Are you a smoker? (Follow up to would you support a smoking ...)

[NoBushSpokenHere]

Poll question: Are you a smoker? (Follow up to would you support a smoking ...)

As a follow up to the thread, "Would you support a smoking ban in bars?" poll. Curious to see how many are smokers.

So the question is: Are you a smoker?

[Balbus]

1. Not a smoker and I wouldn't support a ban.

[helderheid]

16. ditto, though I WAS a smoker almost 6 years ago.

[Walt Starr]

2. I voted "Yes" because I smoke about a dozen cigars each year. n/t

[SteppingRazor]

3. I voted yes, but...

I really only smoke when I drink these days... which means, for the purpose of the smoking in bars question, I'm a smoker.

[maine_raptor]

4. Gotta vote No, because

It all depends on what you're smokin'

[Celeborn Skywalker]

5. No, BUT

I definitely don't support a smoking ban for bars.

[NoBushSpokenHere]

6. Will be glad when the indictment news hits so I can quit trying to

amuse myself with polls lol

[eallen]

7. Not a smoker, and would NOT support ban.

[devilgrrl]

8. I voted yes.

California started a smoking ban in 1998 and it doesn't really bother me. Non-smokers no longer have to worry about smelling like ashtrays when they get home. And smokers have a great excuse to get away from people by going outside for a cigarette. Everyone wins.

[porphyrian]

9. I voted "no" because I quit and no longer think of myself as a smoker...

...but I've given myself permission to smoke whenever I want (which helped me quit). I haven't had a cigarette in over seven years now. However, I'm occasionally exposed to other forms of chemical-laden combustion exhaust which I sometimes inhale. And hold. Not very often, though.

[sui generis]

10. We should support air handling standards in bars

It's funny, people fall into two camps: ban it or regulate it. I am always amazed to find progressives "banning" shit on DU. Cartoon pornography, fried chicken recipes, smoking in bars, half-time nipple metallurgy and wardrobe malfunctions, and mostly shit that doesn't affect them in any meaningful way in their personal lives.

I just find it ironic - that's all.

;)

[TallahasseeGrannie]

13. Now wait a minute here..

The nipple thing changed my life!

Seriously, I am personally very affected by smoking bans in bars. (and restaurants, which in this town most bars are)

The fact that there is no smoking in Florida restaurants means I now go out to eat a lot. So it really HAS affected my life in a very meaningful way. I avoid places with second hand smoke. My lungs don't do well with it.

[sui generis]

14. I agree about restaurants

that's just because smoking affects taste and I don't want to taste someone's cigarette smoke while I eat.

Bars though, I would stop short of a ban. As a mayor I'd give a 1 - 3 year tax incentive to bars that had a no-smoking policy or that accommodated smokers in a separate environment (i.e., let them recoup construction costs off their taxes), and let it self-regulate. I wouldn't expect biker bars to care much but you would probably find a lot more voluntary compliance among bars who had a large non-smoking clientele already.

It's just so "authoritarian" in my mind to set a single standard for every type of business that accommodates the public, because the public itself is not monolithic.

I can't wait until the teetotalers and recovering alkies get around to banning alcohol at bars. :P

It could happen!

[TallahasseeGrannie]

19. Here in Fl

it is banned in any place that serves food. I can't think of any bars that don't. But our weather here is usually mild and most places have built patios for smokers. So it appears to be working. I don't see much of a drop in business, but I don't know for certain.

[eggman67]

23. It did happen

worked out real well....:sarcasm:

[Greyhound]

29. I thought it was hilarious when they passed the ban in LA

We had the second worst air in the country that year and instead of the pollution standards for diesel engines we got a smoking ban. :rofl:
How typical!

[unpossibles]

11. light smoker

I personally do not mind stepping out for one at all, but as a musician playing in Columbus, OH (a ban city) I have noticed it's harder to get and keep crowds. Could be other reasons though - poor economy, high unemployment

EDIT:
Oh yeah - I voted against the ban. Fine with one for restaurants, but not bars. Better solution would be better filtering and a tax break if you want to go non-smoking. Leave it up to the business owners and the patrons. Last time I checked, no one goes to a bar for health, and no is forced to go to one at all.

[m_welby]

12. am a smoker, don't support a ban on anything.

In a very free market, libertarian way. I am fully in favor of non smoking bars, but i'm also in favor of smoking permitted bars.

thats what free enterprise is all about, no one is denied the right to make their establishment non smoking; but they shouldn't be forced to do so.

[LisaM]

15. I don't smoke, but I am unsure about banning smoking in bars

I do like that it's banned in the workplace now. I remember in the old days, when people smoked in our cafeteria and break rooms. And the teacher's room in my high school! Yikes. It was a cloud of smoke.

I really wish that they had better smoke-eaters in bars though. I don't personally mind smoking in bars that much, but some have better equipment than others for dealing with it.

[FranzFerdinand]

17. i smoke and it's already banned in bars here...

word. time for a smoke!

[PunkPop]

18. No.

Gave up the cancer sticks years ago.

Smoking bans are awesome. They are the wave of the future so smokers better get used to them. In 50 years, smoking inside any public building will be viewed the same as smoking in a plane is now. People will wonder 'why would they possibly allow that'.

[incapsulated]

20. Yes and I think it's insane that I can't smoke in a fucking bar

And soon, no drinking or talking, as Eddie said.

People are willing to sit in traffic and breathe in exhaust fumes for hours before they give up their planet-killing machines on wheels, but god help you if you light up a fucking cigarette.

[Fuzz]

21. Quitting smoking is easy, I've done it a million times.

Mark Twain

I smoke now, roll my own, make my own tobacco mix. Killing me slowly, but enjoying myself on the way.

[wuushew]

22. Assuming people smoke for the nicotine

there are much more efficient and safe methods of delivery such as gums and patches.

That draws the conclusion that smokers are either

(a) trying to commit slow suicide
(b) have an oral fixation
(c) believe a combustible object in their mouth enhances their image.


If we accept this premise there are much better ways to maximize all relevant players enjoyment and utility without the necessity for combustible tobacco products, which carry the large negative attributes of malodorous smell and substantial air pollution.

[Pastiche423]

28. I am a smoker and an Epileptic

I can not use the patch due to medical reasons. The patch can cause more seizures!

No thanks.

[laureloak]

24. Not a smoker but support ban on smoking in bars.

Lung cancer is preventable.

[kwassa]

25. I can't go to a bar because I have to deal with that awful smoke stench

Aside from being a health hazard, it just plain stinks.

That stink will stick to my hair and clothes, too, after I've left, and I will have to wash both.

Nothing worse than stale cigarette smoke.

Banning smoking on airplanes, restaurants, and bars is the most progressive legislation this country has seen in a long time.

[trackfan]

26. nope. but don't support ban

[enigmatic]

27. I'm not a smoker

and there's no way I would ever support a smoking ban in bars.

[Scout1071]

30. I am a smoker and I would support a ban, HOWEVER

I live in the Midwest and the winters are chilling beyond belief. A full-time ban in places like Los Angeles is no big deal. The weather is great year round. But in the Midwest in January when you can barely even get your car to start, it's totally unfucking reasonable to ask a human to go outside to smoke. If they could compromise and provide heated, wind blocked smoking areas outside a bar I'd be all for it. A bar near me is split in half. There is a smoking area on one half and a non-smoking area on the other. They are separated by glass and the smoking area has an excellent ventilation system.

I don't even like to smoke in my place, but if it's cold enough, I will definitely do it.

Having said all that, smoking sucks. I am going to stop (again) soon.

PS - In those cities with a smoking ban, complaining about having to walk through smoke on your way into a non-smoking bar is a great way to get my foot up your ass.