Go to Hypocritical smoking ban? - you decide
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- Go to Hypocritical smoking ban? - what do you think?
first a comment
on captain's post. you can't compare smoking to abortions because although abortions are upsetting to some people, thereby affecting their lives, the abortions themselves do not affect others physically. if i were to have an abortion, pregnant women around me would not suddenly lose their babies. cigarettes do affect all those in proximity and can cause death to non-smokers.
my second comment is that if not for the pressure of anti-smokers, i'm quite sure the government would not have banned smoking in the first place. a canadian judge actually had the gall to use taxpayers' money to have a private smoking booth built in her chambers so she wouldn't have to go outside. it didn't last long once news got out.
what surprises me is the continuing insistence to not legalize marijuana. the government has no problem with cigarettes and alcohol, both proven time and time again to maim and kill all the while providing the government with vast sums of money and yet they won't legalize pot, make more money and bury the illegal drug trade at the same time.
a tunnel was recently discovered running from canada to washington state. it was used to transport pot grown in british columbia, a huge business in bc, the pot is world-reknown. dirty money, cocaine and guns come back in return. the gun problem is getting really bad in canada and it can most directly be linked to the marijauna trade.
posted by
fourcats
on February 20, 2006 at 3:02 PM
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Nanny state sounds about right, I guess it's Britain you're thinking of. I smoke and enjoy smoking, it's spritually better than any advert, than most books, and more of a friend almost anything. Someone blow up all the TVs, then move on to far right movements ... smoking is way down the list of things to sort out.
posted by
Buksboy
on February 20, 2006 at 1:10 PM
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Sure
It's a double standard. I'm a non smoker although I've been known to smoke at a club on occasion. It seems that at the clubs where people actually "smoke & drink" there's a freeier vibe. I can't say I've even been to a club where smoking were banned. The last time I went to a club there was indeed smoking.
posted by
Taffy000
on February 20, 2006 at 9:02 AM
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There is a bigger hypocrisy
The whole concept of a "Smoking Ban" reeks of hypocrisy. City after city is passing similar bans, prohibiting smoking in any public, or private venue. By private, I mean privately owned bars, or pubs in which the owner must comply with the mandate.
Why are women protected to make health, and medical decision for their own bodies when it comes to abortions, but are not free to make a similar choice when it comes to whether or not they should smoke in a bar? Either government has a place in dictating moral decisions to its population, or it doesn’t. To those who are pro-choice, and support a smoking ban in privately owned bars and pubs, I want to understand why you don’t see a double standard. The same arguments that anti-smoking groups used to push their agenda is the same rhetoric that anti-abortionist have been using for over 20 years. How can you so vehemently reject the one, and embrace the other?
posted by
Captain_Gulliver
on February 20, 2006 at 7:50 AM
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IIisa32
Even though I'm a reformed smoker myself, I am appalled at any ban on a legal activity by the do-gooders! It smacks of a nanny state and of totalitarianism! In the U.S. the do-gooders are taking aim at our waistlines. They say we're too fat. Maybe so but its none of their goddamn business! I agree with you that these "perfect" hypocrites should mind their own business and leave the rest of us alone!
posted by
Burly
on February 20, 2006 at 7:06 AM
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llisa, I am not sure where you live, not in the USA.
I can't comment on your laws, but it would seem that at least the age would be higher than 16. The tax I would see as a deterrent to smoking. That should be good. The import issue is a good point. I don't know how your laws work on such. Good luck to you on your stopping. I have been stopped 10 years and love being without them.
posted by
Justi
on February 20, 2006 at 1:30 AM
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