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I'm not a smoker and have never smoked, but I believe that bar owners should set their own policy. If I don't like smoke, I don't have to patronize their establishment. Who am I to tell a bar owner how to run his business.
wow i see Fargo is joining the band wagon! where i live in indiana smoking in public places has been severely restricted and/or banned for years. i live in Hendricks County and smoking is banned everywhere except for special designated rooms in wharehouses in the commerical district. same goes for Marion,Morgan,Boone,Hamilton,Hancock,Johnson,Montg omerey,Bartholomew and i believe Tippecanoe Counties.
you can still smoke in your car and in your house.
But smoking is banned in Government housing. and if you are pulled over and you are smoking and you have a child in the car you will be issued a $75? ticket. i think that is the fine but i am not sure.
dont freak out i am reporting about smoking in INDIANA not North Dakota.
There are a few of us non-smokers that see this as just the busy-bodied nosey people getting involved where they don't belong. There are a few problems that come with this that the non-smoker activists conveniently didn't tell the voters. (To be honest, I wasn't able to vote on this because I was out of state at the time.)
1) The Bars in the area just going to non-smoking after years of allowed smoking. If you have ever been to an apartment, home or bar that has been smoked in all day for years, that smoke gets into the building materials (paint, wood, carpet, apholstry) and stays there for years to come. The bar will still smell of old smoke and you will still come home smelling like you dragged on a cigarette. Over time it may fade but it isn't an instant thing.
2) Outlying communities have bars which are not affected by Fargo's rules. When Fargo forced restraunts to have no smoking, there was a substantial drop in revenue for many establishments as smokers (and non-smokers like myself) stopped patronizing them and went to West Fargo or Moorhead. The same will happen with bars (and I hate to think of how the biker bars like "Rick's" will fair through this) only to a greater extent. Those bars outside fargo are going to see a major increase in the number of people they serve while Fargo bars will see a decrease..to the point a few may close, which will put people out of business and out of jobs.
3) The choice was if you didn't want to smell like smoke and didn't want to breath it in, you didn't have to work or patronize a bar. Now, the nanny, "got to protect you for your own good" people are forcing everyone else to do what those nosey people believe is in the best interest for everyone.
I remember this country was founded by puritans, folks that thought 'fun' or 'happiness' was the work of the devil. It has been in our history that every cultural group that brought in their own form of entertainment or past time has had it stripped away by the vocal minority. In the early 1700's, the vocal minority stirred up public opinion to ban dancing (and there are still cities scattered around the US today that forbid dancing. Footloose was a movie but there are cities that have those same laws yet today). The Mexican's brought marajuania in the early 1900's and that was banned by the vocal minority that stirred up how 'evil' it was and tricked voters into passing laws against the plant and it's use. In the 1920's, again the vocal minority stirred up how 'evil' alcohol was and tricked voters, again, into passing laws against alcoholic beverages. In the late 1990's, the vocal minority yet again stirred up and lied to the public about how smokers were ruining their lives and it was the voters obligation to not only protect the voters themselves, but the voter's children and the smokers themselves. As we see, the laws are going up.
In the south, there are states that are passing laws against fast food now, and even some talk of passing laws against how much time you spend in front of the tv, on the internet, or even on the phone. But, it's for your own good that other's make these decisions for you, remember.
Once you start chipping away at freedoms in the name of 'for the good of Americans' or "For the children", then be prepared to have things you enjoy doing banned or regulated for you. You may not smoke but perhaps having a limit on how many miles you can drive during a day, or how much time you can spend online may affect you, or even how much you are allowed to eat during a day. Think it's fantasy? Well ask someone 20 years ago if they though there would be bans against smoking in a bar or even against fast food in their future and you have your answer.
It's going to be awesome. I lived under a smoking ban in Lawrence, Kan., and I loved it despite the fact I vote against it! It's great to come home from a night of drinking and not smelling like smoke.
I remember this country was founded by puritans, folks that thought 'fun' or 'happiness' was the work of the devil. In the late 1990's, the vocal minority yet again stirred up and lied to the public about how smokers were ruining their lives and it was the voters obligation to not only protect the voters themselves, but the voter's children and the smokers themselves. As we see, the laws are going up.
One of the many things I disagree with is the following...lied to the public about how smokers were ruining their lives... Oh I would love to know how that is a lie. My mom is 82 and she stopped smoking at 65. She had no lung issues at all until recently when what was thought was a little cold turned into pneumonia. Then emphyzema reared its ugly head because of pneumonia and now she has to carry an oxygen tank around. If she had never smoked, the fluid in the lungs would have cleared up and she would free to go about as she pleases as she is in otherwise very good health and independent.
If I am being nosy that is fine....one of my pet peeves is smoking in the car with young kids. How in the world can someone justify that. That kid has no right and body is just developing.
Now about the bars....that is more a touchy subject. I dont frequent them anymore regardless as I have a family to keep me busy. There are points to both sides I see.
But I do certainly forsee a day when all of ND will follow MN and other state's lead. As far as I know nothing in EGF has shut down, including the American Eagles club and VFW.
Dan
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Not From North Dakota
