Greenwood considering ban on smoking

[MudHog]

P.S. Effective Jan 1. 2007, Louisiana is now a non-smoking state far as places that serve food, public places, etc. Bars, private homes, limos, personal cars, etc are still places you can smoke, along with designated smoking areas. Some places even have no smoking within x amount of feet of the establishment.

[jacksbuddy]

yeah the owner is the owner but i should have the right not to have to smell the nasty shiiit if i go out.

Last time I checked smoking was not a right, only a cancerous addiction that most of America would like to be without. It's a public health concern. The costs of treating smoking related illness is high. There is no reason on earth anyone should smoke, end of story.

Actually smoking is a right. Just like many other freedoms we enjoy that are now getting infringed upon. However, smokers don't have a right to cause health problems for someone else. That's why I get so upset about this issue and I don't even smoke. It's not about the smoke, it's about someone's God given right to kill themselves with a cancerous addiction if they want to. I'm sick and tired of people and the government telling me what I can or can't do to myself because it's "For my own well being". Hell, they aren't even giving bar owners the right to decide how to run their own businesses. If you want to smoke in a bar then you should be able to go to a bar that allows smoking. Granted said bar should have to very conspicuously sign the entrance saying that it is a smoking establishment, God forbid a non-smoker walks in mistakenly and hurts their precious lungs. If people don't want to inhale smoke then go to a non-smoking establishment and likewise for the smokers. But at least give the people back their choice.

DucTater, you are right - - - for the most part. If you want to smoke in a bar, then you SHOULD be able to go into a bar that allows smoking. And your suggestion that 'said bar should have to conspicuously sign the entrance saying that it is a smoking establishment,' is a valid one.

However, 'the government' has been, as you stated, 'telling me what I can or can't do to myself because it's "For my own well being"' for as long as there have been laws. (It is against the law for you to intentionally harm yourself and/or others.) So this is really nothing new. I don't want to get into a 'shouting match' with anyone, but it has been proven that the pros outweigh the cons on this issue in every aspect, including economically.

My suggestion? Take personal responsibility. If you want to smoke, be considerate of others around you who may find it offensive and don't do it around them - even if you are in the 'smoking section' of a restaurant. If you hate smoking, be considerate of others around you who may not share your feelings and don't berate them for lighting up - even if they do so in the 'non smoking section' of the same restaurant.

[hillhunter]

I do have a pretty strong opinion on this being a non-smoker. I don't like the idea of being policed, but I sure dont like to sit in a restraunt or bar and be consumed by smoke. For some reason or another, after I come home from a bar full of smoke, I cough all day the next day and feel like shat even if I didnt drink all that much. I am somewhat if not completely allergic to it. Given that I still went and still go in these establishments when I was in college. Did I like the smoke? No, but that is what I was willing to do in order to hang out with my friends. I like the setup that the bars in Starkville have now that when you get ready to smoke, you go outside....the cops arent giving them a hard time for being on the sidewalk smoking at night, and like someone stated earlier, I don't smell like an ashtray the next day.

So I will ask you smokers a question, why should we have to go to a place that allows you to make us sick and kill us, just because it is your right to do that to yourself. Don't come back with the same old comment of "don't go in if you don't like it". As a college student I can honestly say that is not a viable choice...we are gonna go into the bars...but should we have to deal with the smoke as a consequence.

[hillhunter]

Another statement on the subject is that the Hunt Club was pretty popular a few years ago. Their ventilation system was so good that I rarely smelled like smoke after a night out, not nearly as bad as ricks or mugshots. If the bar owners were forced to establish a standard ventilation system for their establishment we might not be having this conversation.

[Bully]

I am not a smoker either, but I am against banning smoking. I think the owners of the bars should be able to make their own business decisions. If there is such a high demand for smoke free bars, the owners would have done it already.

Let me ask this question. If there are two bars across the street from each other that are exactly alike, except one is smoke free, where will the people go? If most people go to the smoking bar, which one will you go in? What these laws tell me is that non smokers do not have enough sense to make their own decisions.

[MudHog]

Personally, I would go into the smoke free bar. If I was the only person in there, all the better. Atleast I could have a drink in peace. It's highly unlikely that the smoke-free bar would be empty anyway.

[hillhunter]

I am not a smoker either, but I am against banning smoking. I think the owners of the bars should be able to make their own business decisions. If there is such a high demand for smoke free bars, the owners would have done it already.

Let me ask this question. If there are two bars across the street from each other that are exactly alike, except one is smoke free, where will the people go? If most people go to the smoking bar, which one will you go in? What these laws tell me is that non smokers do not have enough sense to make their own decisions.

We've got plenty of sense, we just don't have any options. Bar owners will not ban smoking b/c they want ALL the business...not part of it.

[jacksbuddy]

I am not a smoker either, but I am against banning smoking. I think the owners of the bars should be able to make their own business decisions. If there is such a high demand for smoke free bars, the owners would have done it already.

Let me ask this question. If there are two bars across the street from each other that are exactly alike, except one is smoke free, where will the people go? If most people go to the smoking bar, which one will you go in? What these laws tell me is that non smokers do not have enough sense to make their own decisions.

To answer your question, hard research has shown that if you ban smoking, then the establishments make more money. That's because more people patronize them and spend more per person. Not spouting an opinion here, just stating the facts. (Hey, I've got all this government info. Why not use it.)

[Bully]

But if that is the case, then why do the owners not ban smoking on there own?

I am not disputing that statistic, I guess I just don't like that fact that the Government is making business decisions for people.

By the way, I work for the Federal Government also.

[jacksbuddy]

Neither do I. But then, they never do ask us Clarksdale boys for stuff too often, do they?

[bolivarduck]

First, let me say that I am not a smoker and can't stand to be around it...
I'm not for a ban...
I would love to see a bill introduced and passed that would double the price of a pack as taxes. Drop the gocery tax in half and put 3/4 of the cigerette tax into the state health program (because that is where it will be needed if people continue to smoke). Most smokers say that its not the governments area to cover until they find out that they have cancer and then they start looking to the government for help. Anyway, that's just my opinion.

[ducky1]

The whole state of Arkansas has gone non-smoker friendly. If a bar sells food you can not smoke. If the bar does not sell food then it is up to the owner. You have to stay 25 to 50 foot away from most office building entrances. Kinda makes you wonder what else the government can regulate?

[RNAIL]

The city of Hattiesburg is smoke free as of 1 Jan 07, anywhere outside city limits is still smoking.

[DuckTater]

I may be mistaken, but in MS doesn't every bar have to sell food?

[ducky1]

There is at least one in Vicksburg that doesn't unless they changed in the past couple of months. Not sure about the laws in MS.