How do you feel about the proposed patio smoking ban? (Austin: allergy, agricultural)

[CarnivalGal]

I'm all for the ban. I don't see it as being any different than loud music. Sure, you are aloud to listen to music in your home and on your patio, but if your neighbors can hear it, then it is forbidden and there are laws in place preventing it. Likewise, you are allowed to smoke, but if your neighbors can smell it, then it should not be allowed.

I wonder if all these people against the ban would be OK if their neighbor had a stinky compost pile on their patio that you could smell ever time you opened your windows.

[CarnivalGal]

And I don't see the correlation between smoking on your patio and alcohol consumption. Just sitting on your patio drinking a glass of wine is not going to affect your neighbors and is not the same as smoking. If anything, it may be more akin to chewing tobacco, which is not part of the ban.

[TexasHorseLady]

I actually had a neighbor with one of those once. We worked it out between us with absolutely no necessity of legislation at all. But, then, I wasn't all about making them not have a compost heap.

[hoffdano]

Originally Posted by mm57553

I'm all for the ban. I don't see it as being any different than loud music. Sure, you are aloud to listen to music in your home and on your patio, but if your neighbors can hear it, then it is forbidden and there are laws in place preventing it. Likewise, you are allowed to smoke, but if your neighbors can smell it, then it should not be allowed.

I wonder if all these people against the ban would be OK if their neighbor had a stinky compost pile on their patio that you could smell ever time you opened your windows.

Loud music would be equivalent to a huge amount of loose tobacco burning in a trash pile. A bit of second hand smoke is probably closer to hearing someone play Justin Bieber nearby. I don't like it much, but I haven't been harmed.

If a restaurant patio's smokers created enough smoke to offend neighbors - that could be a problem.

[Gorfml]

How is it even possible to be bothered by second hand smoke outdoors? How do these ppl even function in life?... Do they go into full seizure when someone has too much cologne on?

Suggestion...move to buda and wait for the aliens to land...

[capcat]

Originally Posted by austinrebel

I've never had someone smoke too much and plow their car into mine. I've never heard of anyone smoking too much and going home and beating the hell out of their spouse, either.

They are both vices.

Yeah, it's just that those who are hollering don't want to give alcohol up. Or that we as a society learned from history that it doesn't really work.

I suspect it's because they like alcohol.

Not bothering anyone...except when you're hit by a drunk driver or a victim of domestic violence. I consider alcohol a more serious threat to innocents out in public than cigarettes. But, it's an immediate death (for others), I'll give it that.

No costs to society. Right. No diseases there.

[love roses]

Originally Posted by mm57553

And I don't see the correlation between smoking on your patio and alcohol consumption. Just sitting on your patio drinking a glass of wine is not going to affect your neighbors and is not the same as smoking. If anything, it may be more akin to chewing tobacco, which is not part of the ban.

Depends. What if someone drank many glasses of wine and puked over the balcony and it got on your patio? Or if they ended up having a loud party (loud being subjective), they spilled liquor frequently or had people drink too much and pass out and the passed out person spilled beer, threw up or urinated or any number of what-ifs? When smoking is not there to pick on then they'll just move on to something else.

[TexasHorseLady]

Originally Posted by love roses

Depends. What if someone drank many glasses of wine and puked over the balcony and it got on your patio? Or if they ended up having a loud party (loud being subjective), they spilled liquor frequently or had people drink too much and pass out and the passed out person spilled beer, threw up or urinated or any number of what-ifs? When smoking is not there to pick on then they'll just move on to something else.

This, exactly. They're already doing it. Because it's not about the smoking, it's not about health, it's about control and making everyone else make the same choices they do.

[blueskies85]

The alcohol and BBQ arguments are both non-sequiturs.

The BBQ argument was about second hand smoke from fires/grills. I think it's very relevant to an argument on...second-hand smoke. There's all kinds of not-good-for-you stuff in the air...pollen, mold, smoke from agricultural fires, car exhaust. More than half of our energy is created by burning coal. As I previously posted, if you live in an urban area it's the equivalent of smoking several cigarettes a day yourself. I don't buy that sitting next to a smoker for an hour or two would cause anyone to be seriously concerned for their health. It's like a drop of water in the ocean.

I'm in favor of it for lots of different reasons.

What are the other reasons?

[tfresca]

I hate all the smokers weed and otherwise puffing right behind me or in front of me. It's really annoying.