The Monroe City Council passed a smoking ban for all public places in Monroe.
In my opinion, the smoking ban is in complete violation of the rights of business owners. It should be the owner’s decision as to whether or not people are allowed to smoke inside. This ban will take its toll on local businesses because smokers may not be as inclined to go if they can no longer smoke inside.
The ban includes businesses that were the last remaining places people could smoke indoors- bars and bingo halls. The proponents for this bill argue in favor of the health of the non-smokers there.
Well, I’ve never heard of anyone going to a bar for their health. Alcohol, which is served at bars, is not healthy and is in some ways more dangerous than cigarettes in that drunk driving causes wrecks.
Those in favor of the bill also argue in favor of the health of those who work at bars and bingo halls.
As callous as it sounds, it is the individual’s choice where to work. If you are a bartender, there are plenty of restaurants that have already banned smoking where drinks are served. If you are a musician, there are music venues that have banned smoking as well. In short, there are a limited number of career opportunities presented by bars, and all of them can be found at other non-smoking establishments.
The ban also prohibits people from smoking in all “public places.” These places include lines to buy movie tickets, ATM machines, bank-teller drive-through windows, bus stops and playgrounds.
This is ridiculous because these places are all outdoors, not inside of a building.
I think people should be able to smoke wherever they want as long as they are outside.
These people are likely not walking up to anyone blowing smoke inches from their faces. They are minding their own business, often standing in a centralized location around an established cigarette butt receptacle.
I do not think it is right that the government is able to restrict what is done outside. The ban at the windows of bank tellers includes not only pedestrians, but people in cars as well. Now the ban is trying to delegate what people can and cannot do in their own vehicles.
I believe that this is a slippery slope and that voters should be wary of what rights they are willing to sacrifice.
Should we now be concerned that people will not be able to smoke in their own homes for the health benefit of their guests, neighbors, or future owners of the home?
The ban restricted smoking within 15 feet of the entrances of the establishments affected by the ban. Fifteen feet is a good amount of distance. This well exceeds the space offered by sidewalks and, in many cases, store fronts. This means that people will have to stand either in the street or the parking lot in order to smoke cigarettes.
Non-smokers health might be protected by lack of smoke, but the smokers have been put at risk by having to flee to dangerous places just to smoke a cigarette.
It is important to remember that smoking is not illegal. Cigarettes and cigars are sold in stores to anyone of legal age who wishes to purchase them.
Cigarette smoking should not be something that people are persecuted for doing; it is the person’s choice.
I do not think that it should be the responsibility of smoker to protect the health of non-smokers. Non-smokers should be responsible for their own health and should take their own means of avoiding secondhand smoke.
Cars, factories, generators, etc. all produce harmful gasses that are released into the air, and those are chemicals that we all breathe day in and day out.
I think that the ban should be thrown out entirely. I firmly believe that the smoking policy of businesses should be at the full discretion of the business owner. I do not think that there should be any ban as to where people can smoke outdoors.
If the ban must be kept though, I think that people should still be able to smoke on outside patios, outdoors and within a few feet of the entrance.
