NYC Mayor wants to ban smoking in all bars and restaurants.

[alva]

Originally posted by Gatekeeper


It makes you wonder, sometimes, what the world would have been like had cocaine, crack or heroin gotten the same early benefits that tobacco had in order to get where it is today.

Gatekeeper

about 50 years ago, coke was used as a painkiller and distributed regularly, while aspirine was thought of
as being to dangerouse

I know, not quite what you ment, but admit it was close

[DinoDoc]

Originally posted by alva848
about 50 years ago, coke was used as a painkiller and distributed regularly,

It was also a main ingredient in a popular soft drink that is still sold today. I'll let you figure out which one for yourself.

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Sprayber



Then they should keep stupid people from driving. Ban fast food, Ban cars that go over 30 MPH, Ban microwave ovens, Ban people from going out at night, Ban the Jerry Springer Show, and Ban women from wearing thight fitting clothing.

Get a clue.

Smoking is much worse than anything you stated there.

[- Groucho -]

Worse than fast food? Hmmm.

Worse than Jerry Springer? Not bloody likely. Smoking kills people. Jerry Springer kills civilization as we know it.

Boris: Ok, I can see not smoking in an office. But no smoking on the street?!?!? In NYC?!?! What, do you have a bubble you roll to work inside of? How else is it that the charcoal from the pretzel guys, the noxious fumes from the sewers and the diesel gunk belching from the trucks doesn't warrant your wrath and the cigarette smoke does?

[Imran Siddiqui]

What ever happened to the great liberal cry: "Stop legislating your morality on me"?

Oh and Bloomburg is a RINO (Republican in Name Only). Before the election he was a Democrat.

[- Groucho -]

During and after the election he was/has been a democrat as well. It was just a brief period when the republicans were "willfully blind" and set out to get him on the ballot that anyone said anything different with a straight face.

But I'm not complaining. Hevesi or Green would have been awful.

[Ethelred]

Originally posted by Imran Siddiqui
What ever happened to the great liberal cry: "Stop legislating your morality on me"?

Smoking has a direct effect on the others around them. Its is not a matter of personal morality in private. Go shoot up with nicotine in private. Don't make others partake of your coffin nails.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Echinda
And if it is true, you would expect that market forces would dictate that a larger and larger percentage of restaurants would go non-smoking. So there is no need for regulation.

Unfortunately, most people are still brainwashed by the Tobacco Lobby, fearing that they would lose money if they go non-smoking. We are having the same debate here and the same people sprout the same nonsense without any evidence backing them up.

[Gatekeeper]

CHICAGO (AP) — Drug companies toned down marketing campaigns for smoking-cessation products like nicotine-based gum and a skin patch in the 1980s and 1990s because of pressure from the tobacco industry, according to a medical journal report.

The report is based on documents posted on a tobacco industry Web site offering public access to materials involved in the 1998 national tobacco settlement. That case ended states‚ lawsuits filed over smoking-related health costs.

The documents provide an inside view of tobacco industry efforts to influence drug company campaigns involving two nicotine-based products designed to help people stop smoking: gum and the skin patch.

AWWW!!! Big Tobacco was looking out for its addic, er, customers! Isn't that SWEEEEEET of them?! More likely:

Gatekeeper

[Timexwatch]

Forgeive me if this is disjointed, I'm a bit tired....

Anyone ever do bar/restaurant work here?

I have, and in my experience, 75% of the employees already smoke, regardless of education/age/gender. In every smoking place I've worked or been to, the staff smokes at least one to five times an hour, depending on how busy it is.

The usual non-smokers are the young kids or Uni students on break. I'm in the latter category.

The past two summers I've worked in a restaurant/bar that prohibits smoking inside the building but permits it outside on the patio. It's a healthy middleground. The inside stays neat and clean to breathe while the smokers outside blow into the open air. For me, it's a much more pleasant work environment and beats coming home smelling like an ashtray.

Whether or not the tabacco lobby has brainwashed the owners, I don't know. I've seen that more often than not that smokers spend their disposeable income on items like restaurant food and alcohol. Generally the tips are better.

The only places that I can conceiveably see going under are bars/clubs/restaurants that lack a patio or easily accessable exit to smoke at (I.E. Huge/Underground Clubs and Bars). Most smokers, when confronted with a ban, simply take it outside and maybe stay around a bit less.

In the average town, one or two smoke-free restaurants can survive no problem. They'll draw a more family oriented crowd who'll bring kids / other non-smoking friends. Smoke free bars will probably be shorter lived....