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We don't go to a lot of restaurants with smoking sections, so I notice the local fondness for tobacco most when I'm outdoors or at big events like the State Fair. And it isn't just the smell; one of my biggest issues is with the smokers' tendency to hold their cigarettes at waist level while walking around. Since my kids are small, I'm expecting them to get an ash flicked in their face at any moment. It is unnerving.
And of course I notice the huge collection of butts in the sand play areas at Pullen Park. I'm really hoping Raleigh will go through with their proposed ban on smoking in parks!
Smoking is noticeable, literally as well as via the sense of smell. The other part that is noticeable is the discharged butts along the roads and sidewalks. I walk allot and sweet garbage bags there is a lot of cigarette butts along our roads. Especially at intersections where one stops for red lights. Now to find a recycling use for those so they can be put to use and not abuse.
"Currently, OSHA has no regulation which specifically addresses tobacco smoke as a whole because it is such a complex mixture. OSHA does, however, have standards which limit employee exposure to several of the main chemical components found in tobacco smoke."
I am also from FL. The law in FL requires that establishments that get a certain amount of their profit from food be non-smoking, but stand alone bars and places that don't get a signifiicant profit from food still allow smoking. Some of my favorite bars in FL were terribly smokey, but at least I didn't eat there!
There are many restaurants that I have gone into and not really noticed much smoking happening here in Raleigh, and I am very sensitive to it. Many of the places I frequent seem to be non-smoking by choice (yay!), and I have noticed more of this popping up. As a generalization, if the restaurant has a substantial bar, you will probably face some smoke, but it is not guaranteed based on clientele and time of day as others have said.
There has been some noise about proposed legislation for limiting smoking in restaurants in the past two years, but it has not been able to pass due to some nitpicking by lawmakers. However, Elon University conducted polls suggesting that the majority of constituents in the state would support such a bill in a substantial majority. If only the voters could make the decision for themselves instead of the lawmakers...we would probably have something similar to FL.
I hope you are kidding!!!
Have you ever heard of the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act for safe working conditions for working men and women??
I have and it doesn't address smoking.
Dire Wolf is correct. If you work in the service industry and want to work in a smoke free environment you have plenty of options. Nobody is forcing you to work in some smokey tavern or an Applebees that has a smoking section. Smoking is not illegal here and you are free to work somewhere else that voluntarily prohibits it in their establishment.
When I lived in Seattle in the early 90's, one restaurant, Cutters, decided to go totally non-smoking. Omigosh, you would have thought they had signed their own death warrant, according to the media! Guess what? Their business INCREASED! Of course, it didn't hurt that they had an excellent menu, great service, an unparalleled view of Puget Sound and the mountains and of course, were located in Seattle, which probably has one of the lowest ratios of smokers to non smokers in the country (I have no data to back that up--it's just my perception).
Of course, Cutters was light years ahead. Soon the city of Seattle banned smoking in public places. We left in the mid-90's so I didn't get to enjoy much of that. But after a few years in VA, we moved to MA and not too long ago, smoking was banned here in any public building.
I also have reality (and smoke) hit me in the face when visiting states like NC, VA, PA where smoking is not universally banned. My husband said that he and my son almost had their dinner ruined a few weeks ago in Raleigh because there was so much smoke. But I think I remember the state recently banning smoking in municipal buildings? And as NRG says, more and more restaurants are now going smoke free. I'm hopeful that smoke-free will become the norm, not the exception, even if we are almost 20 years beyond my first foray into a totally smoke free restaurant!
When I lived in Seattle in the early 90's, one restaurant, Cutters, decided to go totally non-smoking. Omigosh, you would have thought they had signed their own death warrant, according to the media! Guess what? Their business INCREASED! Of course, it didn't hurt that they had an excellent menu, great service, an unparalleled view of Puget Sound and the mountains and of course, were located in Seattle, which probably has one of the lowest ratios of smokers to non smokers in the country (I have no data to back that up--it's just my perception).
Of course, Cutters was light years ahead. Soon the city of Seattle banned smoking in public places. We left in the mid-90's so I didn't get to enjoy much of that. But after a few years in VA, we moved to MA and not too long ago, smoking was banned here in any public building.
I also have reality (and smoke) hit me in the face when visiting states like NC, VA, PA where smoking is not universally banned. My husband said that he and my son almost had their dinner ruined a few weeks ago in Raleigh because there was so much smoke. But I think I remember the state recently banning smoking in municipal buildings? And as NRG says, more and more restaurants are now going smoke free. I'm hopeful that smoke-free will become the norm, not the exception, even if we are almost 20 years beyond my first foray into a totally smoke free restaurant!
When I lived in Northern VA I know that Fairfax County wanted to ban smoking, but it's not up to the localities...it's up to the state and with all the tobacco folks down state it hasn't passed yet.
Well, I'm a nonsmoker and I don't even notice it (though I did grow up in NC, so my tolerance level is high). While most restaurants do have smoking sections, it's not as if there are clouds of smoke billowing out of the smoking section at all times. I guess it would depend (obviously) on how many smokers were partaking at the time, as well as your own sensitivity.
I did think it was odd when I was in a shopping mall in the Eastern (i.e. tobacco country) part of the state, and they had public ashtrays IN the stores!
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