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So don't go to restaurants where smoking is allowed.
It's a choice.....or should be.
We don't eat in smoking areas anywhere.
Absolutely agree. Those who wish to live in a nanny state should be reminded, firmly, that this is Texas, and we believe in individual responsibility and rights, and DON'T believe in catering to whiners who think that they have the absolute right to dictate what others do so that they won't be in any risk of being offended. Or to those who feel the need for everyone to have a nanny because THEY want or need a parent from cradle to grave.
No, I don't smoke. But I think those who are dead set on regulating everything from smoking to transfats to salt (and, yes, there are laws about all of those) so that others do not have the choice of what to consume (one of the more personal rights there is) are much more dangerous than smoking could ever be, and to many more people.
"A cigarette is the perfect type of a perfect pleasure. It is exquisite and it leaves one unsatisfied." Oscar Wilde.
This regulation is puritanism- plain and simple. I am an ex-smoker who likes occasionally to walk behind a smoker on the streets, and catch a nostalgic whiff of that delicious, urbane, civilized aroma - only outdoors. Even when I smoked, I was not fond of excessively smoky interiors, and found airport smoking rooms disgusting. For secondhand smoke to become a health risk, you need daily if not continuous exposure. It is a minor aesthetic irritation - no worse than sandals and socks - but it must be clamped down with the full puritan force of the self-righteously pure of lung: no-one should have any pleasure that does not suit your definition of pleasure. Part of being civilized is not to mind being minorly inconvenienced by the pleasures of others, and I really did not need another reason to DETEST Laura Morrison - the chief NIMBY, mother grundy, anti-democratic ***** of the Austin City Council. She should be forced to recount all of those 38 000 discarded cigarette butts herself. That's more votes than what she got.
Im against the smoking bans in austin, but I do get why they are in place. A lot of this depends on your level of trust unless you have read the actual research articles. So no, it is not just a minor aesthetic irritation.
Secondhand Smoke and Cancer - National Cancer Institute
<<What is a safe level of secondhand smoke?
There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Even low levels of secondhand smoke can be harmful. The only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke is to completely eliminate smoking in indoor spaces. Separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot completely eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke (4). >>
<<Does exposure to secondhand smoke cause cancer?
Yes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (a cancer-causing agent) (1, 3, 5, 7).
Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmoking adults (4, 5). Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke (2). The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent (4).>>
Im against the smoking bans in austin, but I do get why they are in place. A lot of this depends on your level of trust unless you have read the actual research articles. So no, it is not just a minor aesthetic irritation.
Secondhand Smoke and Cancer - National Cancer Institute
<<What is a safe level of secondhand smoke?
There is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. Even low levels of secondhand smoke can be harmful. The only way to fully protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke is to completely eliminate smoking in indoor spaces. Separating smokers from nonsmokers, cleaning the air, and ventilating buildings cannot completely eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke (4). >>
<<Does exposure to secondhand smoke cause cancer?
Yes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. National Toxicology Program, the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer have all classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (a cancer-causing agent) (1, 3, 5, 7).
Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmoking adults (4, 5). Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke (2). The U.S. Surgeon General estimates that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent (4).>>
Bah, we don't need facts, this is Texas. Also, I have been trying to understand the idea of "nanny state". I cannot seem to understand the fear of Texas becoming a nanny state when it's already a police state. Also, it seems to me when these issues come up the only thing the people against smoking laws have are insults. I'm all for freedom and "rights". However, when someone clamors for their "right" to do something when it is injurious to others it isn't a "right" at all, but a demand to harm with a disregard for others because they feel their "right" to do harm takes precedent. It isn't a matter of being offended, it is a matter of harm.
Bah, we don't need facts, this is Texas. Also, I have been trying to understand the idea of "nanny state". I cannot seem to understand the fear of Texas becoming a nanny state when it's already a police state. Also, it seems to me when these issues come up the only thing the people against smoking laws have are insults. I'm all for freedom and "rights". However, when someone clamors for their "right" to do something when it is injurious to others it isn't a "right" at all, but a demand to harm with a disregard for others because they feel their "right" to do harm takes precedent. It isn't a matter of being offended, it is a matter of harm.
Sigh.
In a ACTUAL police state you don't get the opportunity to vote for the city council that passes the law. Not to mention I don't know why you are blaming all of Texas for this, when the OP is talking about an Austin specific issue.
Everyone on this thread is just complaining complaining about police state police state. Calm down. This is not that serious of an issue, we don't have to cry Nazi and Police State EVERYTIME something we dont' like happens.
There are numerous laws governing your personal activity in public. For Instance, it would not be legal for me and 30 of my bestest friends to walk into the middle of Zilker Park and have a massive coke fueled orgy. Even though our orgy would not be harming anyone else (no second hand smoke that I am aware of) it is still illegal for me to do that. I can have all the orgies I want in the privacy of my own home, but I don't do that stuff on a public street.
It really isn't that different with smoking. It's a nasty disgusting habit, and you can avoid doing it for the 15 minutes it takes for you happen to be walking thru a public park. A little self control never hurt anyone. And the lessened fire hazard from the people that think cigarette butts magically can't cause fires (we know a few of them that post on this very forum) is only an added bonus.
You can't have open containers downtown, you cannot blast your radio while walking down the street, No orgies after 2PM. How is smoking in public parks any different? "Police State?" Give me a break people.
OR, and this is a fresh idea. How about some of the people complaining the most actually MOVE to Austin. Live in the city, and vote your own representative on the city council?
Got to reaffirm one of the previous posts. Nanny state? Not yet. Police state? Absolutely!
As long as the city council can keep making new rules. Actually, i agree with this one. The extreme heat has made most brush a tinderbox. Add the carelessness of the smokers. And the health effects are well publicized. If you are smoking, please do not exhale.
In a ACTUAL police state you don't get the opportunity to vote for the city council that passes the law. Not to mention I don't know why you are blaming all of Texas for this, when the OP is talking about an Austin specific issue.
Everyone on this thread is just complaining complaining about police state police state. Calm down. This is not that serious of an issue, we don't have to cry Nazi and Police State EVERYTIME something we dont' like happens.
There are numerous laws governing your personal activity in public. For Instance, it would not be legal for me and 30 of my bestest friends to walk into the middle of Zilker Park and have a massive coke fueled orgy. Even though our orgy would not be harming anyone else (no second hand smoke that I am aware of) it is still illegal for me to do that. I can have all the orgies I want in the privacy of my own home, but I don't do that stuff on a public street.
It really isn't that different with smoking. It's a nasty disgusting habit, and you can avoid doing it for the 15 minutes it takes for you happen to be walking thru a public park. A little self control never hurt anyone. And the lessened fire hazard from the people that think cigarette butts magically can't cause fires (we know a few of them that post on this very forum) is only an added bonus.
You can't have open containers downtown, you cannot blast your radio while walking down the street, No orgies after 2PM. How is smoking in public parks any different? "Police State?" Give me a break people.
OR, and this is a fresh idea. How about some of the people complaining the most actually MOVE to Austin. Live in the city, and vote your own representative on the city council?
Well, since smoking is a fire hazard, then would you support the permanent banning of all outdoor grilling in Austin parks as well? Sparks go flying off of those grills.
The second hand smoke from grills is also deadly, and puts out more smoke than a lonely cigarette does.
If they pass this ordinance then I expect the City to enforce the Alcohol Ban during Blues on the Green. I see numerous people opening flaunting the alcohol ban, and the police look the other way.
Well, since smoking is a fire hazard, then would you support the permanent banning of all outdoor grilling in Austin parks as well? Sparks go flying off of those grills.
The second hand smoke from grills is also deadly, and puts out more smoke than a lonely cigarette does.
Well, since smoking is a fire hazard, then would you support the permanent banning of all outdoor grilling in Austin parks as well? Sparks go flying off of those grills.
The second hand smoke from grills is also deadly, and puts out more smoke than a lonely cigarette does.
I was under the impression that during this heightened fire risk, no outdoor fires were allowed in Austin right now, including grills in parks.
I think that the grills in Austin's Park are surrounded by pea gravel/crushed stone and have safety precautions built in. I would have no problem with people smoking in parks if the city would build a designated smoking area for them to go where they could put out their butts safely. Just like there are designated grilling areas.
Nothing is perfectly safe, but there is a difference between a picnic area that has a dug out trench for grills, and someone smoking while walking fido.
I feel due dillegence has been performed here. Not to mention the fact that people don't carry grills around on their backs. If I want to avoid smoke for whatever reason, I can avoid the grilling areas. I can't avoid your nasty cigarette b/c you are an addict and can't go 5 minutes without sucking down your drug of choice. Hypothetically speaking of course.
My main problem is not that smokers are dirty stinky people though. It's the numerous people on this board that cry "police state, police state!! Nazi!!" and basically get their knickers in a twist. A democratically elected council passing regulations in response to specific needs is not Nazi Germany. Everytime we don't agree with someone, we call them a Nazi. It's just silly.
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