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	also_not_a_pipe 2007-05-03 12:26 am UTC (link)
	I seriously thought that this was going to be about my city. Ohio just passed a state-wide smoking ban, and people are outraged to be denied their Constitutional right to char their lungs. This is what has Ohioans banging on about Orwell and police states and bad government decisions and all. It's hilarious. (Reply to this)(Thread)

	zinkchan 2007-05-03 12:30 am UTC (link)
	The Seattle Com and my college's mailing list was abuzz with "OMG, THE STATE IS OPPRESSING SMOKERS" rage when voters passed the smoking ban. Not that anyone actually pays much attention to the ban anyway. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	also_not_a_pipe 2007-05-03 01:28 pm UTC (link)
	Right. The big news in the paper today is that the state is going to start enforcing the ban that passed in November. Serious business, right? (Reply to this)(Parent)

	oar 2007-05-03 03:43 am UTC (link)
	That ban passed a statewide vote, too, so it's not just TEH GOBERMINT forcing things on the poor oppressed smokers. Every time someone complains, I feel like asking if they actually voted in the last election. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	also_not_a_pipe 2007-05-03 01:26 pm UTC (link)
	They are an oppressed minority under the thumb of those tyrannical non-smokers and their obnoxious anti-smoking ads. Clearly they have no choice but to rebel by whining about not being allowed to smoke in the Olive Garden to anyone who will listen. They're like Che Guevara, in a way. (Reply to this)(Parent)

	cjk 2007-05-03 12:49 pm UTC (link)
	Are you still allowed to smoke in your car and/or house? Or is it literally state-wide? (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

also_not_a_pipe
2007-05-03 01:22 pm UTC (link)

Oh, no, you're still allowed to smoke on private property. It's places of business and other public venues where it's banned. I've also heard that there's a loophole either proposed or in the works to allow smoking in private clubs.

The big news today is that the state is actually about to start enforcing the law that passed in November, so it's not like the thing has teeth to speak of anyway.

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athy
2007-05-03 05:32 pm UTC (link)

Huh our state (AZ) has that same law with that exact loophole. It also has a loophole about open air patios I think. It was just a few cities wide for a while we passed the full state thing last year and it went into effect yesterday. The city-wide ban was completely effective. I've become seriously spoiled getting to go into a resteraunt and never smell icky smoke, I visited Phoenix which didn't have the ban and realized I'd been living in a farily good smelling bubble. You can tell the difference when an establishement allows smoking sections.

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karmakaze
2007-05-03 01:10 pm UTC (link)

Hey, they can char their lungs all they want. They can buy a blowtorch with a hose extension and go for it directly. I'd just really prefer that they do it in a way that doesn't force me to participate. That's fair, right?

It's kind of like:
"I have the right to express myself in interpretive dance! It's freedom of expression!
"Sure, but could you not do it in crowded spaces where your scarves keep smacking me in the face?"
"Nazi!!!! You just hate dance! You're all about suppressing free speech!"

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also_not_a_pipe
2007-05-03 01:19 pm UTC (link)

I'm mildly allergic to tobacco smoke, so I can't really complain. I'm sort of glad, actually. Now I can go to bars and concerts and things.

But the amount of venom I've seen in The Dayton ~~Barely~~ Daily News's column where they print anonymous call-in editorial comments is amazing. It's like, how dare people object to someone else's smoke, why don't they just stay in their houses and never leave if they don't like it?

Of course, the real gold in the whole thing is that the Speak-Up comments are usually complaining about people who hate Bush and those dadgum liburls who don't understand how that nobody needs to worry about Bush suspending habeas corpus unless they have something to hide. But a smoking ban passes with a pretty solid majority vote? Someone needs to stop those monsters in the government before they take away all our rights?

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	amymccabe 2007-05-03 02:14 pm UTC (link)
	Oh you silly person. Don't you know the right to spend hundreds of dollars a year to destroy your lungs and eventually die a slow and painful death is so much more important than any kind of right to privacy? My Terry Pratchett icon seems so apt for this wank. (Reply to this)(Parent)

tachikoma01
2007-05-03 03:32 pm UTC (link)

Yeah, but by their logic, smokers have been opressing my and my friend's right to breathe without having an attack, so excuse me if I lack proper sympathy.

I saw a woman who wrote into Dear Abby once saying that if her daughter wouldn't allow her to smoke around her grandchildren, then she was just going to stop seeing them and donate all her money when she died to the American Cancer Society instead of letting them inherit it. It's kind of sad when your cigarette is more important to you than your grandchildren.

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made_by_kali
2007-05-04 04:02 pm UTC (link)

I saw a woman who wrote into Dear Abby once saying that if her daughter wouldn't allow her to smoke around her grandchildren, then she was just going to stop seeing them and ~~donate all her money when she died to the American Cancer Society~~spend all of her money on expensive treatments for cancer instead of letting them inherit it.

Fixed that for her.
*has watched too many family members die of cancer via smoking too damn much*
/reposted with correct html*

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