Let's Ban Smoking Outside Too!

I'm sorry, but I couldn't have a drink at a bar with my friends in NY till I was 37 (would have allergy attacks due to the smoke), which means I love Bloomberg for saving my social life. That also means I'm all for any kind of smoking ban, anywhere, anytime. (Since all my friends are alcoholics!) (Just kidding). But hey, even my smoking friends complain about walking in the wake of someone's smoke outside. That's telling, isn't it?

Follow Carolita Johnson on Twitter: www.twitter.com/carolitajohnson

Comments

[cyclobenzaprine9]

Thank you Carolita! I work in San Francisco and it is really annoying walking behind a slow-walker puffing away on his cigarette with its trail of cancer chemicals trailing behind him. I know that smokers are on here defending their habit. I have no problem with people smoking (after all, it's their lungs), but come on, when there a lot of people around, have some decency! If they can't ban smoking outdoors, I say tax cigarettes at 300%.

[Carolita Johnson - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks everyone! I'd just like everyone to know that I actually have no power, and that all my opinions are just opinions, and there's no need to get too excited over what little old me thinks. What I think is often what other (probablyl not-powerful either) people think , and I'm just channeling what's in the air. In this case, second hand smoke.
:)
If you want to make yourself heard by people who are actually involved in the smoking ban question, I would be honored to suggest using the democratic process (however subverted you may think it is at the moment by Bloomberg, it is still there for you to wrangle with now and in the future), by writing to your representative, or to Mayor Bloomberg himself, at:
http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.bd08ee7c7c1ffec87c4b36d501c789a0/index.jsp?doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fmail%2Fhtml%2Fmayor.html
Have fun!

[LibGirlandProudofIt]

Oh, Carolita, Why aren't you thinking of the children? Who will pay for their healthcare if I quit?

[Carolita Johnson - Huffpost Blogger]

Haha! They'll pay for you, naturally! And I'll be paying for you, if we have universal healthcare. We all will!
:)

[gulopartisan]

A couple of days ago, I was walking my dog and enjoying a cigar in a public park. A runner passed me, ostentatiously waving his hand in front of his face. The amusing thing is that 20 yards away, diesel trucks were pulling out of a cement plant.

[a3w]

I'm so sick of the rabid anti-smoker propaganda­... I'm glad I can't smoke in a bar anymore; it made my clothes stink and I felt bad for the non-smoking employees. But give me a break--you're not at risk of lung cancer by sharing a sidewalk with a smoker.

I live in Salt Lake City, a city with the distinction of having some of the worst air in the country. Why don't you draw a cartoon about the levels of airborne chlorine, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter destroying my lungs instead?

[Carolita Johnson - Huffpost Blogger]

Cuz nobody's proposing to object to a chlorine, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter ban yet!

[a3w]

Oh, how I wish that were true. The EPA and various groups have been trying to clean up SLC's air for years, but the corporate interests that are involved in the polluting have blocked their efforts (notably, Magnesium Corporation of America).

I appreciate your artwork and your opinions, but please do some research first. I noticed you had nothing to say about my comment that smoking outdoors puts no one at risk of lung cancer (except the smoker, of course).

[LeftRight]

Tell you what Ms Johnson, let's just make smoking illegal!!! But until it's made an illegal activity, I and others like me are simply engaging in a legal activity! I don't have a problem with the smoking bans indoors, and I don't have a problem with trying to avoid other people when I'm smoking, but while it's legal, I should have just as much right to smoke as you have to be away from my smoke!

[Carolita Johnson - Huffpost Blogger]

Whatever you want, LR! I didn't say we should make it illegal. I just think nobody who doesn't smoke should have to passively inhale the smoke of other people. It is carcinogenic, and there's already enough bad stuff in the air of NYC, for example, without the extra stuff from the smokers.

Hey, if everyone smoked American Spirit cigs, I might be amenable to second hand smoke. At least they're clean-ish cigs. Maybe we should just ban all cigs that aren't clean. That would be a start!

[a3w]

Actually, you kind of did say we should make it illegal. There's almost no indoor area anywhere that allows smoking. I can't smoke at home, at work, in a restaurant or bar, at a sports game, in a theater, on a plane... any indoors public place, basically. Which means I must smoke outside. If smoking is banned outside, it's effectively banned everywhere, which means you're advocating banning all smoking.

[benjaminblue]

You love Bloomberg? Why don't the two of you go set up your own little Utopia somewhere and quit trying to ruin New York? Maybe you could invite Bush and Cheney, too, since those fools, like Bloomberg -- who overthrew term limits, against public wishes -- likes to disregard laws he finds inconvenient. We've had more than enough of you "my way or the highway" types. If you don't like it in New York, or in the U.S., take Wilson, Bush, Cheney, Bloomberg and the rest of the malcontents and get out of here.

[Carolita Johnson - Huffpost Blogger]

Woah, what are you reading? I didn't say I wanted to marry him, did I? I love him for what he did. That doesn't mean I have to have his kids or something.
And I didn't say I didn't like it here. I love it here. I love my dog, too, but I don't deny he has bad breath. I can say what I like about New York, since I'm paying a heck of a lot of taxes to live here. I earn the right!

I love how commenters have a love affair with saying 'if you don't like it here get out".

Hey, if you don't like it here go back to.... uh, forget it. It's no fun.

[cat3]

Smokers in NY pay a lot of taxes too and we earn the right to live here too.

If passing smokers outside bothers you so much, hold your breath for a
few seconds as you pass them.

That's what I have to do when I pass people who smell like they have
showered in perfume or cologne, or haven't showered at all.

[reader110]

Why don't they just outlaw smoking? It worked with marijuana, right? Oh, wait...

[harleyrider1978]

As for secondhand smoke in the air, OSHA has stated outright that:

"Field studies of environmental tobacco smoke indicate that under normal conditions, the components in tobacco smoke are diluted below existing Permissible Exposure Levels (PELS.) as referenced in the Air Contaminant Standard (29 CFR 1910.1000)­...It would be very rare to find a workplace with so much smoking that any individual PEL would be exceeded."
-Letter From Greg Watchman, Acting Sec'y, OSHA, To Leroy J Pletten, PHD, July 8, 1997

[Carolita Johnson - Huffpost Blogger]

except that anyone who is sensitive to tobacco smoke (like me) can't sit in a smokey room without teary eyes, wheezing lungs, and coughing uncontrollably. In all other respects I am an upright citizen, paying taxes, and contributing to society.
Maybe non-smokers should just eat lots of beans and fart outrageously in the workplace till the smokers go nauseous and teary-eyed, and then they'd know how it feels. Hey. That's an idea....

[harleyrider1978]

sorry but sensitivity simply implies you should not enter venues that allow smoking and should seek employment in places that dont allow it........­..I see you more hate smokers than love them....SE­COND HAND SMOKE IS A JOKE......­.I t doesnt harm anyone and after 40 years of testing OSHA even says so........­..if you dont like it open a window....­...or install venilation,which nearly all buildings have......­and if your still not satisfied you could just become outlawed as a non-smoker­.........a­nd you can see how prohibition feels for a change....­..whats the worse of it all is the bad things that come from from prohibitio­n.........­.....care to guess what they are.......­...but as we learned from the volstead act/alcohol prohibition it will end in failure because nobody wants the law except the zealots...­......27 states had tobacco and smoking prohibitions during alcohol prohibition all repealed by 1933......­.....so I dont think your lil smoking ban stands much chance in the long run.......­...enjoy it while you got it........­.repeal and political shifts are happening right now as we saw when your nazi bloomberg backed down from an outdoor ban prior to an election..­........yo­u went to far and the people are gonna get rid of HEALTH FACISTS LIKE HIM and the rest in the citys political machine.

[cat3]

I have all of the same symptoms, only mine are caused by pollen, ragweed, etc

Also, I am unable to ride subways or buses because the fumes make me sooooo
nauseous, to the point that I actually have to hold my breath as a smokey bus or truck
passes byl

Maybe Bloomberg can ban all these things for me and cut down all the trees & plants that cause my allergies to act up.

I too am an upright citizen, paying taxes and contributing to society.

[harleyrider1978]

Have you all just lost it or what.....n­ow you think smoking in site of children is immoral and abuse...th­e laugh is on you. First you have lost the battle over second hand smoke with indoor bans.this happened the second you went to outdoor bans...The cry of today is repeal of all nanny laws......­.your fast losing political support across the political spectrum as people see you for what your agenda truly is.......a­cross the board prohibition of anything you dont like. HATE IS LEGAL in your minds. and in your politics..­....as for second hand smoke its a joke just like all the psuedo-science the nazi tobacco control groups spin......­...name one person that ever died of second hand smoke.....­..CARMONA couldnt do it........­nobody can becuase it doesnt exist.....­.you have done more to make people no longer believe anyhting that comes from health nazis and the government health groups....­...the non-profits are now bought off groups,used to lobby for smoking bans and other agenda driven things that big pharma and the zealots desire....­.....SECON­D HAND SMOKE IS A JOKE

[rini]

There are many medical studies that have confirmed the effects of second hand smoke on non-smokers. I agree with the indoor bans.

That said, we cannot and should not outlaw smoking. I would rather get rid of the coal plants.

[ramblin jack]

nonsense no Doctor can point and say yep second hand smoke did him in and if you look at the numbers given for second hand deads it is less than women who die in child birth

[harleyrider1978]

There are no deaths from second hand smoke.....­...NONE...­.....ZERO.

its a health scare created to impose fear so that smoking prohibition laws could be enacted...­........I saw it comming the day I saw smoking sections hit the public venues....­.........n­ow in states that dont have smoking bans you will find smoking thru out the venues and signs that state such......­..thats what smoking prohibition has caused a total return to the days before smoking sections..­........

[ladycubsfan]

Oops. I meant IMHO. Ha! I knew that didn't look right....

[quidam56]

I smoke which is by choice. What fossil fuels are doing to children is not my choice but I have to wonder where are all the voices to clean up the air for their kids ? When you think of The Appalachian Mountains, I doubt you think of pollution. The air, water and land is a toxic mess actually, see for yourself. http://www.wisecountyissues.com/?p=138 Wise County, Virginia can't stand anymore of the prosperity and progress of mountaintop removal.

[ebro1]

First of all, I don't smoke, so I don t have any personal axe to grind, but don't you think this is getting a little extreme. The premise that all of those other illegal substances don't harm others because they aren't "smoked" is inaccurate. Eliminating cigarette smoke won't stop all of the other substances you enhale everytime you walk outside, car exhaust, bus fumes (my personal favorite), industrial pollution. I've been watching the progression toward making cigarettes illegal for a couple of decades now. Whie I understand and appreciate being able to eat my dinner without the layer of indoor smog, I think the poster has moved from health concern to personal inconvenience. What's next? It's a slippery slope.

[weatherwaxx]

A slippery slope to protecting our lungs? You say that like it's a bad thing.

If someone has a sensitivity to cigarette smoke -- especially when it goes with somethng serious, like asthma -- walking through the gauntlet of smokers outside a 'nonsmoking' building means you have it in your hair and on your clothes all day.

I am in favor of making smoking areas DOWNWIND of doorways, as far away from normal traffic paths as possible.

It's true--there are a lot of other pollutants you cannot help but inhale. But the sensible thing is to eliminate as many health hazards as possible. If someone wants to endanger his or her own health, it should not put others at risk.

Having grown up with a chain-smoking mother... I think smoking with young kids in an enclosed space or in a car should be considered child abuse.

[CEDobson]

I am a smoker, a conscientious smoker. I understand a person's right to clean air, so I don't go out anymore to socialize. My choice. Let's not forget that any smoker nowadays is treated like a leper, so to all you opinionated, waving your arms to avoid smoke, fake coughing when we are a mile away from you.....

Quit wearing so much dam* perfume, cologne, aftershave, hair products, lotions.

To all you alcoholics causing bodily harm by bumping into, smashing, falling, driving while intoxicated, being loud and obnoxious in the presence of my children - stay home.

To all you users of environmental hazardous materials, i.e., aerosols, non-hybrid cars, freon in your air-conditioners, etc. - you are killing our environment, so stop.

By smoking outside, I have never caused someone's allergies to go kablooey. I stand downwind or go out alone. However, pesticide concoctions, mosquito repellents/foggers and plant foods have caused several episodes of asthma attacks in my children (not on my lawn or in my yard). Should that be considered child abuse?

It has become "the thing to do" to complain about cigarettes, but give me a break; the world is full of pollutants, cigarettes a small portion. And it is your choice to go outside when someone is smoking, to go near a designated smoking spot. There are a million and one places to go where no smoking is allowed - maybe, just maybe, the reason you are there is because you like to complain!

[Carolita Johnson - Huffpost Blogger]

hear, hear!

[spencerh]

We should make smoking *anything* illegal and legalize everything else - whether inhaled, injected, swallowed or absorbed - all drugs. The only places you should be allowed to smoke are designated private smoking facilities with air filtration systems. I cannot refuse or consent to inhaling smoke (and where I live, it's a constant assault on your respiratory system). Otherwise, just legalize and regulate; you should have to go through a lengthy process to determine whether you're fit to use drugs (including alcohol) and you'd have to sign consent forms, and agree that any costs incurred due to potential addiction are your own and will not be borne by the state (except addiction programs themselves, of course). If you agree, you're sold drugs by state-chartered companies that are tightly regulated, including pricing, to eliminate the black market.

We should eliminate /methods/ of using various substances that cause harm to others without their consent; if someone inhales, absorbs, swallows, or injects, others do not suffer harm. People will get the substances themselves one way or another, so we should create an environment where the fewest people are harmed.

[Jane Devin - Huffpost Blogger]

Alcohol is involved in approximately 65% of child abuse and domestic assault cases. That alone, excluding car accidents, FAS, violent and other crime, homelessness, and health costs, does away with the reasoning that others don't suffer harm.

But wait, we're on the comedy page....

[spencerh]

No, it doesn't. The harm we're using is /direct, material harm/. Anything can cause indirect and/or non-material harm. Down that road, we can do nothing, ever, since anything cause indirect harm.

[reader110]

Any you should have to take a test to have kids, too. After all, when stupid people have stupid kids, it brings the whole country down.

[CEDobson]

Maybe stupid people should be outlawed! I have been more inconvenienced by idiots, then secondhand smoke any day.