Hooray....Smoking Ban Compromise Reached! (Milwaukee, Madison: subsidized, living in, legal)

[jwhalun08]

By the way, I'm totally pro-smoker. Anything to control this ever-burgeoning population of ours.

Just don't do it in the presence my health-conscious friends (I use that term universally) and I when we're trying to enjoy a good meal and a local craft beer. Food and drink don't taste good when they're mixed with smoker exhaust.

[QwertyFarmer]

So what exactly is the "compromise?" That they have, in their glorious benevolence, declined to taser you on the spot for smoking on a public sidewalk?[/quote]

HHmm I have a taser and would be willing to volunteer

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by Drover

And the casinos are pretty much on life support now -- the boat in Elgin for instance has laid off 25% of its staff, including my friend's wife. So I don't want to hear about how the smoking ban hasn't hurt business because I see evidence all around that it has either hurt business or compelled owners to become lawbreakers just to keep their doors open.

Do you think maybe it's the economy? Business is down, how rare these days.

[QwertyFarmer]

I am VERY pro-vices, as long as your vice has no effect on me or other citizens, especially in public places. I LOVE to play pool and for years I have had to endure the inconsiderate smokers who choke the H_e_l__l out of the place so by the point the end of the evening comes I am 2 steps from an extreme asthmatic attack. I also have to dress like a bum due to not wanting the clothes I really enjoy wearing smelling like a smokers butt. In my opinion if a business is going to suffer closing due to the patrons not being able to smoke, well then that business had little to offer in the first place. I look forward to going to my local spots and playing more pool and making sure the ban is enforced starting July of next year. Truly, this makes living in Wisconsin all the more pleasant. Now, we need to work on legallizing same sex marriage and medical marijuana. Come on Wisconsin, lets uphold the progressive nature we have been touting for so long.

[Jay F]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

Do you think maybe it's the economy? Business is down, how rare these days.

I saw a study that found casino business was up in Indiana, Iowa and Missouri (all allow smoking in casinos) yet way down in Illinois. So it was the ban , not the economy!

Speaking of casinos, I take it the WI Indian casinos will still allow smoking?

[quickdraw]

Originally Posted by QwertyFarmer

I also have to dress like a bum due to not wanting the clothes I really enjoy wearing smelling like a smokers butt.

I just returned from a visit to Milwaukee. I lived in Milwaukee for years and it's still my favorite city, but it was weird to walk into a bar and be hit with smoke after living in a smoke free state. So it was back to the old routine of years ago when we got back to our friend's house at the end of the evening. Take off the stinky clothes and put them on the porch as they were too stinky for even the laundry pile. Then hit the shower at 3 a.m. even though we were both dog tired and didn't feel like showering ( especially since we already showered at 7 pm). Had to do it though as not to stink up the pillow and comforter with our ashtray-smelling hair.

Rude, stinky, intrusive habit. You'd think smokers would be polite enough to step outside, but no. So now we're going to make sure they do.
Too many laws? Sorry. The bottom twenty percent of our country is always doing things to cause discomfort and stress for the civilized people.
I say bring on more laws. I'll give up some of my freedom to ensure the Jerry Springer types aren't running around unchecked.

[JDCATONSVILLE]

Maybe everyone is on to something when it comes to the casinos and smoking bans. It's like the old sayin "A fool and his money are soon parted" and since you would have to a fool to smoke then maybe that's why the casinos are hurting...they won't let those fools in. As for the regular bars, well there are plenty of sensible non-smokers that still like to enjoy a good drink and conversation. So that's why in the states that have allready passed the ban the bars are doing fine.

[Jay F]

Originally Posted by JDCATONSVILLE

Maybe everyone is on to something when it comes to the casinos and smoking bans. It's like the old sayin "A fool and his money are soon parted" and since you would have to a fool to smoke then maybe that's why the casinos are hurting...they won't let those fools in. As for the regular bars, well there are plenty of sensible non-smokers that still like to enjoy a good drink and conversation. So that's why in the states that have allready passed the ban the bars are doing fine.

Addictive behaviors tend to be clustered together. There is a correlation between compulsive gambling and smoking as well as heavy drinking and smoking. Not to say that everyone who drinks smokes, there are light/occasional drinkers such as myself who never smoke. Still, the main customer base of taverns are heavier drinkers who smoke.

If bar smoking bans were as good for business as some claim, bars would ban smoking on their own without government forcing them to. Even in the states where it's so called working great, most bars would instantly allow smoking if the law was overturned.

[Drover]

Originally Posted by quickdraw

Do you think maybe it's the economy? Business is down, how rare these days.

No it's not the economy. Their business dropped off immediately after the smoking ban took effect, which was back when the economy was still flush with cash. The casinos in Indiana, where there is still no smoking ban, are doing fine.

[JDCATONSVILLE]

Businesses will do what businesses will do...make as much money as they can.With that being said yes if the states where the smoking ban has allready been passed, and once AGAIN YES it has not hurt their business, had the ban reversed would they allow people to smoke in their bars again. You bet they would, most don't care about the other patrons it disturbs or their employees who must indure it, they only care about making money. Hell if drugs suddenly became legal I bet most of the bars would start selling them as well...does that make it right. It's funny but in nature the dumb, the weak, and the slow get weeded out early in life, but with humans we just put them on government subsidized programs and then have the pleasure of being annoyed by them.