First I am not sure if this is the right area to post this, if not please move it.

In another post called "why" my brain started thinking about the choices that we make in our lives.
My question is this

A lot of areas that are businesses are now smoke free. Why didn't the governments choose to give the owners of the businesses a choice of whether to be a smoking or non smoking establishment? Is this the first step in the government making choices for us in other matters? Any thoughts on this that you would like to share with me?

"1984"....not just a story...maybe a glimpse at the future...

i think because it's a public health issue.

i'm personally grateful to the new law, here, because i can now take my children in public.

People are giving up their rights left and right in this country, soon the ones that keep saying "Oh its only for non-smokers", "Its only to protect us from terrorists.", "I'd give up my rights to be safe" are gonna wake up and have no rights and then they're gonna start crying all over again against everything they cheered. Stupid is, as stupid does.

whats always go tme is to protect some rights they take away others, who decides who gets to have rights and who doesn't?

I can understand that Lulu. I also can understand if they don't want you smoking on the streets for those reasons, but why couldn't they have allow establishments to choose one way or the other. I would go to both, because I have friends who don't smoke, and have bad reactions to it, and friends who do

I personally like that there are a lot more places where smoking is not allowed. As a person with asthma and really bad allergies smoke is the thing that ruins fun and it also ruins my lungs more than they are already ruined. And I agree it is a lot safer to take small children.

The problem is, the non-smokers cry the loudest and are heard the most. I know people that have asthma, allergies, etc etc, you know what they do? They DONT GO TO PLACES THAT ALLOW SMOKING. Its a simple choice, just whiny people took the rights away from millions of people, so they'd feel better about themselves.

the goverment is infringing a lot other liberties

I, for one, am anti-sensorship to the max, which is what we have now. Whatever happen to people referendum? Seems it is not all about the special interests groups en paranoid people that do not have a life anyway! It would be different if it were all about national security. THAT I can abide by, but all this other crap has got to go!

Alcohol kills so many more people each year than smoking ever will, but who bans alcohol? So I say we ban smoking, alcohol, sugar, salt, everything in the world that's bad for you. Then when nothing is legal, we'll all die in our own stupidity.

I think it is because there are so many lobbiest with nothing else to do. They was sitting around one day and said,"Hey, I got and idea, band smokers forever." Well, they may have banded me from smoking in public but they can't stop me for smoking in my truck, home, or outside.

I am an ex smoker and I have kids. In Chicago, most establishments are already smoke free... you can't smoke in Cabs, restaurants, and most public venues have designated smoking sections. As of January 01, the only place it will be legal to smoke is in your home IF you do not rent it.

My mother smoked while she was pregnant with me, and didn't quit til I was almost 5. My father, to this day, smokes.

There are some public health concerns I am sure, HOWEVER, I feel it is a violation of a smoker's rights. It is an addiction... and the way everything is being limited, it is almost discriminatory. Perhaps outdoors it should be banned because we all deserve to breathe clean, fresh air, BUT I feel that restaurants and business owners should be able to decide if they are smoker-friendly or not. If non-smokers want to b!tch, they simply need not patronize the business. To offset this, I think businesses choosing to remain smoker friendly should pay a yearly fee to be donated to cancer research.

Just a thought.

Dont bet on it.

could always do like we used to do when i was a kid. they banned smoking in the malls, we smoked anyway. we just made sure we could outrun the security guards.

"Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety."-Benjamin Franklin

actually thats true, boulder banned smoking in public period. no smoking in your car or on the street. the only place you can smoke legally is in your own house.

Hummm well first of all these laws of each city are put in front of the boards and voted on before they are put in effect into the business first of all very few places have correct ventilation and in order to get what would bring them up to code would rather instead go with the no smoking rules.

But most don't know when these things are being voted on or just not aware of when and where. I know in Fort Worth there are still business you can smoke in and some have chose not to let you. But some of the surrounding areas have went with no smoking at all.

Myself I don't see anything wrong with the smoking if they have the correct ventilation for it. But.......... sorry I don't consider a table 5ft away as good enough for smokers and non smokers to be apart.

Cameras everywhere, smokeless areas, no running the dog in the field, having people check my receipt at one store but not the 10 people in front of me (so I have boycotted random receipt checking so I do not shop there anymore. Can't use lotioned kleenex in offices...what the *(&^&*. If they dealt with crooks en idiots the right way everyone would not be subjected to the "new way" of doing business and government. En all this sickness people have now...geez...no one goes outside anymore en everyone is sick. I am NOT one of those people.

En its rich people en special interests that hire the lobbyists who have nothing better to do.