What do you all think about the New Jersey smoking ban?
478455
I agree - but most of the toxic stuff goes into their lungs.  If they smoke more, they'll die sooner, and leave us with fresher air.
225694
I think we are drowning in our political correctness in the U.S. It is not only unfair the way smokers are treated, it is unethical and unpatriotic.  Even if we disagree with it, people have the right to be stupid in this country...it's a constitutional right as a matter of fact. I also believe that it interferes with the free-market system we are supposed to have when business owners cannot decide whether or not they want their establishment to be smoking or non....if only  people would remember that you have the choice not to patronize that same establishment...and if it hurts business, then the free-market system will take effect and that business owner will change his policy.  BUT THAT IS THEIR RIGHT AND THEIR POLICY TO CHANGE...not the government.  I do believe that some smokers are inconsiderate but that doesnt mean it should be legislated.  \n\nThis whole business is just a slippery slope that is leading us closer to George Orwell's novel "1984".  Why stop at smoking. Why not tell all fat people that it is against the law to overeat, because it's for their own good and their obese bodies are offensive to skinny people who want to enjoy life without looking at your grotesque figure. Or why don't we tell people who do extreme sports that they can't do that, because it's too dangerous.  \n\nI think it is deplorable that we are allowing the government to rule or personal lives.  Terrorism is not the biggest enemy of the U.S.....COMPLACENCY IS!
654234
I agree with you. Although I am not a smoker, we don't ban alcohol or other things that could ''POSSIBLY IN THE LONG RUN CAUSE YOU HARM'', why do they get away with doing that to tobacco...how about Potato Chips????
845829
I am a smoker,but I don't mind the bans.I smoke outside at home because of my kids,and I did it most of the time even before I had kids.I don't like to smell smoke when I'm not smoking.However,I think banning smoking in bars is just crazy.I mean,drinking and smoking just go together,and if you don't want to be around the smoke,you can always stay home or go to a restaurant.Same with casinos.
255093
Just back from Dublin where the ban on drinking in pubs, restaurants etc., has been banned now for over a year.  Now most pubs have a type of lean-to shelter in the rear garden where some smokers congregate.  Others stand outside the front door.  I like it, as I have always preferred smoking my pipe outside.  The off-shoots of the ban, are that a lot of pubs are no longer viable and are being converted into flats.  Also, takings are well down with off-licensed premises having a booming trade.
609707
I don't have a problem with smoking being banned in restaurants and cafes, but banning it from bars would be too extreme.  Considering that the majority of people I've seen in bars often smoke, might as well keep it legal there.
376403
yes, this is a good idea because peoples health will be better and those who dont smoke will not suffer from second hand smoking. my mother smokes and it bothers me a lot because of the diseases and other problems she can get just from smoking. Also because since all the other drugs such as pot is illegal smoking is also a drug therefore it too should be illegal.
810616
YES!!! people say that business will boom due to the new law...not true!!! more lies. look at how many jobs were lost in canada at windsor due to their smoking ban. bunch of whiny crybabies always looking for ways to live longer. smokers have paid for many a building, and it was bad enough before when they threw us in a corner or outside to smoke...now we can't even smoke at all! i'm hoping my job (bartending in a dive bar) will hold out untill i'm finished with school....but i doubt it. if people can't even smoke in a dive bar, they'll stay home. all you self rightious people can rest easy and maybe live a couple more years  and find something else to cry about. i've got kids to feed and i 'm watching my job die a slow death on the clean air in the bar.
849457
The problem with allowing smokers to smoke in private businesses is largely an issue of interstate commerce and healthcare.  Both of those are issues that the Federal Government can legislate and therefore regulate.  So legally speaking, while the government is allowed to regulate.\n\nLet's not dismiss the potential benefits for this regulation:  there could be a decline in health problems that result from second-hand smoke.  Smoking not only affects the patrons of the establishment but also the employeers/employer.  A poor college student who can only find decent wages at a bar, but doesn't smoke, shouldn't be subjected to inhaling the smoke from patrons.\n\nThere is a correlation (note, not established causation) between second-hand smoke and the decline in one's health.  The costs of health care premiums are absorbed by US . . .  not by a stranger in middle management and not by your annoying co-worker.  \n\nHOWEVER, opening up this door and allowing the government to go about regulating and prosecuting violations of these smoking bans is also costly.  Patrons decide to buy alcohol and stay home because they can smoke at home -- or they smoke at a friend's.  They spend less time at those places of business because smoking is a daily habit and if they're forced to go outside everytime they want to smoke . . .  they're probably not going to spend as much time at that place of business as they previously did.\n\nUnless the government also provides financial compensation for those businesses, they lose money.  They then have to cut jobs.  That hikes up the unemployment rate.  THAT hikes up the unemployment checks (that are, once again, paid by us).  And this sounds like awfully bad decision-making for the economy which is already struggling.\n\nThe decrease in jobs means the decrease in spending which means money isn't being put back into the marketplace which means prices go up which then causes purchasing to go down.  And that sucks for everyone.\n\nThe Government should be more concerned with how we're going to handle this war in Iraq and less concerned with smoking bans.  Perhaps they can enforce regulations like smoking only allowed in certain establishments or "rooms" or at certain times.
38116
If you are in the US, don't bother opening a tobacco store.  We are going to ban smoking across the country.  Its taking a little longer than first thought, but should be done in the next five years.
345818
I think that it is indeed, out of control.  Recently some cities in Minnesota have begun enforcing smoking bans.  There are many businesses, bars/restaurants specifically, that are losing business now.  If I owned a business that was affected by such a law I would be outraged.  And there are many that are just ignoring the law, and paying the small fee to allow patrons to smoke.  They are making more money from these smoking patrons than they are losing by paying a fine. Last I checked cigarettes are still legal to buy and own.  I would have a serious problem with BIG BROTHER (and all of these lobbyists) telling me how to run my business.\n\nAnd by the way I am not, and have never been a smoker.
818161
None. don't want to litter. I thought the best protest would be purchasing cigarettes from a state which doesn't have a smoking ban. Have to travel about an hour but gee at least that other state without smoking bans will be getting my cigarette taxes. Imagine if every smoker did that? Might have to purchase a few cartons at a time but let the state feel the lack of smoking dollars.
421617
Cause Gambling Doesn't effect the general health of the nation, Smoking is a disgusting habit and fools that cant hold a few pints are a drain on A&E Departments..I live in Ireland and the smoking ban is the best thing to hit this country in years, To be able to go out and enjoy my few pints and come home NOT smelling of smoke is a dream come true..............And yea i do like a flutter here and there, took a few quid from the bookies this morning if Scolari takes the job....
665568
Pretty imaterial\n\nConsumers have had the choice of non-smoking restaurants and bars for sometime; whilst non-smoking in restaurants has steadily increased, there has been gradual change in pubs and bars with the use of set aside areas. Left to itself, the drift to non-smoking would have happened naturally over 5-8 years.\n\nThere are more important areas where the government should be taking action (pension reform, power supplies, transport infrastructure, reform of lords, withdrawl from Iraq, etc) that confer much more important long term benefits to the community\n\nSo instead the government has chosen smoking reform as this years 'fox hunting bill' to display some sort of progress whilst it dithers and delays on the really important stuff.\n\nTo be fair, it has been caught slightly on the hop by the Welsh and Scots regional assemblies, who in turn don't have that much power and have chosen smoking in public places as a way of demonstrating their relevance to their electrorates.\n\nWhilst smoking is an undeniable public health issue, it is an issue for smokers themselves; passive smoking in public places is a trivial risk compared to other environmental risk factors (eg traffic accidents). Studies are contradictory and point to passive smoke at home as the only significant issue\n\nThe ban just adds to yet more rules and regulations and will probably make smoking cool to a younger generation as a way to be distinctive from their elders
454856
Smoking is banned in all restaurants in California, and, hopefully, it will be banned all across America. You think it is a right to smoke. well, it is NOT. You have no right to infringe on the right of others to breath smoke free air.  Smoke in your home only.\nWhat if I sat in front of your house, with a booming stereo, while you are trying to watch TV?  Well, just as that sound fills the air, so does your smoke. Smoking needs to be banned in all restaurants and all public areas.
410377
I don't smoke, but always did say I'd never forbid others to do so, and you're right, it's fascist, BUT my attitude changed because some other substances, much less harmful than nicotine, are also forbidden. So, now they only have to ban alcohol (well, for you Americans, it's AGAIN :)), meat (killing animals), expressing your opinion, and other liberties, and we'll have ourselves a nice little clean world where you play like a good sheep or get incinerated. Long live utopia, where all the people are happy ('cause if they're not happy, they're dead).
909330
I am not a smoker, but have no problem with people smoking in designated areas in restaurants, or public places like hospitals, malls, etc. I expect people to be smoking in bars, clubs and such. I know there are people that are on oxygen, allergic to smoke, have lung problems and the smoke increases their difficulty to breath. However, everyone has the right to do what they want to as long as it does not hurt someone else. I believe their is a common ground and solution without totally banning smoking and coming down so hard on people who choose to smoke.\n\nAs for taxation, the government has that go in' on....They tax the vices they know people won't quit....gambling, Alcohol,......that's the way it goes.