3.22.2006

Two for one

Does anyone else find it ironic that California has some of the dirtiest air
and yet
it's practically illegal to smoke ANYWHERE in Cali?
(excerpt: prohibits smoking in all public places, indoor or outdoor, where anyone might be exposed to secondhand smoke, including outdoor cafes, bus stops, soccer fields, condominium pool decks, parks and sidewalks. Smoking in one's car is allowed, unless the windows are open and someone nearby might be affected.)

So, in summary,
It's ok to drive your 2 ton SUV 1/2 a block to buy baby food and soccer pads for the kiddies, but don't you fucking light up while doing it!

Take note Colorado readers:Elsewhere, the Colorado House gave final approval to a statewide smoking ban Friday and sent the bill to Gov. Bill Owens, who said he will sign it. Colorado would be the 13th state to enact such a ban.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have to agree that it is REALLY fucking hypocritical to pass laws that ban smoking, but do not do ANYTHING in the way of making auto makers build more fuel efficient engines. And dirty air is a big problem. I will say though that I am all for smoking bans. I know that smokers such as your self will tell me to fuck off and that I am treading on your rights. I can not say though how many meals I have paid 20 bucks for that have been ruined by some one smoking five tables away on the other side of the invisible smoking/nonsmoking line that smoke never pays attention to. Some of the scope of the laws can be too broad, but I considering the fact that we have such bans on other things that are considered carcinogens, it does not surprise me. Tobacco smoke is classified as a very serious carcinogen, and some studies indicate that none smokers who are routinely exposed to second hand smoke stand as high a risk as the smokers them selves. I have to say, I think we should all have the right to kill our selves in a slow painful, enjoyable, or smelly way as we like, but I should not have to be forced into it just because I wan to go and dance in a club. Not to mention that it would be really cool to go out, have a drink in a bar and not have to shower before I go to bed if I don't want to be breathing poorly all night waking up with my eyes gumed shut and making my bed reek of bar smoke.

Spoony Quine said...

` Yes indeed. I think we need to make more fuel-efficient cars out of materials that are stronger and lighter than metal and easier to assemble - which can be done - and that will solve a lot of our problems.
` Well, at least the ozone layer seems to be recovering somewhat since we've cracked down on pollution decades ago.

locomocos said...

as josh would say, "What about those Hydrogen Cars?"

we now have cars that can run off corn right? I think until we can find an truly cost efficient way to utilize other energies, people will continue to shun alternate fueled vehicles.

mainly because they are scared of corn.

and as for the smoking, i am seriously bummed about the smoking ban. i've been to bars in Boulder and Fort Collins where these laws are already in effect - and they suck.
I think if people want to go to a club and not deal with cigarette smoke, they should just go to one of the many bars that are littered within 30 min of downtown Denver. A lot of the yuppie bars already have the no-smoking policy in effect (which explains boulder and FOCO) - so why can't we go to smoke bars, and other people go to non smoking bars? i have no problem spending an evening with my friends at a non-smoking bar - but i wouldn't want to do it all the time.

heavy sigh.

but alas - it looks as if i will have to get used to it.
boo.

Anonymous said...

I quit smoking two years ago. And I'm glad that I did . . . but I'm bummed about the smoking ban. I mean, what if I wanted to pick it up again?

Ted said...

Agree w/ Cassie... and I'm an ex-smoker. If you don't like smoke in bars, go to Bennigan's. An independent bar owner isn't obligated to wet nurse the needs of a non smoking patron any more than Bennigan's is obligated to not be lame.

Denny said...

you know technology has been around for decades that would reduce or eliminate the fossil fuel powered engine, that is a completely different debate. the smoking bans that are cropping up all over the country are like seat belt laws, helmet laws, every other law that has to do with saving all of our stupid lives because we dont know any better. we are all stupid sheep that need a congress "person" to save us. I really cant express how much it all distcusts me and you think your vote doesnt count and refuse to get involved be my guest and see what kind of world we will be apart of in the future.

Blackpetunia said...

I concur, Denny. There was a great billboard in Kansas City above an art gallery that said: "Protect me from myself" it was simple, understated, just black and white, I always like that sign, that and the cow with the bar code on the side.
I am most disturbed by these policing-of-privacy laws that are popping up all over. Ok, so you don't want to be exposed to harmful gasses, smoke and other cancer-causing substances. Stay in your damn house with your super-air-purifier and all the windows sealed and good luck. Otherswise don't impose your hypocrisy on me.
The other thing that really gets me is if they don't want people to smoke so BAD, and they make it illegal to smoke anywhere but underwater in your own toilet bowl, then why the fuck don't they just make cigarettes illegal??

Denny said...

my biggest guess to why they dont make them illegal is the same reason booze is still legal and the fact that the government chooses to demonize cigarettes causes such a problem withtin the system is because state and federal governments have become so dependant on the the taxes that they generate but its a hard fact that they contribute to so many deaths each year that that robs some of that money back away. Cigarettes might not ever be banned completely but you wont even be able to smoke them in your own home (hiding in your basement with the lights off) but since they are still technically legal people will still buy them and what this does is continue to drag the entire issue out for a few more decades and buys time to figure out how replace the revenue that is depended upon. which says one thing to me, if i ever live to see this happen, what will be next ? just fyi i probably smoke a pack of cigarettes over the cousre of a month or longer.

Blackpetunia said...

I suppose this will also enable them to rack up MORE revenue by fining people left and right for smoking them. I'm divining from your comments, Denny, that you are just afraid as I am about where we're all headed.

Anonymous said...

I have a guess as to why cigarettes and booze are still legal but demonized. Now, mind you, it's only a guess. More like a theory, actually. 'Governing' peoples pass anti-smoking laws to keep the majority happy but never outright outlaw cigarettes and luscious booze because the cigarette and booze manufacturing companies are passing millions of dollars in the form of free airplane rides for 'governing' peoples, free time at resorts for 'governing' peoples, free limo rides for 'governing' peoples, campaign contributions to 527 organizations so that these 'governing' peoples can continue to be reelected and remain in power, etc., etc., etc. Just a thought. Anywho, I agree with Denny and Amber when they say that the government is passing laws where personal, private, individual choices should actually be the M.O. And I, too, fear the path down which we are headed. Read this poem by Wendell Berry: http://www.goodnaturepublishing.com/poem.htm

Denny said...

Denounce the government and embrace the flag... what a powerful statement.

Blackpetunia said...

That was a nice poem Paul, thank you.

locomocos said...

well - i loved someone today who didn't deserve it. and you know what happened? he flipped me off.

hobos just don't understand it when you're trying to love them by NOT running them over when they run out into the middle of the street on your way to work.

totalvo said...

I hate these smoking bans, the only time I smoke is when I go to drink whiskey at the bars. so this is bad news for my trip to denver. mile high assville.

locomocos said...

totalvo -
you are fecken funny.

and as far as the allergies go - that is exactly how i feel when i go to people's homes who have pets. i don't complain that their house makes me sick and unable to breath. what can i say as i choose to go to their house to hang out?
this is the same if i choose to go to a smoky bar if i'm allergic. i know the risks, but if i still want to hang - i take them. and as i was thinking about allergies - the more people are treating their pets like humans, the more they seem to take them everywhere. the coffee shop right by my house is 'dog friendly' which means people bring their dogs in the shop to sit and lick at their heels. so because this makes my allergies go crazy - i don't go there.
i love animals - don't get me wrong - i was just thinking of the last comment and how i have felt the same way in other situations.
i guess i'm still convinced that if you don't like going to some place because of the atmosphere - don't go there.
but maybe i'm simplifying things too much.....

Anonymous said...

In all truth, I am more of a home body than not largely due air quality in bars/clubs. There are a number of restaurants that I don't go to because of the fact that they don't have a way to keep smoke away from the none smoking section. I even end up at the corporate coffee shops because all the local coffee shops allow smoking. I don't complain about people who smoke in their house/car/property or even in a place where if I just stand on the other side of them so the wind blows it away. My experiance with smokers who are not my firends has been less than good. A ton of them go above and beyond the call fo rudeness. There are times that I wonder if I would get the same rudeness from my friends if I were not their friend. I was in a place in the southwest, visiting my mother last May, that was a none smoking restaurant. Off to the side of the entrance, some twenty feet away, they had a smoking aria for smokers to smoke. You know where the smokers were? By the front door. not where they had ash trays and seats to accommodate them, it was not cold out, they would have had to walk a whopping 20 extra feet. Instead they stood where I had to walk through their cloud of smoke. When I pointed out that there was a place designated for smoking they told me where I could put that smoking aria and while I joke about things in my ass, I think it is an insult when most people tell you to put things there. I know that most none smokers can tell you several simular experiances. So, if my opinion of smokers is shadded by rude smokers so be it, but it is those rude smokers who make people like me want smoking bans. I know people don't like me for saying such, but that is the way I feel. I don't think that such laws are the same as other "protect me from my self" it is a thing that protects me from others. I don't think any substance should be illegal, but I think that when we use said substances we should not impose use on others, which is how I see smoking in public space. There is no simple answer, but I think that if every one showed others more respect we would have fewer people turning to laws to get what they want. Either that or we should be able to have doules so that we can kill (or be killed by) those we are offended by.

Ted said...

As far as clubs are concerned (and this goes along w/ what Cas was saying about pet alergies), if I have epilepsy, would it be reasonable for me to try to ban the use of strobe lights, since they'd be a hazzard to my health? Hell, forget epilepsy, should I be able to tell them to turn down the music to protect my hearing? Light and sound aren't compartmentalized, either...

not trying to antagonize, just something to think about.

Blackpetunia said...

Yeah, that's the thing, if you're talking about making laws to protect people there are many people out there that will say alcohol is dangerous because drunk drivers kill people. So it should be banned. You can't just go around only banning what personally bothers you but then think you can exempt the things you actually enjoy, that's the scary part about infringing on people's personal rights.

totalvo said...

man this post created a controversy.. I agree though that if a bar wants to be non-smoking it should be the bar or restraunts choice.. and if people do not want to go to that bar or restraunt they should not go. I am being a liberatarian on this one, let the market dictate policy.

Blackpetunia said...

This is not helf as controversial as somethings out there, like abortion, illegal citizenry, hobos, most all politics. It's just cigarettes, but more and more people hate the smoking faction, not in just this country, but even Ireland! and NYC(which is a different country).