Re: Smoking

On Wed, May 16, 2012 at 9:24 AM, Ellen Rawson <silme13@yahoo.com> wrote:
> In the early '90s, Boulder, Colorado, banned smoking in all indoor public places. Well, the city council did. The tavern and bar owners complained, stating they'd go out of business. >Therefore, the city relented, sort of. They put it on the November ballot and allowed the populace to decide.

Generally speaking, I approve of indoor smoking bans. I did find the
ban in Portland a bit on the silly side, though, since so few
restaurants and bars (particularly downtown and in the Northwest)
allowed smoking at the time the ban was passed. I really only knew of
one, maybe two. I suppose there's something to be said for just
saying, "Nah, get rid of it all," but it seems like in Portland at
least, it would have worked just as well to let the smoking bars die
out on their own -- don't allow new businesses to allow indoor
smoking, and eventually there'd be nothing but a couple of hold-outs
for those of us who like to have a cigarette or a pipe with our pint.
The Horse Brass apparently used to do pipe tobacco "tastings" in the
bar, and I'm very sad that I missed out on that.

The thing that tends to drive me crazy is the rules about smoking
outside. In Seattle, you're not allowed to smoke indoors, within 25
feet of a door, window, or air intake, and if I remember correctly,
you're also not supposed to smoke within 25 feet of other people in
outdoor parks and recreation areas. While I'm sympathetic to folks
with sensitive lungs, this strikes me as a bit over-the-top, not to
mention difficult to enforce. It pretty much means that the only
really legal place to smoke in a lot of places is the middle of the
street. And the outside smoking bans also mean that often, if I choose
to indulge, there's no proper receptacle available to discard the
butt. Which means smokers either have to put the butt in their pocket,
put it in the trash (hoping that it won't start a fire), or litter.
Most people seem to choose the littering option.

Personally, I like it when, instead of just telling me I can't smoke,
people also tell me where I CAN. If the answer is, "nowhere within the
city limits," well...

Kirsten