you can't smoke in a poolroom???

[zeeder]

As I sit at my computer chain smoking Pal Mal non filters blowing the smoke into the eyes and lungs of infants and the elderly I find my self wondering if how the smoker became demonized?? It’s a cigaret folks not like were lighting up a crack pipe and passing it along. You seem to vilify a choice that a very large group of people make, your poll numbers said that 47% were against the ban right? I guess they are all simple neanderthals that need guidance from big brother is that it??

Actually, I'd prefer if you used nasal, dermal, intravenous, liquid or pill delivery systems for your drugs that way I don't have to partake unless I choose to. If you smoke something I have to be exposed to your fumes thus not giving me a choice to partake or not.

 

[Rich R.]

If you want to live in a country where the government does your thinking for you fine, move. Communist North Korea, China, or Cuba would love to have you im sure.

To the best of my knowledge, smoking is permitted in most, if not all, of the countries you mentioned. You also have the choice to move.

No I won’t quit playing pool because of this (I am not a slave to my addiction) I just might loose a few of those extra pounds because I get more exercise walking out side every 15min. LOL I just think that a lot of you are missing the big picture here. And as far as me being selfish how can you possibly blame me and all the other smokers for you CHOICE to walk into a smoke filled room??

The "big picture" is that for many years, the majority of people were smokers and smoking was permitted inside, therefore, it was the non-smokers' choice to go into a smokey pool room, or not.
Now, the majority of people are non-smokers and smoking bans are being passed, so it is now the smokers' choice to go into a smoke free pool room and smoke outside.
It is not only the non-smokers who have choices, smokers have choices too. No one is forcing you to quit smoking. They are only controling where you can smoke, without affecting others.

 

[Pete]

Retarded huh?? Whats retarded is that people like you think you have the right to tell me what I can and can not do. There is much more to this than a simple smoking ban. When the government can tell you, me, and everyone else how to live there lives it is not a good thing. What this is, is an attempted end to vice any thing that is deemed unhealthy is bad there fore must be banned. So whats next I can’t eat a steak in public, or all the nightclubs in the country have to turn there music down because someone went deaf????

It comes down to choice, you knew what went on in a poolroom when you started playing and so did everyone else you made the choice to go inside and play. Fully knowing what you were getting into, why should we have to change because it is now in vogue to persecute smokers???

No sir, I don't want yopu to not smoke or to quit at all. Please enjoy your smoking as much as you want to.

What I meant is that pool rooms aren't smoky for the sake of being smoky. They are (or were) smoky becuase it was allowed for so long.

As for my view on smoking. I think you and all smokers should be allowed to smoke. But I shouldn't be forced to smoke at work or in public period. And when some nice fellow such as your self is in a room smoking and I have to breath your smoke that's not fair or right to me. You are then the one forcing some one to do some thing they don't want to do.

But please smoke yourself all the way home. I hope you the very best in life and health (truly), and your game.

Pete

 

[BHQ]

now you did it joe !!!!!!!!!

you really stirred up a hornets nest buddy

 

[Klopek]

Slave to my addiction?? Your joking right??.

No joke. Can you get through a night of pool playing without having a single cigarette?. That's a slave to an addiction. Do people make posts like this on internet forums if they aren't a slave to their addiction.

If you want to live in a country where the government does your thinking for you fine, move. Communist North Korea, China, or Cuba would love to have you im sure.

I prefer to live in a country where the government listens to the majority of voters. The majority of voters in my country, and in yours, don't smoke cigarettes. Our respective government representatives voted "yes" on the smoking ban bill on behalf of we, the majority. Now why would I want to leave when it's just getting good?.

As for another post you made about a ban on steak eating. Not likely to happen, pretty sure you can eat all the steak you want right next to me and I won't get high cholesterol from it.

No I won’t quit playing pool because of this (I am not a slave to my addiction) I just might loose a few of those extra pounds because I get more exercise walking out side every 15min.

Whah?. I meant quit smoking, not quit playing pool.

LOL I just think that a lot of you are missing the big picture here.

The big picture?. Smokers the few, non-smokers the many.

The even bigger picture?. Forget the government. Smokers want to force feed everyone into ingesting the filth that is their disease. Who are the real militants?. Not the government. JMHO of course.

And as far as me being selfish how can you possibly blame me and all the other smokers for you CHOICE to walk into a smoke filled room??

Well, up until recently, I had NO CHOICE but to go into a smoke filled room. There were no smoke free poolhalls anywhere to be found. So I'm expected to avoid all poolhalls because you can't truck you nicotine stained a$$ out the door to slowly kill yourself?. Now that there is the utter definition of selfish.

Keep on puffing away, one day you'll be forced to quit by your family doctor. You can tell your doctor to quit trying to run your life and to go over to China with all the other communist doctors.

 

[MOJOE]

Change is good!! Keep you smoke to yourself, please!

It comes down to choice, you knew what went on in a poolroom when you started playing and so did everyone else you made the choice to go inside and play. Fully knowing what you were getting into, why should we have to change because it is now in vogue to persecute smokers???

I have never been a smoker and have lived in Ohio all of my life. For the past few years I have mostly avoided the Pool Halls and Bars because I just cannot stand to inhale the poison any longer. It seriously affects or is it effects??? my health. My chest hurts if I am exposed for long periods of time as well as my eyes and throat. I also hate walking out of these establishments smelling like an ash tray.

I am thrilled with the latest public ban on smoking. Having many friends and co-workers that smoke I hope that they get the picture one day and just quit. I am all for your rights to smoke, I just believe that when it causes others harm in a public place, you have no right to smoke in those places. Simple as that. Don't care if the smokers like it or not.

As far as smokeless tobacco, I could care less. I am not breathing it in and it does not hurt me in any way. Sure I feel that it is disgusting but that is just my opinion. The smokeless addicts are only hurting their own bodies, not everyone around them.

I don't care if pool halls have always been dark and smoke filled, change is inevitable. In this case, change is good. A better light on the pool world cannot be a totally bad thing, our sport needs all of the help that it can get.

That's my take on Issue 4 & 5 in Ohio.... But what do I know??

JBK

 

[Ryan A.]

Retarded huh?? Whats retarded is that people like you think you have the right to tell me what I can and can not do. There is much more to this than a simple smoking ban. When the government can tell you, me, and everyone else how to live there lives it is not a good thing. What this is, is an attempted end to vice any thing that is deemed unhealthy is bad there fore must be banned. So whats next I can’t eat a steak in public, or all the nightclubs in the country have to turn there music down because someone went deaf????

It comes down to choice, you knew what went on in a poolroom when you started playing and so did everyone else you made the choice to go inside and play. Fully knowing what you were getting into, why should we have to change because it is now in vogue to persecute smokers???

Actually we live in a democracy. The government didn't tell you that you couldn't smoke in public, they inforced what the majority voted on. If you don't like the laws, vote. I did and im glad that smoking is going away. It won't be long every state will join in.

 

[Jimmy M.]

You seem to vilify a choice that a very large group of people make

What did I say in my post that suggested that?

P.S. Use a spell-checker.

 

[Jimmy M.]

Actually we live in a democracy. The government didn't tell you that you couldn't smoke in public, they inforced what the majority voted on.

You make a great point that continues to get overlooked by the "big brother" conspiracy theorists. The government isn't banning smoking in public places. The PEOPLE are.

 

[Klopek]

For those who actually think about such matters, here's some food for thought:

http://www.abcnews.go.com/2020/Stossel/story?id=1955237&page=1
http://www.junkscience.com/feb01/perske.htm
http://www.davehitt.com/2004/name_three.html
http://www.gasdetection.com/news2/health_news_digest6.html

As DaPoet said, smoking bans have very little to do with actual health concerns.

-djb

Let's put the lung disease issues aside for a moment and discuss the eyes. There have been times after a few hours at the poolhall that I literally couldn't sleep afterwards because my eyes burned so badly from cigarette smoke. That's a temporary ailment, but why should I have to suffer this stinging pain because someone has a habit that was their choice?.

It's my choice to crank my home stereo at 3am when you're trying to get some sleep. Am I entitled to do that because it's my constitutional right to do whatever I like in my own home?.

That's my $0.02.

 

[ScottW]

You make a great point that continues to get overlooked by the "big brother" conspiracy theorists. The government isn't banning smoking in public places. The PEOPLE are.

Well, kinda sorta.

State legislatures put forth bills, vote them into law, all the time on their own. Not EVERY law is voted on via a ballot by the Great Unwashed (i.e. you and me).

In fact, in Colorado, I think this was the case - I don't think the statewide smoking ban was ever put up as a referendum. I could be wrong. I know there was a movement to get the law tossed out, or at least its enforcement delayed, but I don't recall hearing anything before that on trying to get Joe Sixpack to vote against the measure in the first place.

But in the end - even in those cases - it's still The People doing this, as The People are the people (har) who are electing the legislators who are proposing bills, voting them into law, etc. Sure, it's a step removed, but in the end, its still The People having a choice. If they don't like the choices that their elected officials make, they can choose to send'em packing - either voting them out at the next election, or banding together and calling for a recall.

And as far as having "no choice" but to play in a smoky pool room as that's all that there are - that's not exactly true. You DO have a choice. You can choose to go play in the smoky room, or to NOT go play in a smoky room. The second choice may well entail not playing AT ALL as there's nowhere BUT smoky rooms to play. Yes, a crappy choice - but it's still a choice.

 

[THE FLASH]

Smoking

I know pool and drinking and smoking go hand in hand. I however, have never smoked and it's the most negative thing I can think of in going to a pool hall. After I leave, I have a headache and am almost sick. I think it's time for a change. I also live in NC. Tobacco road.

 

[Klopek]

And as far as having "no choice" but to play in a smoky pool room as that's all that there are - that's not exactly true. You DO have a choice. You can choose to go play in the smoky room, or to NOT go play in a smoky room. The second choice may well entail not playing AT ALL as there's nowhere BUT smoky rooms to play. Yes, a crappy choice - but it's still a choice.

I call malarky on you. I live in a small apartment and can't fit a pool table inside. Up until recently, every poolhall in my province allowed smoking, so in order to avoid the terrible smoke, I'd have to give up playing pool completely. That's not a choice, that's a punishment. That's also an enormous sacrifice to ask of me just so some smokers can be lazy. It's a lot easier for a smoker to carry a cigarette up the stairs to the fresh air than it is for me to carry a pool table outside.

Let's talk about "choices" since everyone keeps throwwing that word out there. Smokers choose to smoke cigarettes. Smokers made a bad choice, now suffer the consequences.

 

[ilovepool]

Here's all I have to say....all of the smokers think that the govt is doing our thinking for us???? Did the smokers ever think how much of a pain them smoking was for the non-smokers? I don't think the govt is thinking for us, after all we did have to vote on the issue and it pass by almost a MILLION votes. Therefore I think the people have spoken!!!

 

[DoomCue]

Let's put the lung disease issues aside for a moment and discuss the eyes. There have been times after a few hours at the poolhall that I literally couldn't sleep afterwards because my eyes burned so badly from cigarette smoke. That's a temporary ailment, but why should I have to suffer this stinging pain because someone has a habit that was their choice?.

It's my choice to crank my home stereo at 3am when you're trying to get some sleep. Am I entitled to do that because it's my constitutional right to do whatever I like in my own home?.

That's my $0.02.

Why put aside the "lung disease issues?" Those "issues" are the whole basis for most smoking bans, so how can you simply discard it?

I sympathize with your eye problems, and I have been through the same thing, especially after I just had LASIK done. However, I don't think anybody is crusading against smoking using the platform that it hurts your eyes when you go to a poolroom (even though we both know that it can).

It is your choice to crank your stereo whenever you'd like, however, if there are noise ordinances, be prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions.

The fundamental issue to me is that smoking bans are based upon the fallacy of myth and junk science. If people believe smoking should be banned because they believe it to be a nasty, stinky habit, then they should say that want smoking banned for that reason. However, most people say they want smoking banned because of its effect on the health of non-smokers, an effect which has yet to be proven.

I don't really care one way or the other about a smoking ban, but I do hate the perpetuation of myth due to ignorance of the facts (don't take that as me calling you ignorant, I wouldn't do that).

-djb

 

[nyjoe14.1]

What did I say in my post that suggested that?

P.S. Use a spell-checker.

First of all I due use spell checker, and everything on my posts goes through it maybe you should check yours

Second you didn’t say anything it was more the tone of your post and most others on this thread. It’s very disappointing that more smokers haven’t come to the defense here. I know that maybe 1 out of 10 of the people that play in the room where I go is a non smoker. And the vote didn’t get passed by millions, only 52% or so voted to pass it. That means there are quite a few people who were against it.

 

[ScottW]

I know that maybe 1 out of 10 of the people that play in the room where I go is a non smoker.

Likely because all the non-smokers *go somewhere where they don't have to deal with the smoke*.

Your statement above is akin to that old bit about the guy standing around, blowing loudly on a trumpet or somesuch. Someone asks him "Why are you blowing on that trumpet?" "To keep the elephants away." "There aren't any elephants around here!" "See? It's *working!*"

 

[ScottW]

I call malarky on you. I live in a small apartment and can't fit a pool table inside. Up until recently, every poolhall in my province allowed smoking, so in order to avoid the terrible smoke, I'd have to give up playing pool completely. That's not a choice, that's a punishment. That's also an enormous sacrifice to ask of me just so some smokers can be lazy. It's a lot easier for a smoker to carry a cigarette up the stairs to the fresh air than it is for me to carry a pool table outside.

Hence my statement - you CHOOSE to play pool where you do. No one's twisting your arm. It may be a CRAPPY choice but it's still a choice. To call it otherwise smacks of entitlement.

 

[Klopek]

It is your choice to crank your stereo whenever you'd like, however, if there are noise ordinances, be prepared to deal with the consequences of your actions.

Smokers chose to smoke cigarettes, so smokers should be prepared to deal with the consequences of their choices.

The fundamental issue to me is that smoking bans are based upon the fallacy of myth and junk science. If people believe smoking should be banned because they believe it to be a nasty, stinky habit, then they should say that want smoking banned for that reason. However, most people say they want smoking banned because of its effect on the health of non-smokers, an effect which has yet to be proven.

The fundamental issue is that smoking causes suffering one way or another for non-smokers. Okay, let's say there was a theory that bottled formula might cause your new born baby to develop cancer. Would you continue to feed it to your child, even if there was only a 1% chance it was true?. Myth or no myth, the general public, non-smokers fear for their health. Fear is a strong motivational force, whether founded in reality or not.

And who is really behind these studies that claim second hand smoke has no health repercussions?. Maybe non-smoking lobbyists are skewing results in their favor, but you can bet your little red wagon that the cigarette corporations are doing plenty of their own skewing.

My point is, yes second hand smoke may not be proven to cause diseases like lung cancer and Emphysema, but it can cause serious health problems for people who already suffer from such ailments. Such people have just as much right to go anywhere that smokers wish to go and live in peace. My Grandfather had Emphysema and people smoking around him was like murder on him.

I don't really care one way or the other about a smoking ban, but I do hate the perpetuation of myth due to ignorance of the facts (don't take that as me calling you ignorant, I wouldn't do that).

At the end of the day, most smokers wil even agree that public places are more enjoyable when they're smoke free. Whether or not second hand smoke has health implications is not the most important fact. Quality of life goes way up when smoke exposure goes way down.

 

[Klopek]

Hence my statement - you CHOOSE to play pool where you do. No one's twisting your arm. It may be a CRAPPY choice but it's still a choice. To call it otherwise smacks of entitlement.

Entitlement?.

What entitles a smoker the right to pollute the air in a poolhall?.

No one is twisting your arm telling you to smoke.

I am entitled to a certain quality of life, and smokers lower it.

I'm through with this pointless debate.