Poll: smoking and pool

[cigardave]

Heck, even I agree with this. A shop only in business to sell tobacco products should be able to smoke themselves silly. In Illinois, it is about the only place you can smoke in legally, is a tobacco shop. Got no problem with that.... a non smoker would never, ever need to go in there unless they were buying a "present" for their wife or something...

I agree as well.

However, here in WA state, the drafters of the "No Smoking" law now in effect wrote, and promoted, the bill from an "employee rights" standpoint.

In other words, regardless of the target clientele of a business, the employees of that company/business have a right to smoke-free air.

As such, there are no businesses or companies (or fraternal organizations like the VFW, the Elks, the Moose, etc.) that are exempt. If there are employees, the law applies.

Before the ban, cigar bars were fairly common here... not any more.

 

[justadub]

I agree as well.

However, here in WA state, the drafters of the "No Smoking" law now in effect wrote, and promoted, the bill from an "employee rights" standpoint.

In other words, regardless of the target clientele of a business, the employees of that company/business have a right to smoke-free air.

As such, there are no businesses or companies (or fraternal organizations like the VFW, the Elks, the Moose, etc.) that are exempt. If there are employees, the law applies.

Before the ban, cigar bars were fairly common here... not any more.

Very interesting. Here in Maine, the smoking ban specifically did NOT apply to the Fraternal clubs, etc. I didn't join the club I belong to until the membership voted to ban smoking. I couldn't go there, it was worse than any bar I'd ever been to, with low ceilings and poor ventilation. It was rough! I think the employees finally got enough people to understand their situation, and the club finally, on the third try, went along with the rest of the state. They also have what has to be the best outdoor smokers area I've seen, with a several patio chairs and tables, and a heated enclosure, also with chairs, to protect them from the elements. The whole area is fenced in, so folks are allowed to take their drinks out there with them. I often go out there with my friends to chat while their having their smoke, as I can be upwind and enjoy the "patio". This is called making the best of the situation, folks...

And I'm quite sure the local Cigar store has a smoking room, as well as the discount cigarrette store nearby.

Maine's law has been in place for almost 10 years. How long has it been that way in Washington?

 

[drenkel]

They are about to pass a no smoking law for bars here in Texas. Pool halls, Bingo Halls & Tobacco Shops are exempt though.

I agree clean air is a must, which is why I'm putting a lot of smoke eaters into my room. But the fact is, if you compare the numbers, there are more smokers than non-smokers that frequent the pool hall / bar scene. Just a fact of life.

As a soon to be room owner, I truly believe I would lose business if I made customers go outside to smoke.

 

[enzo]

the one thing i will say, i think there has been a great response from smokers, here in this thread and in real life, to generally try to smoke "away" from non-smokers. and i know we all appreciate that. one problem is though, i dont think the smokers even realize the extent of the problem......

i was in an apartment for one month, no smoking in the rooms, yet smoking was allowed in the halls. our neighbor would smoke in the hall, and the smoke would somehow waft under my door and into my room like you could not believe. i mean the stuff just permeates into every little dam hole.... really.

that, and that fact that there is a serious increase in fire risk with smoking inside (combined with the fact that a smoker CAN simply go outside), make this a very simple issue in my opinion.

 

[cigardave]

Maine's law has been in place for almost 10 years. How long has it been that way in Washington?

Going on 6 years... it became effective Dec. 8, 2005.

 

[risky biz]

Originally Posted by risky biz
The reason you're seeing laws like this is that the non-smoking majority have to pay to treat the smoking related diseases caused by these disease peddlers. That probably wouldn't be the situation if smokers were required to pay an extra Medicare premium to cover the cost of care for the percentage of them who become physical wrecks due to smoking. Are you in favor of that?

If you really are silly enough to believe that, then start advocating the same thing for overweight people and anyone that eats fried foods, ect. Otherwise, your argument holds no merit whatsoever.

This may be a newsflash for you but life insurers require a higher premium for overweight people just like they do for smokers. You may think that's a conspiracy but most people realize it's science.

Medicare premiums should be higher for overweight people but then, of course, there'd have to be staff to determine that and you'd be complaining that government is too big and intrusive.

 

[walrus_3d]

you'd be complaining that government is too big and intrusive.

government IS too big and intrusive.

 

[risky biz]

government IS too big and intrusive.

You could make a small start to oppose that by telling the government you're going to purchase private health insurance rather than pay Medicare premiums as long as you don't mind paying three times more for lesser coverage.

 

[cigardave]

Well... I'm out here in my garage... it's raining to beat the band... I've got the garage door open... I've already hit a few racks of balls... and I just lit up an H. Upmann No. 2. YUM-OH.

Life is good. I'm on a 3-month leave of absence from work... my choice... call it a trial pre-retirement vacation.

Cheers everybody. :thumbup:

 

[genomachino]

I quit smoking in 1986. I was the most selfish, selfcentered smoker you had ever seen.

Now that my healthy lungs are all screwed up from owning a bar/poolhall for 13 years after that I get sick from being in one for a day for about 5 days.

I teach pool but I will not go to a state that allows smoking in any public place. In some state you can still smoke in the restuarants for crying out loud.

That eliminates alot of tournaments but then again I might just live a little longer and be able to play a little longer.

Some day it will be smokeless all over and 20 years from now people will be saying.

Do you believe that people were allowed to smoke in public places.

Unreal...........

 

[OneArmed]

I go to pool halls less because I can't smoke indoors here in Minnesota. I still play (billiards nowadays), but don't hang out like I used to. I never go to bars any more (I quit drinking anyway). I miss being able to smoke inside, especially at entertainment venues like bars and pool halls. Restaurants I don't mind so much, but it should be up to the business and property owner. I heard of a small firm (2 man operation) in the SW metro that was fined for smoking in their office by Hennipen county, even though the office isn't open to the public, and they are both smokers. Enjoy your police state. It's not just about smoking. Maybe all residents of MN should be required to wear bike helmets when walking on sidewalks in the months of Nov - April just in case someone slips and falls.

I do smoke less now that I can't smoke and play, but I also frequent places to play less, as I can't hang out and enjoy a cig when I'm not playing.

 

[VIProfessor]

Take it outside!

I stopped smoking about 7 months ago, but for a number of years I was a smoker who owned and operated a pool hall where no smoking was allowed. It was sometimes a blip to have to go outside my OWN pool hall to get a drag, but let's be real. Our bad and injurious habits should be our own.

There is no justification, in my view, for imposing one's suicidal tendencies on others as a condition of their participating in a pastime they love. Even without the obvious health hazards, those who are not personally disgusted with having to endure second-hand smoke are often the mates of individuals who can't STAND it when they come home reeking to high heaven of cigarette smoke.

In the final analysis, if non-smokers have to endure second-hand smoke in order to patronize a pool hall, it can only be bad for business and for the sport itself.

And, for the record, these were my views even before I quit, so this is not a case of a converted Catholic being the most devout.

 

[chefjeff]

“A long time ago I used to stand there and peek over the lattice work into that cool-looking darkness of the City Billiards in Elizabeth, North Carolina… And it seemed as though the place had a special sort of smell to it that you could breathe. Like old green felt tables and brass spittoons and those dark polished woods. Then a bluish haze of smoke and sweet pool chalk, and strongest of all, a kind of manliness.”


-----Luther Lassiter



Jeff Livingston