Posted on 02/02/2011 1:29:37 PM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Attention Times Square denizens and those out for a stroll in Central Park: It will soon be time to put out your smokes — forever.
The New York City Council is slated Wednesday afternoon to approve a ban on smoking in parks, beaches, marinas, boardwalks and pedestrian plazas like Times Square. The legislation marks the most ambitious expansion of the city’s antismoking laws since Mayor Michael Bloomberg convinced the city lawmakers to approve a ban on smoking in indoor workplaces and park playgrounds in 2003.
“When this legislation is passed, all New Yorkers will be able to enjoy a walk in the park or a day at the beach without having to inhale secondhand smoke,” said Speaker Christine Quinn when she and the mayor unveiled the proposed legislation in September. ”This bill will save lives and make New York City a healthier place to live.”
Studies have shown that outdoor tobacco smoke levels can be as high as secondhand smoke levels indoors and there is no risk-free level of exposure to secondhand smoke, Quinn and officials in the mayor’s health department have argued. But opponents of the legislation have accused the mayor and the council of infringing on their rights and have disputed the level of risk associated with secondhand smoke.
City Councilman Peter Vallone Jr. proposed compromise legislation that would carve out areas of parks and beaches where people could smoke. But his legislation appeared unlikely to win the day.
“It still has a lot of support,” Vallone said. “I’m disappointed leadership chose to move the original bill and not my compromise.”
(Excerpt) Read more at blogs.wsj.com ...
Not bad, Vaquero. See if you can boil it down to a bumpersticker and I’ll buy one when I go thru NYC. My suitcase is 36 inches long so you’ve some room to work. About 72 pt. type works for me.
Th idiots who choose to live in NYC - and yes, it IS a choice, just like voting for the mayor and council there is a choice - get what they deserve. Fagettaboudit.
Oh that would NEVER happen here.
Congress was trying to pass a bill making it illegal to send tobacco through the mail, I supposed to prevent sales and shipment by the indians. Did that ever go thru?
But when this goes into effect a lot of people will be surprised and po'ed. Too late.
bfl
Smokers ALREADY pay higher premiums, by far, than the general public.
While I don't dispute that smoking is a risk factor in many health issues, I would like to see the study that you got your figures from.
The figures are from a presentation I am making to the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute this April. I previously used these figures in an invited presentation to the American Heart Association this past year as well as in New Zealand and Australia and other medical societies in the USA.
There are so many billions of dollars being made by Lipitor, Crestor, etc., the data supporting changes in smoking habits being responsible for the drop in heart procedures and cancer is not popular. The data speaks for itself. Just Google changes in smoking habits in the USA and you will get several hundred thousand hits in a fraction of a second. It is hardly a secret.
If you pay $10000/year for health insurance for 30 years, you paid $300,000 in premiums, a couple of hundred thousand less than the cost of your medical care. Who do you think picks up the slack, Jesus? It is the non-smoker and taxpayer.
Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
Figures/data never, "speak for themselves".
As for smokers using more medical money than people who don't smoke, I believe there was a study done by a government in Europe that showed smokers, as a whole, put more money into health care than they took out.
My house.
Who died and appointed you King?
Just so you know cigar smokers have a higher life expectancy than those who do not smoke cigars.
Check out this picture from the Old Metropolitan Opera House:
The guy in the back right corner is smoking a cigar. It is a civilized thing to do. Only the unenlightened would ban it.
ML/NJ
Because they die 12 years younger? The Chinese government encourages smoking because they ask, “what would we do with all these old people?”.
Basically you need to follow the money. I do not get any money from Pfizer or other statin manufacturers. I do research to prevent brain injury during cardiac and orthopedic surgery. Two out of three of my cardiac patients smoke. Only one out of 5 of the US populations smoke.
I don’t believe these data are very difficult to understand. They are not really statistics, just demographics. 66% is bigger than 20% - that would be arithmetic. Unless you are biased, then there is no difference.
You present credentials that are unverifiable and make assertions presented as fact. For every crappy "study" you can present, there's a countervailing one.
The smoker and taxpayer pays more than his or her fair share for what's been become the modern form of indulgences paid to the new secular religion of Government.
Freedom is messy; it scares you.
Next on your list is "the obesity epidemic", right?
Who do you think picks up the slack, Jesus?
It is the skinny people and the taxpayer.
My disgust got the better of my manners, forgot to include you again.
Many people make choices that might shorten their life spans.
Overeating
Extreme sports
Drinking alchohol in excess
Do you really want to take away a choice that someone makes on the CHANCE that it MIGHT shorten their life span?
Ban water!.
Simplified? Yes.
Do you see my point?
Then let's deny medical insurance to skiers.
ML/NJ
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