desh | (no subject)

(no subject)

After long delay, Philadelphia city council suddenly passes smoking ban legislation

I practically jumped out of bed when I heard the news. Finally! Assuming the mayor signs the bill (and smart money is that he will), then starting in 2007 I'll be able to go out with my friends without feeling sick for the rest of the day! Congrats to city council for doing the right thing, and congrats to Michael Nutter for finally getting this through, and probably earning a few thousand votes for mayor at the same time.

I know some of you disagree with this, or think it makes me a bad liberal or something. And you're probably right, but dammit, I just want to be able to go out at night without spending the whole time counting the minutes until I can jump in the shower. I don't think that's too much to ask.

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congrats! i too hate to go out where there's lots of smoke

It's one of those laws that I don't agree with (at least for private businesses), but I'm glad it exists for personal reasons.

This expands my range quite a bit. One of the biggest obstacles for going out to see local bands is smoke. If I stick around too long in a smokey place, my asthma kicks into high gear.

Wow. I'm kind of amazed that Philly didn't already have a ban in place.

And isn't it more liberal to support smoking bans? Smoking bans hurt local business that cater to smokers and they hurt the tobacco companies who see a sharp spike in people quitting once they have to go outside to smoke.

Smoking bans are considered a preventative health care measure -- like birth control. And things like Wellbutrin to help quit smoking, neither of which my insurance company pays for. And we all know which side of the aisle the insurance companies generally live ;)

I saw this too, and at first was happy about it. But then I read about it some more and found this

"The partial ban allows for private clubs, sidewalk cafes and “neighborhood bars” to apply for exemptions that would give them the right to allow smoking. The bill defines neighborhood bars as those having less than 10 percent of the total revenue comes from the sale of food."

So band venues will probably still allow smoking. I'm also not clear on what defines a private club.

Wonderful!

Y'know what, as liberal as I am, I've always subscribed to the theory that someone else's right to live their life as they please ends at the moment it begins impeding on my right to live my life as I please.

Gay Marriage - in now way impinges on my right to live as I please, move about freely, or otherwise enjoy my own civil rights. Even if I were a conservative Christian (which I'm not), I don't see anything in the Bible saying that to be a good Christian it's my duty to stamp out homosexuality.

Smoking - greatly impedes on my ability to live the life of my choosing, engage in commerce at restaurants and bars, and enjoy my civil rights.

I'm glad you got that - we have it in some of the counties around here, but DC is being dragged kicking & screaming, and the county where I live hasn't adopted it yet either.

::shrugs::

I wish Milwaukee would pass a ban like that. It's something I've always loved about Arizona-the fact that I can go out at night with my friends and not have to worry as much about having an asthma attack.

Grrr... couldn't they have gotten around to it when I was still living in Philadelphia??

But maybe Pittsburgh will jump on the bandwagon too. Bars complain that they'll lose money - but precedent in New York and California indicate that's not the case. And there have been more than a few times when I opted not to go to a bar because I didn't want to deal with the smoke.

I'm reading this late. And I'm shocked. You and I already have briefly had this discussion. [Reminder: I think smoking bans are disgusting, one of the worst things to have come out of municipal/state elections in the past decade. I continue to have trouble undertanding how on earth otherwise normal people seem to think they're good ideas.] That you feel this way doesn't surprise me. That just about every single one of your friends who commented on this entry also agrees with you shocks me. How? What the fuck is everyone smoking (pun accidental)? How can everyone think smoking bans are good ideas? I mean, I guess that's how they get passed but... What the fuck happened to, well, liberal values? Sheesh!

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