Posted on 12/06/2007 5:29:42 AM PST by ShadowDancer
Michigan House Passes Ban On Smoking In Bars, Restaurants
POSTED: 7:47 am EST December 6, 2007
UPDATED: 8:10 am EST December 6, 2007
Smoking in Michigan workplaces, including bars and restaurants, would be banned under legislation passed by the Democratic-led state House.
The vote is a victory for supporters, who have been pushing the measure for a decade.
But it may not get very far in the Senate because majority Republicans oppose it.
Backers say a majority of state residents want a broad workplace smoking ban, and point to the harmful effects of secondhand smoke on employees and patrons.
Opponents say smoking is legal and government shouldn't interfere with the rights of private property owners.
Casinos, horse tracks, bingo halls, cigar bars and smoke shops would be exempt from the smoking ban.
Apparently not, connsidering they are not considering such an option..
Here in Ohio we have one fo the most restrictive no smoking laws in the country.
However, tha law is an ass and my favorite bar ignores the ban.
Whatever the effect on the business, the government has no right to do this, and you have no right to a smoke-free environment in someone else’s property. If a bar owner wants a smoke-filled bar, it’s his right. If he want’s a smoke-free bar, that’s also his right. If you don’t like the air, find another bar, or buy your own.
So, if a business wanted to serve beer to teenagers they should be allowed to?
HA!!
...for now.
If they are with their parents and not driving, why not?
This state resident thinks it’s a busy-body, Big Sister Jenny-bot, idea and I don’t even smoke.
Hope it fails.
Go ahead, change the subject. That’s what big government types always do when your logic overwhelms them in a argument. The question at hand is, do you have the right to tell a bar or restaurant owner that he may not permit his customers to smoke on his premises?
The problem with you Ron Paulites is where do you draw the line?
If government can regulate business about controlling behaviors which negatively influence other people, can then government tell gays they can’t get married? What about abortion?
It’s all part of the same thread.
What a curiously confused person you are. Please, go on. It’s quite fascinating.
You are doing your best to change the subject. I thought it was about the smoking laws.
Huck Fuckabee...JK
Well, I’m looking at this from a philosophical mode, should the community make the laws or should businesses?
Yes or No?
Well, if you ever had fun you’d realize that
2 drinks + 90 minutes of second hand smoke = icky next morning
4 drinks + 120 minutes of non-smoky air = fresh as a flower, clothes don’t stink, hair smells clean.
As a conservative, I think the community can make rules through government, but let’s not confuse the community with the government. The government can be an instrument of the will of the community, but it usually is an expression of the will of the politically savvy members of the community, rather than of the community as a whole.
A community can get more done by voluntary taboos. It has been far more effective at reducing public smoking than government has been. If a bar permits smoking, and nobody patronizes the place, the owner will get the message. If he does not lose business, perhaps the will of a significant part of the community is not the same as yours.
btw, I am not a Ron Paul supporter.
Booze stinks!
Most of the huge chains are probably ok, though I see with my own eyes here in NW oHeilOthat even those have lost about 15-20 per cent. The small, locally-owned bars and restaurants are dying, and closing in droves.
I tried to go to Sam’s Coney Island for some take-out last night (I am a lover of hot dogs). It had been in business for 5-6 years, and had allowed smoking before the ban. I’d noticed last time I got take-out I was the only one there. It is now GONE. Closed and dark.
I have no sympathy for any of the chains, they are major supporters of the smking bans. They can tolerate a 15-20% drop-off in business until all the little guys go under and they are the only games in town.
That is their goal. It is their reason for supporting the bans.
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