Smoking Ban Moves Outdoors (CA)

LA Times ^ | March 18, 2006 | Bob Pool

[BlueStateDepression]

One place I have not seen mentioned is a jail.
Will smoking be banned in jails now also?
That was tried here and so much violence ensued that they changed the policy to allow inmates to smoke again.

My guess is that this will eventually lead to violence.

I think that this whole angle is the way that folks seek to ban cigs alltogether. Not unlike stereo equipment, they cannot make the 'thing' illegal so they will just make using the 'thing' illegal everywhere possible.

This is going to backfire bigtime.

[SoCal_Republican]

"Calabasas makes it illegal to light up in public spaces, with fines up to $500"

Lovely. In the same place the fine for possession of less than 28.5 grams of pot is $100. Priorities?

This only passes because smokers are a minority. Obviously pot smoking is a different story!

[383rr]

BINGO!

[festus]

See #26 above wherein I elaborate.

With God as my witness I am not lying.

[ßuddaßudd]

wow!

[mugs99]

Then you better be quite prepared to pick up the slack billions in tax revenue generated by smokers.
The politicians don't care. They can just raise taxes across the board to make up the difference. Prohibiting tobacco will benefit law enforcement and the prison industry. They'll need more money and tools to fight the tobacco lords.

Are you ready for that?
I oppose all drug wars including the War On Tobacco.
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[383rr]

"this is going to backfire bigtime."

"My guess is that this will eventually lead to violence"

I would have to agree. Freedom is being shut out at every oppurtunity. The sheeple don't care, baecause it isn't neccesarily affecting most of them. Oh, but it will soon. These assaults on liberty are picking up speed , with little resistance.
Bans on "junk" food in Ilinois schools; undercover cops keeping track of bartenders and patrons in bars;(also arresting folks)anti-gun legislation sneaking through in Illinois.(these are just a few examples.)Any truth is abruptly swept under the rug.

It is certainly dis-heartening.

[SheLion]

I oppose all drug wars including the War On Tobacco.

I'm totally against illegal drugs.

[Hardastarboard]

Yeah, hey, if I was rich, I'd do it too, honestly. I'd just have to keep a huge stash of weapons across the border in Nevada to get the urge to shoot out of my system once in a while. That or take a drive through Compton. :-)

[mugs99]

Obviously pot smoking is a different story!
Lovely. In the same place the fine for possession of less than 28.5 grams of pot is $100. Priorities?

That is an option the judge decides. He can also send you to prison if he chooses.
According to the California Department of Corrections, there are 18,985 in state prison for simple possession of marijuana.
It will be the same for tobacco users. The CSA allows the DEA to add any drug to the list. Senator Orin Hatch (R) of Utah wants to do just that.

Those tobacco users who support marijuana prohibition are going to find themselves in the same boat as potheads.
. .

[mugs99]

I doubt it: too many of the Nazis have a Starbucks addiction

People said the same about tobacco. Coffee is an addictive drug. You are going to see studies linking coffee to schizophrenia, depression and learning disorders in children. In California they'll even claim it causes breast cancer. They'll begin with coffee taxes, just like they did with tobacco. It will be "for the children".
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[mugs99]

I'm totally against illegal drugs

Then don't complain about your addictive drug being added to the illegal drug list.
.

[sheana]

Jose or Rosa don't have to obey any of the laws.
I am slowly losing all hope for this country....not just California.
This is not "the land of the free" anymore. Every single day someone somewhere passes new crap that stifles us.
As I have watched the riots in France (although I think they are rioting for the wrong reasons) all I can think is....that should be us! Taking our country back from the imbecile legislators.
The massive amnesty they are getting ready to pass has just made me sick.

[SheLion]

Then don't complain about your addictive drug being added to the illegal drug list.

You're just itching to pick a fight, aren't you? LOL  Your a hoot.

Well, cigarettes have been a legal commodity for years and years and years.  And smokers contribute BILLIONS to the economy every month just by paying taxes on the cigarettes.

So, if cigarettes are EVER banned, you better get ready to dig deep, because the lawmakers aren't going to give up this cushy money that easily.  Someone WILL have to pay!

CIGARETTES DON'T PAY TAXES - SMOKERS DO!

[Lazamataz]

My biggest objection to these smoking regulations is that I am subject to second-hand government intrusiveness.

And second-hand government intrusiveness has been proven to kill.

[mugs99]

This is not "the land of the free" anymore

You've got that right!
1 in 37 adults living in the United States is in prison or has served time there...the highest incarceration level in the world.
Today, the USA keeps more than two million people behind bars...compared with only 200,000 three decades ago. With 5 percent of the world's population, we account for 25 percent of its prison population.
.

[Lazamataz]

would have to agree. Freedom is being shut out at every oppurtunity. The sheeple don't care, baecause it isn't neccesarily affecting most of them. Oh, but it will soon. These assaults on liberty are picking up speed , with little resistance. Bans on "junk" food in Ilinois schools; undercover cops keeping track of bartenders and patrons in bars;(also arresting folks)anti-gun legislation sneaking through in Illinois.(these are just a few examples.)Any truth is abruptly swept under the rug. It is certainly dis-heartening.

Look for the gift.

You will be able to balance your grandson on your knee and tell him about when you, personally, saw America go from a free country to a police state.

Provided you survive the purges, that is.

[BlueStateDepression]

The amount of people in prison here isn't the problem. It is the reasons they are there. I would also offer that there are some nations the need to have more folks in prison.

Rape, out in 5, three plants in a few buckets and they take everything you own and lock you up for 25 years...and molest a child....sheesh that can see a sentence of 60 days!

More real criminals need to be in jail and when they stop making pot possesors their easy main target, maybe we will actually see criminals in prison that actually deserve to be there. Priorities need to be put in order and this is a great place to start.

[EGPWS]

Tim Pawlenty has already lost my support which was a support with fervor because of this debacle of forced financial transferring outside of the realm of a tax!

A users fee put in place created a political concern financially for the RNC in Minnesota for I sure have stifled ALL contribution and support thanks to Governor Pawlenty's shown political idiocy.

The line has been crossed has to which political party is preferred because of one stupid, idiotic, and financially motivated directive of a Governor who started out as a savior for Minnesota before placing politics ahead of state financial concerns and stooping low enough to put cigarettes on a political platform worthy of discussion.

Now he (Governor Pawlenty) is stuck with the fact of his directive being shut down by the courts. (A users fee) How stupid does the public have to be before these politicians have full reign in controlling our lives a reaping financially in a personal way because of it?

[mugs99]

You're just itching to pick a fight, aren't you? LOL Your a hoot
LOL!
No, I'm not. I'm simply pointing out the truth to you. I don't use any drugs including alcohol and tobacco, so it's no skin off my butt what they do to you or any other addict. Many, including me, consider nicotine addicts exactly the same as heroin addicts. But...I believe you have the right to enjoy your addiction. I don't believe I have the right to dictate to you what you can or can not consume.

Well, cigarettes have been a legal commodity for years and years and years
Cannabis was a legal commodity for "years and years and years". The same is true of every drug that has been added to the CSA. Time will not protect you.

Someone WILL have to pay!
Someone always does. The population grows adding new taxpayers to the rolls every year.
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