Thank thr insurance companies lobbists for that one. I's about money.

As a nurse I've seen the results of what a lifetime of smoking can do to a person.. COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder, which includes; emphysema, bronchitis, and asthma)is a terrible way to spend your life.. Really going to suck when you can't breathe because you killed all the aveoli (tiny sacs that help convert the oxygen into your bloodstream) in your lungs and you can no longer catch your breath because of all the inflammation and scarring on your lungs. Oh, not to mention the fact that eating is now a chore because you can't breathe while you chew, even though you do have oxygen running at 6 liters/min.. which you have to be careful about, because if you get too much oxygen you can shut down the part of your brain that causes you to breathe.. best part is they still want to smoke.. crazy!

Not trying to scare or threaten anyone.. but I think if some of you spent a day working with these type of patients you would change your attitude about smoking in public. 2nd hand smoke can cause these horrible diseases as well. If you don't care enough about your own body then think about the future of your friends and family.. Lugging around an oxygen tank for the rest of their life isn't one of the most appealing ways to spend your life..

or tell yourself not to eat them at 6 am ...is this a world of junkies that can't control themselves ...

pfffffft...and accept responsiblity for their own actions? never!

As a former smoker & former business owner, I view things this way.

With all the info out there, Yes smoking is bad for people.
If I own a building & I want peopke to be able to smoke in it, pass building requirements, so that no smoke leaks outside & I will post a sign, "SMOKING ALLOWED INSIDE"
Anyone entering does so at their risk.
End of subject.
I know the technology is there,so use it.

I'm late to this thread unfortunately, and didn't get to read the entire 6 pages...but from what I have read, everyone keeps asserting a right to smoke cigarettes. There is no right granted in the Constitution that says the government isn't allowed to stop you from smoking.
It's the same as freedom of speech. There isn't a universal freedom of speech. People in this country tend to over exaggerate their express rights and freedoms...probably because the government generally does a good job of protecting non-express rights of the people. (Despite how everyone moans to the contrary).

woah woah woah.... if it isn't worded in the constitution, they can take it away? if you'd read the constitution, our government was never planned to be a nanny state. in fact, the state government is supposed to have more power than federal, as far as governing it's own people


i bet our founding fathers would have added a few more paragraphs if they knew that was how people would come to think

and that's why the government has to step in and place it's citizens on the path to true rightousness

i think you can tell from my other posts that i don't agree

but, i do so love your ownage of people in other threads.

good day to you

The point is that the government is composed of the representatives of the people, and is composed of checks and balances, so there is no need to expressly grant every right that the founding fathers thought we should have. They granted the biggest ones expressly in the Constitution and later the Amendments (including the Bill of Rights) and left the rest to be determined legislatively. They understood that they couldn't foresee the changes in culture or society and wouldn't know what people of future centuries would want. In order to allow people of future centuries to set some of their rights in stone, they left the constitutional amendment process and the system of checks and balances imposed by both elected branches and more importantly the judiciary.
And yes, States are supposed to have power over matters which affect only their own citizens, but State Constitutions are generally mirrors of the federal Constitution.

It is my right, after all we are talking about a legal product arent we? The bottom line is our rights have been taking away! My family owns 4 bars and a couple resturants OUR choice was taking away!!! We are losing 10% of bussinesat each place who will make that up? The bottom line is untill they take away something that affects everyone you cant see my point

I agree, personaly I hated going to bars and smelling like smoke all night& haveing my eyes water because of smoke.

I AGREE !!! SMOKERS UNITED...STAND UP FOR UR RIGHT TO SMOKE...IF THEY DIDNT WANT US TO WHY DO THEY MAKE THEM AND THEN SELL THEM?....WHAT IS THIS WORLD COMING TO...yess i meant that to be in all caps!!!

I'm sorry that it affects you and your family's business, I hope that things work out ok.

But it is not your right.

Drinking alcohol is legal in a bar, but is not legal on public streets. Just because something is legal doesn't mean that it can't be restricted by the government.

The government could, legally, ban all cigarettes entirely (it never would because of politics and money, but we're speaking legally here). In light of this fact, it's hard to argue that it can't legally restrict their use when doing so would be exercising less power than an overall ban.

if only the founding fathers had known the abuses that would come by not spelling every damn thing out

Yeah I'm sure they're turning in their graves wishing that they had won the fight to explicitly include slavery in our nation's founding documents. How horrid that our nation, through representative government, changes itself as it sees fit in accordance with the morals and cultural ethics of the times. The horror! The horror!

Ok a bit over the top there, but the way that our system is set up, "the government" is supposed to be synonymous with us, "the people." Although in reality we all know that this is not perfectly true, it is still the case that we elect our leaders and have the ability to opine to them how we wish them to lead. If they don't agree, then we can boot them out of office. If there aren't enough people who share our viewpoint, then we are overruled and by definition unable to change the representative. It's majority rule.

70% of americans believe the system is broken. tell me, how many of them do you think have given up hope and let their wants be swept away since they see any resistance as futile?

I find it hard to have sympathy for those who have given up on the system, yet still continue to complain about the results. I'm not saying the system is perfect, but it's our system...and it was set up by our founding fathers. It's a tough argument to say that they would want a specific outcome X, Y, or Z with the smoking ban. Who knows what they would want in the context of any specific issue. All we know is that they set up the system that we now use, and it's through this system that these changes are being made. Giving up is, not surprisingly, the least effective way to change anything in a majority based system. To do so and then complain that things aren't going the way you want them to is irrational.

It is my belief that government should govern only the economy and the military, KEEP OUTTA MY BUISNESS, if I want to kill myself with smoking it should be my choice, I elected the officals, They work for me, I gave them the power, and even though I don't smoke myself I've lived with smokers my whole life, the people who want to ban smoking are bleeding heart pansies who just want to make a name for themselves by rocking the boat, but I do agree that the tobacco companies should have to funnel some of their profiits into healthcare...

Haha, so glad I invited you in here.