The city of Belmont, CA is about to introduce radical anti-smoking regulation:
“Belmont City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to proceed with the drafting of an ordinance that revises the city’s current smoking ban in workplaces and most public areas, to now include any residence except single-family detached homes. (CBS5.com)
Frankly, I’m not sure what to think. I do not smoke, and I can’t stand second-hand smoke. Having lived in smoke-free California for a while, landing at any European airport is a pain, I literally suffocate from the dense smoke… same experience at many places on the East Coast. But here in CA we’re as smoke-free as we can be.
Talk about smoke, how about wood-burning fireplaces? A great American tradition – banned for new home construction in most CA communities, yet every day I open my windows for a bit of fresh air, I am getting bombarded by a *fresh* dose of carcinogen courtesy of my neighbors. I really hate it, but I don’t think owners of older homes can be ordered not to use this amenity.
The list can go on – unless you live in the middle of a 15-acre property, you won’t be completely isolated from your neighbors. How far can cities go in issuing ordinances, over-regulating every aspect of our lives? Shouldn’t our homes be the ultimate sanctuary, off-limits to regulations?
What do YOU think?
The World Health Organization–the political arm of the international medical establishment–has dictated that tobacco is to be outlawed worldwide. They want to replace it with prescription drugs at ten prices. The Belmont assholes are just doing their part, with the help of any citizen who doesn’t smoke.
It’s all the first step in a takeover of the political system by the medical establishment. Anything “unhealthy” will ultimately be a criminal offense , which is anything except working or sleeping.
that’s crazy to think about that. I think it’s wrong. you should be allowed to smoke in your own home. public places fine you can have them, but you home is your home.
Ohio just passed a ban. You can’t smoke in your own car if you have passengers. The people were to stupid to actually read the bill. At the same time they voted in a sin tax on smokers to raise a hundred million dollars for a museum. We already payed for 2 stadiums that we can’t smoke in. Most counties can’t afford to deal with daily business let alone enforce this stupidity. The public looks like a school of baluga whales, that’s O.K.? It’s the pollution you don’t see or smell that’s killing you. Hospital workers have to be 600 ft. away from the building, but visitors and patients can smoke in a lounge indoors. Meanwhile thousands of cars and trucks drive by spewing more evil than 4 packs a day. Catalytic converters turn carbon monoxide into sulphur dioxide. Great but when it hits moisture in the atmosphere it turns to sulphuric acid. I’m not defending smokers, but one smokestack out does every smoker in town every hour. And see how long you can sit in your running car with the garage door shut. There are ivy league studies that show the second hand smoke effect is grossly exagerated. Never hear of those. Money. Billions in lawsuites, can you check into a smoking rehab? Hell no. We’ll run 60 million in commercials out of 1.5 billion in settlements. Do the math. I don’t ask that 400 pound people be escorted from my site. Kids see that as normal. Smokers finance the medical field and live shorter lives, health nuts sit in a coma for 20 years and drain the budget. Our kids are %80 pre diabetic and have artery plaques. In California they have cancerous chemicals in the water that kill for sure. Start with the most impact, not scapegoats. Can I sue a jogger for getting into a hummer and driving by my home? If I can’t smoke than I will surely be obligated to pound the hell out of a french fry eater or someone in a gas guzzler. If second hand smoke is bad then these folks should be imprisoned for life!
I always find US legilsators to be amusing. Why take a pin hammer to crack a nut when there’s a JCB shovel with which to beat people up? It’s the absurdity that gets me.
BTW Zoli – to my certain knowledge smoking is banned apart from air conditioned (I assume they are), designated locations in France, Spain, Netherlands and UK airports. They also make such places hard to find.
Glad to hear that. Last time I was at Heathrow may have been 5 years or so, but it smelled like hell. And yes, they had designated smoking areas NOT separated and way too frequently located, so essentially it was hard to find a smoke-free zone. And that’s nothing compared to the dense smoke at Frankfurt airport….