Posted on 02/23/2011 7:09:33 AM PST by Libloather
Smoking banned in New York City parks and on beaches
By Deborah Brunswick, CNN
February 22, 2011 8:14 p.m. EST
New York (CNN) -- Life just became more of a drag for New York City smokers after Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed a bill Tuesday banning smoking in many public places.
The new law will make smoking illegal in New York City's 1,700 parks and on the city's 14 miles of public beaches. Smokers will also be prohibited from lighting up in pedestrian plazas such as Times Square.
The ban, which the city council overwhelmingly approved earlier this month, is designed to cut down on second-hand smoke as well as reduce litter.
"Smoking in parks and beaches not only harms people trying to enjoy these recreational facilities, it also causes a litter problem that harms the beauty of our parks," Bloomberg said before he signed the bill.
But Council Member Robert Jackson, who opposed the bill, said the ban is "going against our liberty of the people of New York City. As someone who wants to breathe clean air, I think we are going too far and being intrusive."
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
EVERYONE...stop breathing...it is illegal to inhale air and then exhale it out with your germs being expelled. The Gov’t says so...or may soon say so.
This is the ONLY reason I (reluctantly) agree with this proposal. Most (cig) smokers I've ever known throw their butts down when they're finished. I pick up dozens of butts every week -- EVERY WEEK! -- from my yard, and it pisses me off every time I go outside with a bag to collect them.
Folks have every right to smoke -- hell, I enjoy a good stogie almost every week (not a cig smoker) -- but you don't have the right to throw that garbage anywhere and everywhere.
A warning on a pack of cigars I just picked up, cigar smoke contains chemicals known to the state of CA to cause reproductive harm. Soooo, the next time I’m in CA I’ll simply remember not to smoke around pregnant women. Problem solved.
Reminds me of this old classic. My band just started playing this one and here is the living legend Doc Watson performing Smoke Smoke Smoke.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h90hK81F2hg
Still battling the urge. Every time I get a craving, and the voice in my head starts rationalizing, I just think of how bummed I'd be to get a death sentence from the doctor.
Sure, might get one anyway, but no sense making it more likely if I can help it.
Why don’t they just outlaw smoking and be done with it. < / s >
At $8 a pack,who can still afford to smoke,anyway?
Exactly right. Nanny Bloomberg needs another job.
You should know that we already have laws against littering. Why not enforce them instead?
ML/NJ
And that’d be fine with me — just give the littering laws enough bite that law enforcement has a reason to enforce them, and it’s an effective deterrent.
Like I said — I’m not opposed to smoking, not one bit. In fact, I’m not even bothered by folks smoking around me, no matter where it’s at — even in a restaurant. But I hate it — absolutely hate it — when smokers throw their butts everywhere.
Gotcha, I don’t smoke them as often as I used to.
And they flip the lighted ones out the car window. Notice all the burned spots along side the highways? I even had one still lit come into my car windown and land in my shirt collar while I was driving.
And while they’re at it declare meat, trans fats, and “junk” food controlled substances. They would if they can get away with it. Obviously the nanny statists learned nothing from Prohibition.
I remember one day parking my convertible on Roosevelt Av in Queens under the #7 elevated line. I come back I see a still somoldering butt that burned a hole in the plastic rear window. Some a**clown on the platform above flicked it. And the NYC subway system is one of the first public places to ban smoking, a law that goes back over 100 yrs.
But there were the ‘neat’ smokers that used their ashtrays in the car ... and tried to discreetly dump them out on parking lot surfaces carefully looking around to see if anyone noticed them.
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