To smoke or not to smoke? Actually the question should be...where are you allowed to smoke. The government is now deciding where we are allowed to smoke. I agree that there are some places that should be restricted from smoking, like hospitals. But not beaches, and especially bars. Smoking and drinking go together.
I am a cigar smoker and I enjoy having a cigar with friends or by myself. Before the smoking ban, I was allowed to enjoy my smoke at any bar. Now I have to pick a place that has outside seating to accommodate smokers. So, if it is too cold or rainy outside, I have to find a place that has heat and cover. I feel this is just the start of the government telling us what we can and cannot do. Pretty soon they will be telling us we cannot even smoke at our own house, along with what we can or cannot do in other aspects of our lives.
Not only do I have to fight the government and the non smokers, but I also have to battle the cigarette smokers. Cigarette smokers amaze me with their reaction to my cigar smoke. We could be sitting side by side, both enjoying our smoke, when I get a wrinkled up facial expression and a comment about how my cigar stinks. Really? My cigar is 100% tobacco, where as, a cigarette is mainly chemicals and filler. I don't complain about the smell of cigarettes, so please don't complain about my cigar. Smokers need to stick together!
I just want to be able to relax and enjoy my cigar without getting wet, freezing to death, putting up with complaining cigarette smokers, or having someone tapping me on the shoulder telling me I can't smoke here.
JOSH BAUGH. "Differing studies cloud smoking-ban issue As San Antonio weighs
stricter ordinance, its bars and restaurants look to Houston. " Houston Chronicle
12 Jul 2010,Houston Chronicle, ProQuest. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.
"Smoking Bans." Issues & Controversies On File: n. pag. Issues & Controversies. Facts On File
News Services, 12 Mar. 2007. Web. 30 Jan. 2011.
<http://www.2facts.com/article/i0600730>.
I completely see your point about cigarette smokers thinking your cigar stinks that's just crazy.I will have to say though I am totally in favor of a smoking ban but not just in public places. I would like to a smoking ban for the parents that lock their children up in a car and smoke while driving or smoke in their homes where children live.It totally upsets me when I see this because these children do not have a choice to be give the high risk of cancer,or infazema. I think a public smoking ban is just the beginning of whats to come.
ReplyDeleteI like the logical analysis and the personal touch of inserting yourself into the argument. You need to include your sources.
ReplyDeleteWhile I will concede the point that everyone should have the right to pursue happiness as they see fit in this great country of ours, I do think that smoking may impinge to some degree on the rights of others to also pursue happiness. If I am sitting at a bar with you and you light up your cigar, I now have to suffer through the smell and the smoke just to sit and enjoy myself. Smoking is different from drinking in that they only one physically affected by intaking alcohol is the individual drinking - not so with smoking. It can affect the entire room.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you the the goverment is being bossy; however, not of your decisions will ever jsut effect you. I figured out this past fall that i was highly allergic to tabacco. This past State Fair on the grounds (mostly all of it is an outdoors area) i walked past a man smoking a cigar and nearly went into anaphylactic. So yes for the health and safty of others smoking must be kept out of areas with public non smoking uses. and other highly populated areas.
ReplyDeleteI understand your point of view about smoking is fine and that cigarettes and cigars are a totally different thing, however they do cause the same affects. It hurts you, and others that aren’t smokers around you. Also, being polite and asking “do you mind if I smoke?” can save you from having any rude remarks, they might not be rude precisely, but it’ll save you from that “are you serious” moment. Nevertheless, I agree with the government to separate smokers from the non-smokers. It’s a better environment for both parties.
ReplyDeleteEvery business owner is entitled to his own policy on smoking, I do not believe that the government should be allowed to place a mandatory smoke ban where they pick and choose.
ReplyDeleteAs the years pass I have seen how the government has become too controlling of the people. We are becoming very limited on what we can do because the government apposes to everything that doesn’t benefit them. But on the other hand I can see why people make those facial expression, a while back when I use to party, I remember that the worst part of going out was coming home smelling like pure cigarettes and tobacco. This would actually prevent me from going out. Thank God, that I got out of that scene But I would have to agree that there should be some restriction of were smoking is allowed. I also, see your point of view of how uncomfortable it must be for you to have to go out of your way just to enjoy your time. I think the best is to balance both worlds, as in having a more restricted yet comfortable place for the smokers enjoy their time.
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