quittin' smoking

[Jeremy David]

As a formerly card carrying Libertarian (I still hold many libertarian
ideas, but I no longer have the card) I support public smoking bans
due to libertarian reasons.

If you want to smoke in a private place then please have at it. I have
no desire whatsoever to use the power of the state to stop you.

But, public places are different. We have all sorts of rules to keep
people safe from one another in public places. You can't drive over
the speed limit. Even if you don't actually end up hurting anyone,
it's still against the law to drive too fast, and with good reason. If
you run a restaurant, you have to keep the kitchen clean. Even if no
one gets sick, if your kitchen is out of line, you will be punished by
the state, and with good reason. Why? Because simply putting one at
risk in a public place, even if no actual injury results, infringes on
one's liberties. Smoking puts one at risk. And while it's up to a
smoker to decide for him or herself if that risk is worth it for him
or herself, it's bad civic practice to put other people at that same
risk in a public place.

If you have a private racetrack, you can drive as fast as you want.
Likewise if you have a private room, you can smoke all you want. But I
don't think you should be allowed to smoke in public any more than you
should be allowed to drag race down Forbes Ave.

On 3/14/06, Chris Rapier <rapier1 at gmail.com> wrote:
> See my whole feeling is that if you don't like the smoke you don't
> have to go there. Everyone makes choices in life and its really a
> matter of what option is most important to you. If going to a club or
> a bar that has smoking is more important than not being around smoke
> then thats your choice. Obviously, this is just as true for smokers.
> If going to a non-smoking place is more imporatnt to you than having a
> smoke then that is their choice. Each group respects the others
> boundaries and behaves themselves when they made the choice to go
> either type of location.
>
> Of course, no one really wants to allow that. I mean, why should we
> allow adults to engage in legal behaviour around other people who are
> cognizant of the risks and have made the choice to be there? Why
> should we when we can pass a law to criminalise behaviour? I love the
> nanny state! SWADDLE ME BABY!
>
>
> On 3/14/06, gwen <gwenix at gmail.com> wrote:
> > You know, even when smoking I've been all for banning indoors smoking
> > in the city.  It only takes five minutes to go outside to get a
> > cigarette, and the smoke isn't contained in a small space at that
> > point.
> >
> > Plus, it means I can stay at the clubs later myself -- my eyes react
> > badly to too much smoke.
> >
> > --
> > gwen.
> > gamergothgeek
> >
> > On 3/13/06, Sc'Eric (aka darkFIN) <darkfin6012 at yahoo.com> wrote:
> > > Thx, Gwen (et.al).... you're each one less person giving me nosebleeds,  asthmatic reactions, monovascular rhinitus polyps--and other sinus  infections caused by the immune deficiency resulting when your body is  constantly fighting allergens.  (Yes, that's 3 different  reactions, depending on the tobacco.)  Seriously, keep it  up!!!  You have no idea how much hell you put other people through  every time you light up.
> > >
> > >   I'm just glad Manny provides a smoke-free venue to see shows or the  only reason I'd have to drive to Pgh is to spend an entire paycheck at  Eide's. =)
> > >
> > >   ~sc'eric
> > _______________________________________________
> > pgh-goth-list mailing list
> > pgh-goth-list at listless.org
> > http://www.listless.org/mailman/listinfo/pgh-goth-list
> >
> _______________________________________________
> pgh-goth-list mailing list
> pgh-goth-list at listless.org
> http://www.listless.org/mailman/listinfo/pgh-goth-list
>