? What about the right to a clean and helathy planet? In Los Angeles, as the following link shows, 50% of summer days are unsafe for children with asthma. Doing anything about that?
I'm sure that's the case, but I don't care about that fact for 2 reasons: one, I don't live in LA, and two, this thread is about smoking. However, if I did live in LA you can bet I'd be equally pissed about that. I'm pretty lucky to live in a clean city.