Study Show Bar Patrons Eventually Approve Smoking Ban!

Heeven - cambridge of all places is still a smoking city.

Heard on NPR that a little town in some plains state (how's that for specific) banned smoking everywhere all at once. Immediately the heart attack rate dropped by some huge percentage... ok, I'm bugging myself, I'll just go find the link....

I can never find a link on NPR or WBUR.

Dallas, TX, recently banned smoking in all resturants and bars, pool halls and bingo palors.

as an ex-smoking, smoky-bar-bartender and advocate of non-smoking.... I think that eliminating smoking even in seperate rooms for the sake of the employees is ridiculous.

I smoke in the bars, but I am all for the ban. Smoking is not quite like other things we choose to do that are harmful to our health, because it affects others. Now sure if you want to go out, you have to count with the fact that there will be smoke in the bar. But what about those that don't smoke and want to go out? And are bothered by smoke? Where do they go? There are so few non-smoking bars, and I believe it should be the other way around. There should only be a few smoking bars. Littlek's idea of licenses sounds sensible to me. Even as a smoker I would not see it as infringing upon my rights and liberties, but rather as a protection of those who don't smoke, for the smoke does not care who smokes and who does not, it will not pass around the non-smokers. Who I believe are in a majority these days. That is what government is responsible for after all. They have it in California and it seems to be working out rather well.

I think smoking should be encouraged..........2 billion Chinese and Indians can't be wrong!!!

littlek - the thought of everywhere being banned at once is enough to give me a heart attack! Imagine if they tell us we cannot smoke in our own homes anymore?

KYN - yeah we emettes (?) are not known for our brain-cells ... and I look like this as a by-product of smoking too much!

The Boston Globe ran an article on the ban I mentioned yesterday. Scientificaly, this is too smal a population to generalize the effects such a ban would have across the board, but still.....

"Helena's smoking ban was adopted by voters in June and lasted for six months, until enforcement was suspended after a legal challenge. It ''led to an immediate and dramatic decline in the number of heart attacks we saw,'' from an average of seven a month to three, said Dr. Richard Sargent.

Heart attacks climbed back to their usual level after smoking returned to bars, restaurants, casinos, bowling alleys, and other public places in December."

Boston Globe

So isn't Boston banning it next month?

eeyep, sometime in May. So Boston and Brookline will be non-smoking, cambridge will be extra-smoking.

Shweet.

for you maybe.... I still don't have the option of a local non-smoking bar. Best I can do is drink at a restaurant bar - oh joy.

I had wanted to live in Boston. Now I will not even visit.

too bad craven

You'll have to do what I do: get in your car and drive.

I don't have a local bar either, I live in suburbaville dry town. Unless I want to go drink at a restaurant too.

You're not going to visit because you can't smoke in bars Craven?

I wonder if people from Amsterdam won't visit because they can't legally smoke weed and get prostitutes?

Doesn't it seem like a bad idea to drive to a bar? I mean, that's one of the best things about living in the city - I can drink responsibly. I'll have to deal with the smoke, take a bus, or stay home.

Well, I don't go get hammered and drive...but on the other hand, I'm not really a "light-weight" either.

I pushed it too hard in my 20's, I'm being more careful now.

I'm almost ready to leave the country over this issue slappy. I have no problem with not being able to smoke at work. I have no problem not being able to smoke at home (I live with a non-smoker) in fact this helps me smoke less. I have no problem having to go down to the first floor and smoke on the street. I have no problem with, when smoking on the street, avoiding taking drags while pedestrians are near.

I do have a problem with the fact that I can't smoke and drink at the same time. I can't smoke in the bars and I can't drink outside.

I was at a comedy club and during the interval all the smokers header out to smoke. I was stopped at the door since I was carrying a beer and was asked "hey man, you think this is Vegas?". I learned that I would not be able to drink and smoke. The only thing that's helping ease the frustration is knowing how boring the nightlife is in this country. I'm not missing much by boycotting it.

I'm about ready to leave Boston over this frickin' weather. It's spring, and it snowed the other day.

If Boston had nuts, I'd kick em'.