[Diana in Wisconsin]

"Hey Diana, does this remind you of the behavior of a certain Governor?"

You mean "Craps" Doyle? LOL!

I honestly don't know why smokers don't band together and just smoke away at their favorite watering holes. As I've stated before, I'm even willing to START smoking to put an end to the Smoke Gnatzie tactics!

Can anyone shed light on that? Is it that smokers don't want to endanger the business owners who are most likely their friends and cornerstones of the community?

Or is it like herding cats in the vein of, "It's nearly impossible to get Conservatives to pull together in the same direction even when strapped to the very same sled?" :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

For clarification: I meant smokers that live in states (such as mine) that just roll over for this cr@p.

[EVO X]

I honestly don't know why smokers don't band together and just smoke away at their favorite watering holes.

If Champaign, Illinois is any indication, they are too busy inhaling to do anything about it. We had a city council primary election the other day. Just 7% of eligible voters showed up at the polls. Smokers had a golden opportunity to make some noise and try to cancel the smoking ban that was just put into effect by the current council.

[Gabz]

Can anyone shed light on that? Is it that smokers don't want to endanger the business owners who are most likely their friends and cornerstones of the community?

That's pretty much my experience. In Delaware, the smoker doesn't get fined, just the business. And although they swore up and down it would not be used for pulling liquor licenses, the ABCC will hold a hearing about pulling a bar's license after 3 offenses..............can anyone say "back door prohibition?" I knew you could.

[Madame Dufarge]

Can anyone shed light on that? Is it that smokers don't want to endanger the business owners who are most likely their friends and cornerstones of the community?

I think that's the essence, Diana.

Smokers, unlike the Anti-Smoking Taliban, respect the owners' property rights.

It's the owners who've been coerced into being enforcement units for the state, and who'll pay the consequences for defying the bans.

Smokers have two choices: ignore the property owners' rights and place them in financial jeopardy through fines and loss of licenses or stay away.

So smokers have in a manner protested, as witnessed by revenue loss by the business owners.

The only effective protest against the smoking bans must be initiated by the business owners, since their smoking customers aren't suffering any financial loss, which is quantifiable, and would seem to me to be a basis for legal action.

Of course, I'm not a lawyer....