Agencies set to enforce smoking ban Monday

Well another example of the government stepping in to control our lives. I personally beleive the government has too much control in our lives at this point. Why do we need a law for every aspect of life and when & where will it stop? Do you enjoy Big Brother telling you what is or isn't good for you? Where has common sense gone? Where has personal choice gone? When will overactive zealots realize that each time the government steps in, we lose a little more freedom. Regardless whether I smoke or not, it is a personal choice. I do not smoke in the company of people who do not smoke, I do not smoke in restraurants and others public places, however I did not need a law enacted to tell me that. Just common sense and courtesy. When will government intervention stop?

I'm anxious for this one to come into effect. It's been a long time coming. I hate to have my clothes smelling of smoke after leaving a restaurant or bowling alley. You can separate all you want and have wonderful venting systems, but it doesn't eliminate it completely!!

Finally.....

Finally, this is GOOD NEWS! And I say this because I was a smoker.....until
I permenantly ruined my health.

Question for the Editor: Are smokers
(at a bar) still permitted to step
outside in front or beside a bar...and
have a cig....and then go back into the
bar? The reason I ask it....the City and private investors have spent a LOT
of money making Fremont (especially down town) more attractive.....how
UGLY would it be to drive through down
town and see a bunch of smokers standing
out on the sidewalks smoking. Does also
include businesses that allow their
employees to stand out side in front of a business and smoke??

Thank you and thanks for listening!!!

What about smoking outside? Or outside public spaces such as parks?

to Joseph P. Sokolovsky:
i too smoked for 44 years and lost lung capacity. people who "cant quit" need this law to better their health whether or not they believe it. to Nancy:
the reason alot of people need laws to run their lives is because they are too ignorant to figure it out for themselves. alot of hicks and hillbillys in fremont need constant watching because they cant run their own lives. if theres no law concerning something, then these idiots think its ok to do. these morons have no sense of common sense or common courtesy. they need to be told every step to make in order to make it day to day. i have a neighbor like this. its really sad but its funny too.

Nancy - couldn't agree more...those posters who support this ban are the identical ones who lament government control when it disadvantages them...but my aggravation comes from the fact that I agree with your opinion, but is it reflected in all areas of your opinion on gov.? For example: are you for a woman's right to choose (no gov. interference), against telephone surveillance and eavesdropping, against public entitlements (taking your dollars and disseminating them for you), against faith-based funding, against social security and medicare/ medicaid...unfortunately, I find people's "freedom of choice" bravado is usually only as broad as the particular issue that impacts them. Maybe you're different?

If a carrier of deadly comunicable disease was allowed to enter a public place. This person would be putting all who came in contact with him/her at risk to catching the disease. Then why do those who smoke think that it's ok, to put other people at risk of getting lung cancer or Emphysema? In that same thought how would people react if a know carrier of the swine flu was trying to visit all the restaurants in town.!!

smokers should have rights just like everyone else. if there is proper ventalation we should be able to enjoy our time away from our homes as much as the next person. maybe we smokers should start turning in the ones who do not smoke for some fines.

We are thrilled that we can finally have the choice to eat at any restaurant and being able to enjoy it without having to have to worry about headaches, stuffy noses, and the affects that smoke has on our lungs.

To those people who think that they are losing their right to smoke in public places forget that their smoking affects everyone around them. No one is taking their right to smoke away, just limiting where they can smoke.

No shirt, no shoes, no service.... I don't hear anyone complain about those restricitons! No smoking is just another restriction of courtesy to others. Thank you to those smokers who understand.

OK Deb. I don't know what cloud your living on but even with "proper ventilation" us non-smokers can still smell your awful smoke, which is still getting into our lungs. I know after all those cigarettes you can't smell it anymore but it's still there.
There is also no reason to put employee's health at risk. Even if the bartenders/wait staff smoke, they do not need to be breathing in more smoke for 8-12 hours.

I agree with Nancy. I'm not a smoker and never have been. In fact I can't stand the smell of cigarette smoke, it's disgusting! However, if an adult choses to smoke that is their choice. And if a business owner wants to allow smoking in their establishment, who is the government to say they can't. I keep hearing the argument that "it's for the health of the employees who work there or it's for the health of the non-smokers who patronize the business."
If an employee does not want to be around cigarette smoke, then they can work somewhere that is smoke free. These people are not being forced to work in a smoking environment. If a business allows smoking and non-smokers don't like it, they can find another business that is smoke free. It's that simple. Duh!
I feel bad for the Fremont Police and Dodge Co. Sheriff's Dept. Their officers are going to be inundated with frivolous calls about smoking violations. Law enforcement and the county attorney have way more important things to be dealing with.

Question for the people who are in favor of the smoking ban.
Why can't you just go to a restaurant, bar, bowling alley, etc. that is smoke free? They do exist you know. Why can't you let business owners make their own decisions about the legal activities that are taking place at their establishments?

Oh...lets see............alcohol is also dangerous to other people who do not drink and those the drink responsibly. Maybe the government should close down the bars. Many many people are killed every year related to alcohol. Drunk drivers killing inocent victims. Killing themselves, or even ruining a person health and well being for the rest of their lives. About like smoking in public. So should the goverment close down bars as well???

The apartment I lived in has a shared furnace. Do I still have to smell the neighbor's smoke coming through the vents?? Or is the fact that the air is shared make it public??

It is amazing to me how some of you smokers really don't see how your smoking afects everyone around you. Being someone who is alergic to smoke I am very happy this day has finally come. Wish it would have been here 8 months ago so that I could have gone out more while I was pregnant. I, unlike a lot of people, chose to stay away from smoking places during my pregnancy as to not harm my unborn child. Again, your smoke afecting an inocent life. Atleast my baby will be born into a smoke free environment! Now we just need Iowa to follow so that the casino's will be smoke free! Wow, that day should be interesting... but you just wait... it will be here before you know it!!!

Never fear, the Gov't will protect us from ourselves, and of course take our money while they're at it. Kind of makes you glad you live in a free country. NOT !

It should be up to the business to decide whether or not they want to allow smoking in their establishment...plain and simple. We do not need big brother stepping in and telling us what risks we can and cannot take. This argument is similar to the seat belt law. It both amazes and scares me that people today want government to have a hand in everything we do with our lives....

To Dan - can people step outside to smoke? Just drive by the side entrance to J's Steakhouse on 4th street for your answer. 99% of the time there is a crowd of workers standing outside smoking. It's really an attractive sight - the cigarette butts, the coffee can that is constantly missed, the people that are preparing the food smoking and then my favorite, having to walk through the crowd of smokers to get by on the sidewalk. Obviously it's ok to smoke outside and loiter on the sidewalk - or - Jay and building owner Bill Perry just don't care what kind of image this leaves with people.

Great

Proper ventilation doesn't eliminate smoke completely-- just 99.9999999999999 per cent of it,. including stuff that is truly harmful like heavy metals.

You must be a young punk who can't remember when they sold cologne that smelled like tobacco. How about washing your GD clothes so you don't stink of sweat.

my concern isn't the smoking issue. there are people for and against this just like everything else, and for good reasons. what i have not seen addressed here is the fact that this WILL be a problem with law enforcement. how many of you have ever went to a bar in your lifetime? i've known several people who were 'drinking smokers' and only smoked while partying. these bars are going to have most of their people going out the door to light up. it's inevitable. then what happens? public intoxication, public disturbances or nuisances, fights, people walking around outside WITH their beer (cuz let's be honest who's gonna keep leaving it in the bar to be stolen). the party will emerge to the outdoors, and when they are forced outdoors, is it right for any of them to be cited for it? this is going to be costly for bars, and for law enforcement. do you realize the cost for taxpayers? city services, jails, courts, etc. i do believe that everyone should have rights, including not breathing smoke and their choice to smoke. i worry about the future of what this law actually will cause.

Try smoking in between beers!!

Proper ventilation would work, but nobody has a proper ventilation system or even uses one. a door proped open isnt proper ventilation. If you dont like the way our government is "controling our lives" then go live in China, and see how great there lives are. If you dont want to be affected by the ban, then quit smoking or stay home

Actually,Deb, thank-you for jumping from smoking to drinking...I wouldn't
blink a eye if some of Fremont's crummy bars were close. And you are right in that each year approximately 48,000 people are killed due to drinking and driving...many of those killed are innocent people to are killed by drunk drivers...most of whom for some reason can't have fun or enjoy life until the flat out drunk.

And surprisingly, Deb, I do very much agree with you about too much government control....smoking and drinking are two things that obviously most people (once addicted)just can't
shake nor they realize the deadly affect of both.

Plus this is not to mentioned the affect on those that really are totally
innocent....and those are the children who have to live with smokers and drunks!

Life goes on...thanks for listening.

I think some smokers miss the point that even though there may be establishments who are non-smoking, there are some smoking establishments where we love you go because they have wonderful food BUT we hate smelling all the smoke while we are there!
So, YOU have been limiting our freedom of choice to which businesses we can support because we can't or don't like being around smoke.

I know plenty of smokers who go to Whiskey Creek, Godfathers, or Applebees and yet they can't smoke there. It is possible for smokers to go out and survive without a smoke. People even work 8+ hours a day without smoking on the job!
Now, we will have the freedom of choice to go anywhere we want without worrying about the smoke.

I used to be a smoker. I no longer am. It doesn't really bother me to be around it but I do support the ban. As it has been stated, why should non-smokers who wish to go out and be in a non-smoking environment have to be limited on where they can go? I understand the flip side also that a smoker should be able to go wherever they want and enjoy themselves. But they choose to smoke, or more acurately chose to start. That was their decision and that decision should not have to affect the non-smokers abilty to enjoy themselves while going out.
Seatbelts were brought up. There is no denying that seatbelts save lives. Some people don't understand that. Our govnt works on the basis of "for the good of the people." Yes I know, it doesn't always go that way. Could even say rarely goes that way if you want. But the seatbelt law is one of those for the better laws. I have seen first hand what not wearing a seatbelt does in a high speed collision. Its not pretty. I have seen what wearing a seatbelt does. It usually ends on a much happier note.
Alcohol and DUI were also mentioned as a comparison. Yes drunk drivers kill people. Ive witnessed the affects of that too. But there is also a law against it. Not that everyone abides by that law and not that everyone gets caught every time. But there is a law against it. Correct me if i'm wrong but I also believe that a bar tender is suposed to deny an intoxicated person service.
So on that note, remember what A. Lincoln once said... You can please all of them some of the time and some of them all of the time but you can't please all of them all of the time.

Deb- your argument is to compare smoking with drinking and driving. Do you forget that drinking and driving is already illegal? This law is much like the laws we already have on drinking. Drinking is legal and you have the right to drink whenever you want, but where you can drink is limited, just like this law deals with smoking. You can still smoke whenever you like, just not in public places. You can drink whenever you want just not in public unless they have a license to sell alcohol. You can not walk down a city street drinking a beer and starting Monday you can not walk into a restaurant smoking a cigarette. It is pretty much the same principle.

Thanks for making the smoking ban make sense.

Seriously? Why does this topic always end up being about either smokers rights, non-smokers complaining about the smoke, and the health factors...etc? While all of them are valid points, the REAL argument comes down to intervention. The government intervening in the affairs of business'. If a business can serve a substance such as alcohol that is for the most part unhealthy then why aren't these same business' able to decide for themselves whether or not they would like smoking in THEIR establishment? It should be up to the owners...NOT the government. Just like it should be up to ME as to whether or not I want to wear MY seat belt or not.

I personally would love to thank my government for telling me what risks I can and cannot take in my life....pfft what a joke..

To the Stig
Yes, Yes, & Yes!! I am against government intervention on the daily lives of Americans and it scares me. When does it stop? Smoking, cooking oil, obesity, pro-choice and much much more. I beleive that with common sense and common coutesy we can resolve these problems without Big Brother telling us what to do.

Everyone is talking about rights. If I recall the constitution gives you the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness as long as it doesn't infringe on someone else's right to the same. In my opinion your right to smoke infringes on my right to breath clean air. Thanks!

Isn't it communism when the government thinks they know whats better for us than we do?

Erin:

You silly troublemaker, there is no such thing as "clean air"in an urban environment. Stand behind a diesel bus sometime.














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OK! Where to start? As for "whatever's" comparison to the seat belt law and the drinking and driving law. The government can make these laws because guess what........? THE ROADS AND HIGHWAYS ARE GOVERNMENT PROPERTY!!! BUT, local business's are NOT!! So the government should have NO right "dictating"(keep this word in mind later) what goes on in those business's.

Now as for a non smokers right to breath clean air. Does this "right to breath clean air" stop you from driving your carbon monoxide spewing car? Maybe we should have a city ban on that? Yes the exhaust(or 'smoke' if you will) is gross and gives me a headache, and does MUCH more damage to the environment then and lousy Marlboro! So lets ban driving and everybody can walk to where they want to go! How does that sound to you? Or do you suddenly not care about your "right to breath clean air" as much as you say?

You know who FIRST issued a smoking ban to thier people? The NAZI government! They said it was bad for you, and so it made you a "Bad Aryan"! So thier Dictator-Hitler dictated(there's that word again!)what personel choices they could and could not make, because he believed he "needed to make it for the ignorant morons"! Much like someone stated before!

But thats just my Opinion!!

By the way I AM a non smoker! Funny thing is, I just believe in rights!!!

Business owners should have the right to decide for themselves if people can smoke in THIER establishment. And don't give me this garbage about "that effects my right to go thier if I don't like the smoking"! Cause your wrong, you STILL have the right to go in or not. You'll just have to deal with the smoke, and guess what...? TOO BAD, CAUSE IT'S NOT YOUR BUSINESS EITHER! I don't like listening to spoiled children cry at a restaurant either. So sometimes I decide to go, and sometimes I don't. But I do realize that that spoiled kid and his or her parents have just as much right to be there as I do!


The rest of you non smokers are just a bunch of whiners, that won't stop crying till you get your way!