quittin' smoking

[Chris Rapier]

On 3/14/06, Brian J. Parker <brian.j.parker at gmail.com> wrote:
> What you'll end up with, I fear, is many bars and clubs reopening as
> "private clubs" in the same workaround many already use to circumvent
> more restrictive liquor laws (and often to hide illicit poker
> machines).  Do bar/club owners have the right to say that their
> establishment is not a "public place"?

Damn fine question. All in all its probably a lot better to just
convince places to be non-smoking establishments (and non smoking bars
do exist in pittsburgh - True being an example. Its actually kind of
nice going there and not have anyone smoking).

> I don't ahve a strong opinion on the public smoking subject, but I
> feel it's hypocritical that we even keep smoking tobacco (and drinking
> alcohol) legal at all when much safer drugs are not.

Its mostly a matter of risk perception and depth to which its been
integrated into the culture. At this point the risk perception of
smoking is swinging very forcefully and mostly out of line with the
real risks. This perception is overcoming the cultural integration in
*some* areas. Personally, I think people should be far more concerned
about how fat they are and how little exercise they get rather than
the risk of occasional incidental exposure to smoke.