I'm not a smoker, and never have been. (and never will be either). My wife quit reciently, and I have 2 reasonably young children, so I'd fit in best with the anti-smoking group.
Except that smoking is the act of using a legal product in a place where it's legally sold. I hate smoking, and I detest being around it. But I'd have to say I would much prefer to defend smokers on this one. Smoking should either be illegal or it shouldn't be. Right now, it isn't. The whole "ban it in public places" argument seems stupid to me. They aren't doing anything wrong, so why would I want to stop them from doing it? Should we ban public laughter because it irritates me when I'm having a bad day? How is smoking different? And spare me the health stuff. Nobody in North America takes health seriously enough to complain about a few breaths of smoke whenever they venture out in public. We use Microwaves, and Cell phones, we run Power Lines all over the place, etc. I'm not saying that this is good or bad, or that these exampled things are good or bad for you, I'm just saying that we take risks continually, and we could avoid them, but we don't. Besides, eventually, we all die anyway. Life is fatal. I think that if smoking is ACTUALLY that big of a concern for someone, that person should avoid places where they'll encounter smoke, and leave everyone else alone. Ditto for my example with laughing. Why force my opinion on someone else. Should we ban drinking at bars too? How is that any different? School exposes my kids to a variety of germs/viruses/lice/etc. Should school be banned? If there is no way to express personal freedom, then what value is there in a free country? Kev. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Barclay Hambrook ApecTec" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 11:54 AM Subject: (clug-talk) Banning Smoking in Calgary > Clug members: I know I am taking a gamble here to introduce this hot > topic, but, I have heard smoke can harm computers. (I do expect some flaming.) > > I really liked the vote of the committee to Ban smoking in public places, > beginning Jan 1 2003 rather than Jan 1 2008. This will now go to City > Council for Monday's meeting and vote. > > I have emailed each Aldermen individually (see my message below). > > Here are the emails of all our Aldermen which I collected. > > If you share my opinion, pls paste them in and send out an email to them as > a group or individually. > > It would be nice to have a dinner or drink and not have to suffer from > smoke in the eyes or on the clothes. > > Regards, > Barclay > > Calgary Aldermen email addresses: > > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > Here is the email I sent: (feel free to use it, but change it a bit if you do) > > Myself and a lot of friends certainly appreciate the committee's vote > yesterday to ban smoking Jan 1, 2003 instead of 5 years from now. Finally, > Calgarians will be able to enjoy non-smoking environments like those found > in many other major cities. > > We hope you will consider voting in favor and passing the motion at City > Council next Monday. We'll certainly remember your support come next > election time. > > Best Regards, > Barclay Hambrook, P. Eng., MBA > > > > > ApecTec Inc. > www.apectec.com > email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Phone: (403) 685 1888 > Fax: (403) 685 1880 > > >
