Posted on 03/07/2013 4:39:58 AM PST by Tolerance Sucks Rocks
Millions of Californians would not be able to smoke tobacco inside their own homes under new legislation that would raise the bar nationwide for fighting secondhand smoke.
No state ever has ventured into personal bedrooms and living rooms with its smoking restrictions, but California is going even further than that by targeting owner-occupied residences as well as rental units.
Specifically, the measure would prohibit lighting up a cigarette, cigar or pipe in condominiums, duplexes and apartment units.
The push would extend a lengthy list of places where smoking already is barred, including restaurants, workplaces, playgrounds, public buildings and cars containing young kids.
"Californians should be able to breathe clean air in their own homes," said Assemblyman Marc Levine, a San Rafael Democrat who introduced the legislation, Assembly Bill 746.
Standalone homes would not be affected because Levine is taking aim at health hazards of secondhand smoke in residences that share walls, ceilings, floors or ventilation systems.
One-third of California's residents live in multiunit housing, and secondhand smoke endangers everyone it touches, Levine said. "Whenever a neighbor lights up, everyone in the building smokes with them."
Landlords already have authority to prohibit smoking in their rental units, through a law implemented last year, but Levine's bill would impose a mandatory ban statewide.
The California Apartment Association has taken no position, but its officials question who would enforce AB 746, how, and what impact the bill would have on habitual smokers or people with disabilities.
"I'm not justifying the practice, but somebody in a wheelchair who smokes in the late evening, for example, is going to have to go in the dark to a place off-site," spokeswoman Debra Carlton said.
Residents of a Sacramento public housing project, south of Broadway, have mixed feelings.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
Didn’t Rush predict this stuff some years ago?
Nanny State PING!
Didn’t Rush predict this stuff some years ago?
Nanny State PING!
Yes he did... However, I’m sure there are some people here who would support this measure. I’m not one of them..
How do they enforce that?
Pardon me for asking, but.........who cares? Its California; they get what they deserve. They elect these commiecrats to office, this is what they get.
California has become a giant amusement park for totalitarian government officials.
The citizens are like captive animals.
They can only live the way their captors want.
They can only eat what their captors want them to eat.
They can only have freedom as their captors define it.
Totalitarian government officials in other states, like Maryland, NY, Massachusetts, even Colorado, look at California and drool.
Landlords always had the right to ban or not ban smoking at their property.
Another Property Right down the tubes....
I am. I've known cases of people being horribly burned or killed because some clown three or four units over went to sleep with a cigarette in his mouth. Nobody deserves to die for that sort of reason.
People should be banned from cooking in apartments too.
http://www.nfpa.org/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=2393&itemID=55293&URL=Research/Statistical%20reports/Major%20causes/
But is it fair to impose the restrictions on conscientious smoker?
For example, one smoker I know has his final smoke of the day while soaking the bathtub. He told me he does this because he fears the very disaster you describe. He barely escaped electrocution when, as he soaked and listened to NPR his Bose radio fell of the shelf and barely missed the the tub.
Of course I know of one diurnal smoker who's found another solution: he rolls up a nicotine patch and uses it as a suppository. I confess I've not verified this, but he seems honest.
So let me get this straight.
In a california bedroom: you can get stoned out of your mind on weed (releasing all sorts of noxious fumes into the air), commit sodomy with whatever you picked up off the street and spread horrible diseases, but you can’t have a cigarette?
Why are there any sane people left in California anyway? I would have left there years ago if I were unfortunate enough to live in that cesspool
Of course this will not be enforced in “certain neighborhoods” aka Barrios.
“Californians should be able to breathe clean air in their own homes,”
In that case, we better ban cleaning supplies, shell fish and stinky recipes. Just to be on the safe side, let’s ban kitchens from homes.
The most frequent complaint I hear from apartment dwellers is the smell of marijuana smoke drifting from some nearby unit.
Does Cali intend to crack down on THAT? I doubt it.
“I am. I’ve known cases of people being horribly burned or killed because some clown three or four units over went to sleep with a cigarette in his mouth. Nobody deserves to die for that sort of reason.”
Many fires are started by electrical failures, let’s ban electricity from homes! Space heaters are another cause of fires, we better ban them too! No one deserves to die by being burned up as a result of someone elses desires for electrical conveniences or their desire to be warm!
Wow, this totalatarian mindset is rather easy!
It will start with the usual warning ticket, then escalate to a $100.00 or so fine. Then it gets to a $1000.00 fine, then jail time, then it moves to no knock raids and swat teams.
Making sure of course, it is taught in schools that this is a NO TOLERANCE law.
All in the name of your health and the health of your neighbors. Because YOUR governmnt knows what is good for you.
Tyrants NEVER sleep.
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