smoking in a pool hall?

I thought the smoking thing was settled and they are going to ban the fat people next.

bill
 
Even if a ban actually chased away some smokers, it attracts new customers. There are three times as many non smokers as there are smokers so it makes good business sense to appeal to the majority.

If a smoking ban applies everywhere and is enforced uniformly, the smokers will adapt.


Good point, however please not that non-smokers drink less and eat healthier so they spend much less than the other 1/3rd.

My favorite sign in a Bar window read - Smokers, Were Are You ?
 
Yes it stinks and yes its wrong to smoke but you could say that about excessive drinking and use of drugs.

Aren't you forgetting the fundamental difference between these habits? Forget about the total morons who abuse drinking, drive drunk, etc. Responsible drinking doesn't need to have *any* effect on those around you. Though I don't advocate drug use, the same could be said about drugs. And funny, the weed smokers don't mind taking a little walk outside ;-)

KMRUNOUT
 
What I don't understand is why non-smokers want to limit freedom and personal responsibility so much. Get off your high horses and telling smokers how to live. If you don't like it, open a non-smoking pool hall and go hang out there!!!

You don't have to ban everything just because YOU don't like it. I personally enjoy the smell of tobacco so :kma:

Quit whining.

I have no problem with this, as long as the cost of the health problems generated by your habit are passed on *only* to smokers. If the smokers' health insurance premiums were through the roof while mine are left alone, then your argument holds water. Do you think this is the case? Also, all employees would have to sign a waver with their insurance company if they elect to go to work in a smoking establishment, so that they too can foot the bill of the health problems. You OK with that? If so, then we may be in agreement.

KMRUNOUT
 
do half of you non smokers understand how much tax revenue us smokers produce? its easily one of the highest tax producing items out there, get rid of smoking all together and cost of living will shoot up for everybody.

if you think your yearly taxes are decent or high now just wait to see what all you non smokers are creating for yourselves, then you will bytch and moan about that too.


as a side note, i have never had a issue with non smoking in restaurants but bars are bars and you are already there to deteriorate your heath in one way or another and not just saying this as a smoker.
 
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do half of you non smokers understand how much tax revenue us smokers produce? its easily one of the highest tax producing items out there, get rid of smoking all together and cost of living will shoot up for everybody.

if you think your yearly taxes are decent or high now just wait to see what all you non smokers are creating for yourselves, then you will bytch and moan about that too.


as a side note, i have never had a issue with non smoking in restaurants but bars are bars and you are already there to deteriorate your heath in one way or another and not just saying this as a smoker.

All the taxes on smoking couldn't possibly cover the cancer costs in this country. Maybe instead of smoking and complaining you should take a walk through a cancer ward and see if you still want to smoke. I smoked for years but when i realized what it was doing to me and costing me. I said to myself what are you an ahole? So i quit. Now i have more cash and don't have that feeling you get in your throat after years of smoking. Plus i don't have to run to the store late at night because i ran out of smokes. Smoking sucks.
 
as a side note, i have never had a issue with non smoking in restaurants but bars are bars and you are already there to deteriorate your heath in one way or another and not just saying this as a smoker.

Um...this view of bars is what a non-smoker might expect from a smoker. I do not go to a bar in any way whatsoever to deteriorate my health. Aside from some extra calories, a few beers poses no health risk to me at all, and zero risk to the people around me. A couple of glasses of wine (which I wouldn't get at a bar admittedly, only at a restaurant with dinner) has actually been shown to *promote* good health. Are you sure you're not just used to going to smoking bars, and you realize that this deteriorates your health? Maybe you drink too much, and just have built the association in *your* head that bars are places where you go to deteriorate your health?

Just sounded like an odd thing to say, unless you are an alcoholic or a smoker...

KMRUNOUT
 
It was like everyone in there was chain-smoking!

any thoughts?

Here's a thought . . .

if 'everyone' in there was smoking , then the majority of current patrons prefer to smoke . If the owner of the establishment is happy with the revenue stream from his current patrons , WHY would he THINK of inconveniencing THEM for the benefit of the minority . . . . .

Several years ago , Florida enacted a smoking ban in 'restaraunts' . Smoking was allowed in 'bars' . Awful lotta places closed their kitchens , and put menus from local 'take-out' & delivery places on their bars . . . .:cool:
 
debate

Boy, what a debate!! BUMP for more good reading! lol I started this not to argue, but to make owners aware that there are MANY non-smokers who'd like to play pool in PEACE without smelling like a dumpster afterwards. I could go WITH my kids to a nonsmoking pool hall, but can't stand to go now without them! There has to be a solution here...What's wrong with going outside for a quick smoke and letting everyone else breathe? Gamblers would maybe get more 'games' like this!!
 
Maybe instead of smoking and complaining you should take a walk through a cancer ward and see if you still want to smoke. I smoked for years but when i realized what it was doing to me and costing me. I said to myself what are you an ahole? So i quit. Now i have more cash and don't have that feeling you get in your throat after years of smoking. Plus i don't have to run to the store late at night because i ran out of smokes. Smoking sucks.

id be fine walking through a cancer ward, im 29 been smoking since i was 13, i smoke a pack and a half a day and i am a very healthy person, i would guarantee iam healthier then 90% of this board or every other person i see walking down the street, i run 3 miles a day...road bike 100+ miles a week in the summer, eat right and the list goes on. my point is that your lifestyle makes or breaks your health.... being a lazy person that eats trash foods your body will deteriorate much faster then a smoker who stays semi active.
 
id be fine walking through a cancer ward, im 29 been smoking since i was 13, i smoke a pack and a half a day and i am a very healthy person, i would guarantee iam healthier then 90% of this board or every other person i see walking down the street, i run 3 miles a day...road bike 100+ miles a week in the summer, eat right and the list goes on. my point is that your lifestyle makes or breaks your health.... being a lazy person that eats trash foods your body will deteriorate much faster then a smoker who stays semi active.

Keep telling yourself this. Your clock is ticking. (Of course, it's ticking for all of us, but smoking is a guaruntee, unless you get hit by a bus first.)

You're right, the fatty foods, lack of exercise, etc are bad things for many of us, too. And they are deteriorating our health for sure. But you aren't gonna get sick with me eating a Big Mac nearby, nor are you gonna go home smelling bad (unless I dump my Big Mac on you while I'm eating it, I suppose :p )

Not wishing it on you, my friend. But sadly it is inevitable. Those things ARE gonna kill ya.
 
Maine facts

The smoking ban in Maine has been in effect for 7 or 8 years, and there are more places to go out to now than ever before. There are probably three times as many restaurants in our city now than in the years before the ban, and it ain't because we have a booming economy here. They're always packed on the weekends, and busy much of the time. The bars are usually busy as well. The places to play pool, it varies, but there are as many places to play now as there was then.

Don't buy into the "40-50% drop-off in business" arguments. Maybe there is a small drop-off in the weeks immediately following a ban going into effect, but people are social creatures. Bars won't ever become less popular as long as there is still booze, and people to drink it.

Dub, Dub, Dub. Smoking ban in Maine went into effect in the late 1990's...smoking ban in bars and pool rooms went into effect in 2004, pre-ban there were 27 pool rooms (having 9 foot tables), currently there are 15 rooms. They have not rebounded. Get the facts straight.

You lurk sometimes in the room owners forum but you say that those owners and former owners (who definately should know about their business) don't know what they are talking about??? Let me repeat this for you from the room owners' mouths. Smoking bans have caused an approximate 40% drop in business. Non-smokers do not replace the lost revenue. Smokers don't play as long (meaning less revenue) because they want to be comfortable of which they clearly are not. Not comfortable, stay at home and play, less time at room, finally find something else to do with comfort.

Bars...oh yes it has affected bars the same way for the same reasons.

Just wanted to set the record straight.

I still can't figure out why, if non-smoking rooms and bars are such a good thing, people didn't open them up, pre-smoking law. I would guess that it wasn't a good business plan.

Flame suit on, retardant applied, LOL
 
Dub, Dub, Dub. Smoking ban in Maine went into effect in the late 1990's...smoking ban in bars and pool rooms went into effect in 2004, pre-ban there were 27 pool rooms (having 9 foot tables), currently there are 15 rooms. They have not rebounded. Get the facts straight.

You lurk sometimes in the room owners forum but you say that those owners and former owners (who definately should know about their business) don't know what they are talking about??? Let me repeat this for you from the room owners' mouths. Smoking bans have caused an approximate 40% drop in business. Non-smokers do not replace the lost revenue. Smokers don't play as long (meaning less revenue) because they want to be comfortable of which they clearly are not. Not comfortable, stay at home and play, less time at room, finally find something else to do with comfort.

Bars...oh yes it has affected bars the same way for the same reasons.

Just wanted to set the record straight.

I still can't figure out why, if non-smoking rooms and bars are such a good thing, people didn't open them up, pre-smoking law. I would guess that it wasn't a good business plan.

Flame suit on, retardant applied, LOL

No argument with you Jay, for the most part. I don't know the numbers all over the state, so I have no basis with which to argue the points you make.

The number of places to play pool in Bangor, where i live, is virtually the same. I say this because there is one room that opens and closes regularly in the last few years, due to the extreme rent they are being charged. (I think this time will be the last time, as apparently they've sold some of the tables already.) Other than that room, pretty much status quo here.

As for the rest of the state, I can't speak to that.

P.S. I don't lurk in the room owners forum. I think I've been in it once since I came to AZB. Not shy about saying what I think, or to agree to disagree, or to apologize if need be. You must have me mistaken with someone else on that point.
 
Even if a ban actually chased away some smokers, it attracts new customers. There are three times as many non smokers as there are smokers so it makes good business sense to appeal to the majority.

Then why weren't there non smoking rooms/bars without the state using the power of a bayonet to the people's back?

What makes you think smoker's should be forced to adapt to your preference?

LWW <--- Non smoking advocate for liberty.
 
I hate when the smoke that YOU (and every smoker) generate makes me smell like an ash tray. And can cause me health issues. Because of something YOU are doing. Not because of something I am doing myself.

YOU driving on the roads puts me at risk of being hit by YOU because of something YOU are doing.

I hereby demand that YOU be banned from the roads for my safety.

LWW
 
LWW <--- Non smoking advocate for liberty.

Explain the "liberty" part about harming other people? Or even just making them smell? I'm all for "personal" liberty, smokers (or anyone else) can do whatever they'd like, so long as it doesn't affect me adversely.

(I know how this is gonna go, I just guess I have to play my part, so the response can be stated.... "don't go if you're afraid for your health." Wait for it.... it'll be right along, any minute now...:p )
 
I have no problem with this, as long as the cost of the health problems generated by your habit are passed on *only* to smokers. If the smokers' health insurance premiums were through the roof while mine are left alone, then your argument holds water. Do you think this is the case?

Yes.

LWW
 
YOU driving on the roads puts me at risk of being hit by YOU because of something YOU are doing.

I hereby demand that YOU be banned from the roads for my safety.

LWW

Uh...... yeah. Gotcha. That's brilliant.

You're much more likely to be hit by someone smoking than by me.

Ok, as I know how this will play out, I'll drop back out of this and let this continue without me. Now that the NPR crowd is here, I'm not needed in the conversation, as it'll be one-sided from here on out.

G'nite gang.
 
Explain the "liberty" part about harming other people? Or even just making them smell? I'm all for "personal" liberty, smokers (or anyone else) can do whatever they'd like, so long as it doesn't affect me adversely.

(I know how this is gonna go, I just guess I have to play my part, so the response can be stated.... "don't go if you're afraid for your health." Wait for it.... it'll be right along, any minute now...:p )

1 - Liberty means having the free will to do what you wish. Has anyone evr forced you to enter a room where smoking was allowed?

2 - You are for liberty, by your own words, so long as it is your liberty. You confess that you feel other should sacrifice their liberty so you can enjoy yours. On what basis do you feel that this is just?

3 - And yes, don't go if you feel it risks your health. I don't play hard ball at 54 any longer because it risks my health. Should I be able to demand that leagues ... almost completely men under 35 ... change to suit me? Everything has risk and reward. If you don't like the risk then you can't reap the reward.

LWW
 
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