Pantagraph.com | Letters | Leave bars out of county smoking ban

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

Smoker's revenge wrote on Nov 14, 2006 10:33 PM:

" Already blowing smoke in one's face as revenge(you expect respect?) those without manners have their own little technique. Ever have to walk through the smoking section to get to the non smoking? How about all those smokers standing AT the door. Or being put near the noisy kitchen or rest rooms? As soon as the MAJORITY of smokers learn some manners, the MAJORITY of the non smoking voters might cut some slack for them. Why should one bar room or restaurant be more equal than the other? Good food, peaceful and congenial and most important MANNERS are what keep commercial gathering places in business. Manners matter whether one believes in invulnerabilty from the effects or not. Manners come from consideration of others. It seems when someone, knowingly or unknowingly, is committing suicide they don't mind taking others with them. "

Gil Reed wrote on Nov 14, 2006 6:55 PM:

" I am a non-smoker, and have been for more than 10 years. I feel that it was VERY arrogant and condesending to the residents of both Bloomington and Normal to pass a complete ban on smoking. As a former smoker, I know smokers flock to where they can light up and smoke. If you don't agree with the ordinance, vote against the Council members, and the Mayors that pushed and passed the ordinance. If there were so many non-smokers going to the taverns, that they wanted them to be smoke free, business should pick up for the tavern owners.....Hahahahah. "

To Mark and Dawn: wrote on Nov 14, 2006 4:01 PM:

" I'll tell you where you can go...OUTSIDE!!!! "

Mike respects: wrote on Nov 14, 2006 12:12 PM:

" I think that what they are trying to make law is (in reality) respect. I am a non-smoker and have frequented bars on occasion and talk to people who do blow the smoke right in my face. I don't get mad at them but I do wonder why people aren't considerate and respectful of others. Because of this they make a law that is stupid to attempt to teach respect disguised as a 'SHS issue'. While SHS is an issue all it's own...if I don't want to deal with that I won't go. Seems simple. There doesn't appear to be much respect for others anymore...kind of sad. "

Mike respects: wrote on Nov 14, 2006 11:57 AM:

Smokey wrote on Nov 14, 2006 10:55 AM:

" The bottomline is simply it's a choice. If I want to do something that is not illegal and does not harm others, then so be it. I do not believe it has to be all or nothing. EVERY restaraunt in the county can't allow smoking? Is one or two places too much to ask? I totally understand a non-smoker not wanting to be around it (SHS and all)--I don't like it at times either--but if I choose to enter an establishment I can also choose to leave. Are they going to start having breathalizers when you walk out the door to determine your blood alcohol content? Drinking is a personal choice, and much like smoking, it can harm others. Why is one okay and not the other? "

to greg wrote on Nov 14, 2006 9:14 AM:

" And then if they speak out are those people being dragged from their homes at night and never being seen again? Are those bar owners who speak their minds at the public meetings having their families threatened and followed under the are quiet? And then if they are not their business gets burned and they disappear and get sent away to a camp in Siberia and never seen again? If so, then yes, it is like the Soviet Union. If not, then you are just name calling and using scare tactics. In which case you also forgot to us the name calling buzz words of "nazi", "fascist", and "racist." You might want to go back and add those. "

Re to Mike wrote on Nov 14, 2006 9:13 AM:

" Please, I am a non-smoker and recognize one when I hear one. We are not that supid. "

greg wrote on Nov 14, 2006 5:11 AM:

" You know, I distinctly remember a place where the government was actually able to tell business owners how to run their business. It was called the Soviet Union. I do believe that our country that we have all loved for so long is dying at the hands of its government becoming more and more socialist by the day. This rule in the twin cities is nothing more than a Communist cart with the little Smoke Free Coalition pulling it along. "

Reader wrote on Nov 13, 2006 11:09 PM:

" I think there needs to be a special place for people to go and get cancer without infecting others. "

To:Mike wrote on Nov 13, 2006 10:52 PM:

" So smokers go to bars and that's ok, but non-smokers are alcoholics because they want to go to a bar too? And why are non-smokers losers? Smokers are the real minority in America, and I am one. Yet I understand why they don’t want to be exposed to secondhand smoke, I wouldn’t either. Non-smokers are not weak-minded; we are, because we are the stupid ones who smoke even though we know it could kill us. They were smart enough to never start smoking, and they are people who deserve the right for us not to impose our bad habit on them. "

Only a matter of time... wrote on Nov 13, 2006 10:43 PM:

" I understand that smokers how smokers feel, but people's lives are at stake. I find it ridiculous that some below make statements about how smoking isn't harmful, that is no longer debatable...it's fact. Whether or not the ban takes place now, eventually it will happen. The state of Illinois is already working on a statewide smoke-free law. Yes some people can live their whole lives smoking away, but the reality is...most do not. My mother died from emphysema and it was caused by smoking. "

To Leland wrote on Nov 13, 2006 10:10 PM:

" Can you give me a list of those FINE establishments that are totally non-smoking. I'm not interested in McDonald's and the like but a real sit down restaurant. It doesn't have to be fine dining, but just a place where you can go have a good meal with your spouse. I can count the non-smoking restaurants on the fingers of one hand. The choice of totally non-smoking is pretty sparse compared to the numbers of restaurants in the city. Most of the restaurants let the smokers hijack the place by providing inadequate ventilation and letting smoke from the bar and the smoking area to permeate the restaurant. I've been told I was seated in non-smoking as the smoke drifted across my plate. That just won't work... "

Well wrote on Nov 13, 2006 5:21 PM:

" I think it's all not about smoking kills it's about the other ones taking away my choice to go where I want and smoke if I want too. Same choice was made on TV where the other one decided they wouldn't show anything above PG13 on regular tv. The same others ban and fined the TV stations for the JJ boob slip. Now there slow working at a ower level to stop first a parents right to spank next is smoking, a womens rights to decide.Wearing seat belts (let morons live longer), soon since the sun degrades your ablity to see you will be required to wear sun glasses and sun screen. Then next everyone will have to own a green car or a red one so we all are the same. Dress the same think the same wont be any freedom of choice. But then it wont matter because it will be to late. "

to B wrote on Nov 13, 2006 5:00 PM:

" And have you contacted your state and local representatives with this idea? Or only posted in here in the hopes that they might by chance read it? "

B wrote on Nov 13, 2006 2:58 PM:

" Once again we leave it to the politicians to over complicate things and bring us one step closer to a police state. It seems to me there is a very simple solution to all this madness, that leaves the decisions in the hands of those who are directly affected by this issue and thats the owners and the patrons. Why not simply pass a statewide law that would require the owners of eating and drinking establishments to post on the outside of there business whether it is a smoke free environment or if smoking is allowed. This would allow the owners of the business to decide what is best for their business and the patron to decide whether or not they wish to patronize that particular establishment or not... Gee freedom of choice for everyone what a concept!!!! "

A plea to non-smokers wrote on Nov 13, 2006 2:17 PM:

" Please stop. Please stop trying to use reason while debating smokers. You are dealing with a group of people who know that smoking will eventually cause one or more of the following, heart disease, cancer, strokes or impotence, and yet they still keep doing it. And they do it at their own monetary expense. A one pack a day smoker could easily spend $1100 a year on cigarettes just for the benefit of ending up with those health issues. And then you expect to be able to use reason or logic in debating this issue with them? Seriously, please . . . stop. "

to I hope they ban wrote on Nov 13, 2006 1:00 PM:

" Ha, ha that's funny. Seems to me the weak minded ones are the non-smokers who can't stay out of the smoke filled bars. You whiner and drinking addictions should take a good look into your weak little minds. "

to Dawn wrote on Nov 13, 2006 12:53 PM:

" I guess you must be perfect with no bad or annoying habits or imprefections of any kind. How nice for you. "

I hope they ban... wrote on Nov 13, 2006 12:41 PM:

" So you drug addicted smokers go elsewhere. Weak minded people. "

to: to Dawn wrote on Nov 13, 2006 11:29 AM:

" My sympathies are with you and your mother. I have had two grandparents die from smoking related illnesses and a father who now has a heart condition because of his smoking. Thankfully, he has quit now, but he lives with my mother who is still a smoker. I have been trying to get her to quit since I was in kindergarten (I am twenty nine now). I fear that I will have to burry her long before I am ready. Again, my sympathies are with you. May, God bless you both. - Dawn "

Free Market wrote on Nov 13, 2006 11:16 AM:

" To Free Market, I am not saying that you have to agree with me. The free market is what it is. And you are right, if someone agrees with me on the free market deciding on the smoking issue then they also oppose regulation on working conditions and private environmental problems. But at least I have the consistency to stay with that. Someone cannot say that that the free market should decide things . . . but only on issues that they choose for it to decide. "

to Dawn wrote on Nov 13, 2006 11:09 AM:

" My Great Grandfather smoked from the age of 16 until his death age 102. He was never in the hospital and died in his sleep. His wife lived to be 109. My Grandfather another smoker lived to 98. My father is going strong at 62. Ban freaks like to blame all health care issues on smokers and adicts. It is the hypcondriacks that are abusing health care. If it was about health, the states would have actually used all the tabacco money for health care of smokers. Not one state did. Look up some facts before spout next time. "

child labor? wrote on Nov 13, 2006 11:05 AM:

" What a good idea. It is about time kids did something today. I say let the state raise kids. Atleast they would have a better chance at being decent people and leading a productive life. They won't have that with parents today. "

To Free Market wrote on Nov 13, 2006 10:50 AM:

" If the government failed to regulate business we would still have child labor, sweat shops, poor safety and working conditions, substandard sanitation, and a wealth of environmental problems. The free market works to an extent, but would cripple itself if it were not for government interventions. Carl Marx and Fredrick Engel’s pointed this out years ago when they wrote the Communist Manifesto. And, that is why you do not see a pure free market in existence anywhere in the world. Too some extent government regulation is necessary. "

To Dawn wrote on Nov 13, 2006 10:46 AM:

" I just read your comments and had to reply. I just returned from visiting my 60 year old mother in the hospital. She is suffering from chronic obstructed pulminary disease, emphysema, and cancer. She doesn't have long now, and we are just trying to keep her comfortable at this point. She smoked for 35 years, and only quit when her health forced her to. She tried to quit many times. I know I am emotional, but right now I feel like the devil himself brought the evil of tobacco to us. I can't write anymore right now. "

Woodford County wrote on Nov 13, 2006 10:36 AM:

" We're gearing up in Woodford to welcome Meclean County residents to our bars and restaurants. We can't wait. "

Free Market wrote on Nov 13, 2006 10:11 AM:

" They should stay out of the banning business. But employers should also have the option of refusing health insurance to those employees who smoke. Under a true free market they should not have the burden of having to provide insurance to everyone equally. Also if a doctor determines that a health care issue is smoking related then any services from medicare/medicaid should be denied. I'm am sure lots of people will be offended by this, but if you really believe in the free market, that that is the way it should be. "

Dawn wrote on Nov 13, 2006 9:54 AM:

" I think that it is a real shame that your addiction is going to designate where you eat and how you live your life. Years from now when you’re sitting in a hospital suffering from a heart attack or having trouble breathing because you have lung cancer or emphysema, you will finally realize the effect that your habit has on your health. Unfortunately, by then it will be too late. "

Well wrote on Nov 13, 2006 9:37 AM:

" Have fun driving 30 miles to another establishment. I suppose if you want to waste more money on gas that's your choice...you are an oil man's dream. I think it is terrible idea to do that instead of just stepping outside for a few minutes to have a smoke. I don't see how hard it is to respect others wishes that they can enjoy a meal or a few beers without having a hard time breathing. Yes, I am a non-smoker but I was a smoker for 17 years and during that time I would still go outside and have a smoke out of respect for those who didn't. "

Hey, reader wrote on Nov 13, 2006 9:06 AM:

" What's your excuse? "

Mike wrote on Nov 13, 2006 8:50 AM:

" I agree these alcoholics can not stay out of the bars. They are tired of being in the minority and want the government to step in and make their opinions law. They are bathing way too much and can’t help but drink in the bar. That is where all the cool people are. There are no “non-smoking” bars because no body wants one. I say give these ban freaks a break. Some one should open them a bar so they can play with their fellow losers. They are certain SHS is killing them but the keep going back. This suicide mentality must stop. They need help. "

Missing the point wrote on Nov 13, 2006 8:46 AM:

" Non-smokers can not seem to keep themselves out of smoking establishments. They need government to protect them from themselves. They are too week minded and addicted to their alcohol to stay away. We must help these weak minded busy bodies. If not for the government controlling their every move what would they do? The mindless self destruction of non-smokers must stop. "

To: DIANA wrote on Nov 13, 2006 8:43 AM:

" Newflash!!! Not everyone that goes in a bar is an alcoholic. And, while we're on the subject, not everyone that drinks, smokes. Thanks for your obviously thought free and unintelligent post. "

Diana, I'm not a smoker wrote on Nov 13, 2006 8:31 AM:

" I don't smoke and I don't drink much, but I think bars should have the choice. Don't be so uppity. Christ wasn't too good to hang out with people that society deemed undesirable. "

reader wrote on Nov 13, 2006 6:40 AM:

" An example of how tobacco affects reason. "

Leland Lesher wrote on Nov 13, 2006 5:24 AM:

" I am a non-smoker and support you in your efforts. I have a choice of many fine eating establishments that are non-smoking by choice. I say leave it up to the owners of the establishments. If non-smokers just cannot live without Kicks' excellent food, see if you can order it for pickup and carry it home to eat it smoke free. "

DIANA wrote on Nov 13, 2006 1:44 AM:

" I agree. Let the alcoholics have their cigs. "

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