The thing that annoys me most about this smoking ban is this:
I'm a nonsmoker. I don't smoke. I think that cigarettes are stupid and I hate smelling like smoke.
However. My security does not weigh as much as your freedom. If I don't like the smoke, then I can just go elsewhere. Every fast food joint in the country is Non-Smoking. However the little bars and greasy chopstick places that I adore frequenting are not Non-Smoking. The way the ban is worded, smoking is banned in every building that holds a food license. Except casinos. If our ban were across the board like yours, I really wouldn't mind it. In fact, I might actually be a little for it.
But I'm not for it, not at all.
See, the way it stands, the Clean Indoor Air Act exists solely to fuck the little guy. You see, the people that come in and frequent the types of establishments that I like (the "dives" if you will) are the types that sit at a poker machine, play a thousand dollars (no shit), smoke a pack of cigarettes, drink ten beers, order a couple of cheeseburgers and leave the place happy.
Since they can no longer get this full package deal at the little place, they just up and relocate to a CASINO who is exempt from this ruling. If you wish to sit at a machine and smoke yourself stupid, drink comped drinks and have a cheeseburger brought out to you, hey no problem! You can just take your money to the casino, who is specifically exempt from the Clean Indoor Air Act and just ignore the friendly little dive bars that you used to frequent and love.
And since your business is no longer at those places, they end up going out of business and put dozens of people into the unemployment line. But that's okay, because you can still spend your money at some giant casino. The hell with the small businessman.
Man, I'm just ranting here. Bans on anything are bullshit. Served straight-up and buster-ass. To be for a ban on smoking in public is morally equivalent to being for a ban on violent or sexually-explicit video games or a ban on these so-called "assault weapons."
Just because one group does not like an object simply because they feel it "offends their senses" does not mean it should be banned. Quite the contrary. Things that offend need to be protected, for if we say that one thing is "okay to be banned" then all things are "okay to be banned."
Just say "no" to prohibition of any kind. Fight the real enemy.
I... I don't have a picture of the Pope to tear in two. There goes my awesome exit.