Outdoor smoking ban weighed

[The Straight Story]

Smokers soon may no longer be allowed to light up at Town of Poughkeepsie parks and playgrounds.

The Town Board is to vote tonight on a proposal that would post signs designating such areas as tobacco-free zones. The town has 22 parks, many of which are used by youth sports leagues.

Officials hope the signs discourage people from lighting up and protect others, especially children, from secondhand smoke. But leaders acknowledge the policy will be difficult to enforce. It is unclear whether the proposal would include fines for people found smoking in town parks.

Supervisor Patricia Myers said she hopes the signs help prevent smokers from lighting up.

"When smokers are around small children, it's not good," Myers said.


http://www.poughkeepsiejournal.com/article/20101222/NEWS01/12220324/1006/news01/Outdoor-smoking-ban-weighed

[SidDithers]

1. Good...nt

Sid

[The Straight Story]

3. Can we ban cars/trucks from the place too? Sit in a garage for 2 hours running a car

and I will do the same in a garage smoking, and tell me which one is worse?

Better yet - put some kids in the garage with the car, and some with me smoking in mine.

If people are serious about it they will bans the cars first, but being hypocrites they won't do a damned thing.

[Nye Bevan]

9. You never saw a "No Idling" sign? (nt)

[The Straight Story]

12. Yeah, on the LA freeway during rush hour, ton of those signs around... (nt)

[Nye Bevan]

14. Sorry, I thought your post said "in a garage"... I must have read it too quickly (nt)

[The Straight Story]

65. Sorry, I thought they bars and not parks (which are out doors) (nt)

[KittyLover]

44. Always agreed with you

on this issue, TSS. K&R for you! People need to stop being such tight asses.

[RegieRocker]

2. I guess there is no air pollution what so ever in that park

and they are wanting to keep it pristine. That makes sense.

[Union Scribe]

20. Isn't any move to reduce pollution a step in the right direction?

I don't see anyone saying, "We're happy with all this other pollution...but those smokers..."

[RegieRocker]

21. Go after the bigger pollutants first. Do you think it's cigarettes?

[Union Scribe]

23. Why not both? Banning smoking in no way precludes "going after" other polluters.

[RegieRocker]

27. It's called Freedom for everyone not only you.

It's outside. Even if you can smell it move away. You're insuring that persons freedom also. Inside I completely understand. Outside is ridiculous unless in a stadium with a person next to you. That makes sense. You say "why should I move"? Well you're the one that doesn't like the smell and if you want BIG DADDY to protect you in every way then he will control you in every way. Is that what you want?

[Union Scribe]

28. Ah, so it was never about pollution for you.

Maybe you should have just been up front and said that. And you sound a bit grumpy, maybe it's been too long since your last fix.

[RegieRocker]

31. Don't smoke but you're not addressing the issue now are you.

Grumpy about wanting Daddy to protect you outside from a smoker heck yes!

[ixion]

4. Are they going to ban cars, fast food, chemicals in the water, pesticides, etc, too?

because those are far worse for children.

[LuvNewcastle]

5. The smoking police are coming.

We already have cops stationed at every public school every day just in case the little prisoners get out of line. I guess soon we'll have cops patrolling the parks and other city property, looking for people smoking cigarettes. We've gotta have the man looking over our shoulders all the time, just for our own protection. Apparently America can't handle freedom anymore.

[taterguy]

6. Good thing this isn't banned . . .

:popcorn:

[-..__...]

7. Welcome to the nanny state...

where no law/regulation/ban/restriction... no matter how foolish, insane, wishy-washy or out of bounds, is unreasonable as long as it's "for the children".

[Xenotime]

40. So, you support smoking in front of children?

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

42. the children

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qh2sWSVRrmo

[-..__...]

46. Loaded question...

dont'cha think?

"Support"?

Let's just say I don't share the over reaction by some parents to anal and melodramatic concerns about everything and anything that could negatively effect the well being and/or self esteem of their "little centers of the Universe".

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

48. what about for the troops?

Don't you support the troops?

You sound like someone who doesn't support the troops.:sarcasm:

[Nye Bevan]

8. Excellent. When I am outside I like to breathe clean air.

I hate when a smoker is walking in front of me and the smoke blows black in my face. Disgusting. While smokers derive pleasure from their habit that should not give them the right to subject others to the byproduct of their addiction. After all, I enjoy a beer or two on occasion but I don't go spraying my urine around in public parks. To me this is not a health issue but one of basic common courtesy.

[Obamanaut]

11. Not to mention all the thousands of filter tips strewn about the countryside

that take multiple years to biodegrade.

Finished the cig? Drop the filter. Through with the burger from the fast food joint? Out the window.

People just don't care.

[Nye Bevan]

13. Smokers seem to believe that there is some kind of "cigarette-butt fairy"

who will follow them around and clean up after them. What's with throwing your butt on the ground, or out of the car window? IS there something about the chemical effect of nicotine that makes them think this behavior is socially acceptable?

Disgusting animals.

[Recursion]

24. I don't get it. And it's people who otherwise would never "litter"

But something about a cigarette butt for some reason doesn't seem to strike most smokers as "litter".

[smiley]

35. I know many, many smokers...

who refuse to toss their butts on the ground. I was one of them for 15 years.

But I also know many who don't think twice about it.

I would not consider every smoker a disgusting animal.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

39. a supporting example

I'm a smoker, and I hung out with mostly people who smoked.

Now, I tend to be really careful about my cigarette butts. But in certain situations, I just don't care. My college campus was one, mainly because it was really dirty to begin with, with litter from students(plastic bags, Styrofoam, food containers, soda and beer bottles, everything). They also cleaned the campus with big vacuum cleaner things everyday. And they didn't have a lot of ashtrays. So I'd often just throw it on the ground. It's not something I'm particularly proud of, but, for the reasons I already stated, it's not something I really cared about.

I had quite a few friends who did not think this was cool, and would literally pick up my butts for me and throw them out.

But demonetization and stereotypes are way more fun!

[pintobean]

63. All smokers are litter-bugs and disgusting animals?

I wouldn't throw that opinion around in real life; your property might become the town ashtray.

[DaveinJapan]

16. After you drink your beers and belch and I have to smell it

can I have you arrested?

[pintobean]

18. Second-hand suds.

[Nye Bevan]

19. Absolutely. I only belch where nobody can smell it.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

36. i like to breathe clean air too

It's extremely hard to do so with all of those people driving cars.

I have never owned a car, so maybe I shouldn't be judging them for their addiction. But they just take it to far. Why don't they drive their cars in their own home, and keep the air clean for the people like us, who walk and take the train?

I completely agree with you. Trying to walk down a street and having the smoke from cars blowing in my face is disgusting. No matter how much pleasure these people get from driving. They're obviously not going to stop driving themselves, it's time for some law enforcement, since they don't have common courtesy.

Worst of all, my tax money goes to fund the roads for these peoples addiction!

[pintobean]

10. I'm smoking now

Is it bothering anybody in here?

[Nye Bevan]

15. Will you dispose of the butt in a trash can? Or are you like most smokers? (nt)

[pintobean]

17. Do tell

What do you think most smokers do with their butts when they're at home?

[Recursion]

22. If smokers policed their own butts it might be different

But for some reason, otherwise responsible people who would never litter seem to all feel entitled to drop their cigarette butts wherever they happen to be standing at the time. It perplexes me.

[RegieRocker]

25. Thought this was about second hand smoke not butts?

[Obamanaut]

41. Merely different forms of pollution from the same product and its users. nt

[cherish44]

26. keep the mosquitos out of the parks too!

I should be able to go to the park WITHOUT getting malaria!

[cbdo2007]

29. Good. Smokers should only kill themselves in the privacy of their own homes.

[pintobean]

30. I'm wishing I was about 5' upwind from you right now.

[bighart]

32. If non-smokers really cared about the kids they would be BUYING tobacco .

After all it is the largest single contributor to government funded health insurance for children via the taxes on it. Are all you non-smokers ready to pony up the cash to support SCHIP programs if smokers stop smoking?

[quaker bill]

34. In FL

the excise tax also substantially funds the public schools.

[WinkyDink]

53. It's the "Watch what you wish for" effect.

[county worker]

33. Banning smoking outside is a bit much, but I wish smokers outside would not throw butts on the

ground. Many times I have gone to a beach and placed my towel down only to find a pile of butts under it buried in the sand. The earth isn't an ash tray.

I don't care if people smoke outside because I can walk away but the butts on the ground get to me.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

38. the cigarette butt thing is a bummer

Personally, I wish there were more ash trays around. I do a pretty good job myself, the best I can anyway - i throw butts on the street outside my apartment, but they do street sweeping every week, so they don't really build up. I've also lived in some pretty dirty urban neighborhoods, with college kids leaving beer cans and grocery store bags all over the streets. Their are a ton of yuppies who leave dog shit all over the sidewalk that I wind up stepping in. So it's hard to really care about a cigarette butt, from my perspective.

I've also lived in places where people are obviously going out of their way to keep clean and respectful, though. I play along when in that situation.

And whenever I visit a park, I save butts in my pocket and throw them out when I leave.

One hard part about it - buildings often put ashtrays right in front of their doors. Yet, you can't smoke within 25 feet of the doors. And I worked in a building once that enforced this rule. So if you got up to the building with a lit cigarette, about half the time someone would start screaming like a LUNATIC. So what's there to do? When it comes to crazy people like that, I just left it on the sidewalk rather than deal with the crazy tobacco nazis.

The best thing to do would just be to get rid of filters all together, like in the old days. That seems like it would clear things up a lot. It's not like a filter really does much.

[Forkboy]

37. Good, they keep blocking all the McDonald's entrances.

[pintobean]

43. McDonald's customers should be weighed

:)
I had lunch there today.

[KittyLover]

45. I'd also like to point out something for the people bringing up the issue of buts on the ground:

It's not right to litter, and I often "field strip" them, and put the butt in my pocket. However, Isn't the problem somewhat taken care of with prisioners? People who do hard time are assigned to pick up trash along roadways, in parks, etc. It's part of their punishment for commiting a crime. Just wanted to bring that to light.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

47. i pointed that out above

Lots of cities have proper street sweeping and such. On my block, there's always a much bigger problem of dog crap, beer bottles, plastic bags, paper garbage, etc. In places with proper street sweeping, I tend to not feel that bad about littering, although I try not to. In places without it, I try harder. But it's not like I'm going out to a forest or nature preserve and throwing butts around...everything in a city is technically litter. The sidewalks, buildings, cars. It's all crap that's not supposed to be there, and is part of a system that, in general, negatively impacts the earth. So while I think people should do their best to keep cities respectable, it's hard for me to get my panties in such a twist about what other people do.

But that doesn't play into the whole "let's demonize smokers."

I don't like to see demonetization campaigns in general. But there seems to be much more worthy targets than tobacco. I've seen drinking ruin lives and families in ways not comparable to smoking...really sad, heart wrenching stuff. And even the stuff that's not so bad...my wife tells basically has the same conversation with her mom on the telephone 3 times a week, and her mom remembers none of it because she's drunk. And even if she's not an abusive person, it really hurts my wife's feelings when her mother literally can't remember anything about her daughter because she is addicted to alcohol.

But drinking is fun, drinking is what hip, young, beautiful people do, drinking is...whatever.

I smoke. I like smoking. I think one day I won't like smoking, and I'll stop it. And maybe I won't, and maybe I'll die. I don't see how that matters to anyone besides me and my circle of friends and family. And outdoor secondhand smoke is literally nothing but a minor inconvenience. Minor inconveniences are part of life. Most of us just get over them.

[Irishonly]

60. I Walk My Dogs

I am horrified at the amount of litter I see daily, including cigarette butts. There are trash cans but people don't seem to use them. I carry a plastic bag to pick up my dogs' poop but I guess most people don't. I had a man come out of his home and thank me this morning. Who would have thought you would ever get a thank you for being a responsible dog owner?

I always liked smoking until I found out I had a silent heart attack and have to have an angiogram as well as lung xrays to monitor a scar. I have quit and turned into a pain in the patootie ex-smoker. I never threw my butts out in the street and living in CA there were many places I couldn't smoke. I enjoy breathing easier and not smelling. Smokers can't smoke in my home and the ashtray on the porch has to be emptied if someone can't stand not smoking.

[alphafemale]

64. Smokers on the beach who think that poking their butt an inch into the sand

Makes it go away forever.

Would work the same way with a dirty diaper. One inch of sand is magic I tell ya.

:rofl:

[Obamanaut]

49. And some will argue that inmate labor is 'slave' labor, because they

are not being paid a living wage.

Others will argue that imprisonment, being isolated from society, is the punishment and they should not be performing this 'slave' labor, but instead have meaningful activities that lead to rehabilitation.

Others might suggest that people who insist on smoking should clean up after themselves. Many don't, but they should.

[FamousBlueRaincoat]

54. in my city it's not done by inmates

I should have said that I guess (although I'm not who you're replying to). At least I assume it's not inmates, because they wear city uniforms, are unsupervised, and operate some pretty heavy duty machinery. And they seem pretty happy, for people working anyway.

[KittyLover]

55. Agreed on the last point

However, I believe that cleaning the roadsides, parks, etc is not "slave work." I think it's a learning mechanism, and a form of rehab.

[Obamanaut]

59. The inmates striking in some of the prisons in Georgia in the last week or

so might disagree with you, as would some of the posters here.

I don't disagree, but some do. I think it would be a good thing to keep them employed. No salary because they are getting room, board, and medical care.

[Zanzobar]

50. Assholes

[pintobean]

52. Who are the assholes?

[Zanzobar]

62. The goddamned pearl clutchers.

Lawd, I smelt a bernin' ceegaw comin' cross da naybuhs yawd!

Why, Ah'm feelin faint hunny. Fetch Mama'glass a'wautah, shugah.

[WinkyDink]

51. Either allow smoking of a legal product, or make the product illegal. But stop the games.

[LAGC]

56. You don't think there's a compromise somewhere in the middle there?

Between wanting to protect kids from exposure to second hand smoke and allowing people to freely toke up in the privacy of their own home?

[WinkyDink]

57. I think "outdoors" goes beyond "compromise." I'd ban "Two and a Half Men" first.

[LAGC]

58. Perhaps...

I don't see a problem with people smoking in open parks if smokers voluntarily segregate themselves from others as I think most of them do, but I have no problem with ordinances that specify no smoking within so many feet of building entrances. There's few things worse than walking out of a building to get some fresh air and running into a loitering mob smoking right outside the door.

To me, it just boils down to: your personal freedoms end when they cause harm to others.

[Nodak]

61. Smokers

should refuse to pay that portion of property taxes that support the parks.