Fairfax County bans smoking in bus shelters (allergies, airplanes)

[amIayankee?]

Fairfax County bans smoking in bus shelters

Any smokers that ride the bus in Fairfax outraged?

[oneasterisk]

Good luck enforcing it. It's like the littering. There's a fine for it, but how often do people really get pinched for it?

[dkf747]

I'm not a smoker but I still don't like this law.

[Bigfoot424]

Good for Fairfax. I don't ride their busses but if I did as a non smoker I'd have to move away from the shelter every time someone lit up. It's a shelter for all, not just the smokers.

[Caladium]

I totally agree with Bigfoot. I can remember riding the Long Island RR and having to stand outside the station on freezing cold days because inside it was so smoky it was unbearable. Bus shelters need to be places everyone can wait, and smoke becomes a problem. Do you really need a cigarette so badly that you can't wait until you get to your destination to light up?

[Gottasay]

I'm all about freedom, but if it affects me or my kids personally, then I have an issue with it, so I do support this new policy. I am highly sensitive to cigarette smoke. Smoke all you want but don't force smoke into my lungs, which is what you do when you smoke in an enclosed place.

[vermonter16]

I'm just wondering where all this smoke sensitivity has come from. Were people tougher back in the day when smoking was allowed in offices, on airplanes, you name it - people smoked in it. But now...we seem so 'frail' anymore. I'm not saying that people do not have allergies, etc....but how come all of a sudden over the last several years?

[blackonyx03]

Originally Posted by vermonter16

I'm just wondering where all this smoke sensitivity has come from. Were people tougher back in the day when smoking was allowed in offices, on airplanes, you name it - people smoked in it. But now...we seem so 'frail' anymore. I'm not saying that people do not have allergies, etc....but how come all of a sudden over the last several years?

It's because we've all become more aware over the last several years (or perhaps decades at this point) of just how harmful smoking really is -- especially secondhand smoke. So the discussion is no longer about convenience or preference, but rather about health and well-being. One person's decision to compromise his or her own health is no longer an excuse to put an entire room's (or bus shelter's) at risk as well.

[normie]

Originally Posted by blackonyx03

It's because we've all become more aware over the last several years (or perhaps decades at this point) of just how harmful smoking really is

That's what I think, too. My mother died from lung cancer and had severe problems with asthma and allergies, but that was many decades ago. Back then people weren't making the connection that her smoking was a major cause of her health problems.

[roninsedge]

I smoke, I ride the REX daily and have no problem with smoking outside the shelter. I don't go in the shelters either, they ususally smell like a mix of urine and unwashed people. Anyways, I understand and accept the risks that I undertake as a smoker and respect non-smoker's wish to be free of the dangers. Personally, I can understand the repulsion non-smoker's have towards cigarette smoke in an enclosed space. Anyone ever go into those smoking lounges in Dulles back in the day? I did once and refuse to ever go in one again.