<Deep Breath>
I have waited a long time to post on this topic because it seems given to much vitriol, but here's my two cents -fire away.
First, to be clear, I am a smoker. My dad was also a bar owner and I was virtually raised in his smoky bar (I know, call the cops), worked there, made friends there and came to honor the incredible work ethic it took for him to keep that place running and successful.
We seem focused on the ban-or-no-ban paradigm here. It seems to me that there are lots of mid-way steps that could satisfy most of us if our electeds were willing to consider them.
I'm fine with banning smoking in restaurants. Children are at restaurants. Fine food, too. One could argue that the enjoyment of the experience is ruined or greatly diminished by the presence of smoke, and that children have no choice but to breathe it if their parents bring them. When I take my kids out to eat, we go to non-smoking restaurants and have plenty to choose from.
It is not a great feat of mental gymnastics to differentiate between bars and restaurants, however. Little wholesome or helathy happens in a bar. (plenty fun, though) Bars are alo more than places to rent a stool and have a drink. Without getting melodramatic, bars are also cultural institutions and community gathering places. Sure, restaurants have regular customers. But bars ARE different.
If we want to create helthier environments that discourage smoking, why not use more carrot and less stick? Give bars tax incentives or breaks on their liquor licensure to go smoke-free. Government has alot of carrot-like tools at it's disposal - why not make use of them here? And what is the excuse of our electeds to neither investigate nor offer these alternatives?
On a more incendiary note, I am a 'screaming liberal' - progressive, lefty, etc. etc. But I think it's stuff like this that makes regular people resent the left. In this case, we are trying to protect people from themselves, and intrude on their personal freedoms to do it. (Hold your fire - until the ban takes effect, smoking IS a personal freedom people currently enjoy whether you think it should be or not) It's not naziism or fascism, but it's the kind of caretaking-parent stuff that drives people crazy. Perhaps being raised by my father gave me a small, bright libertarian streak when it comes to this kind of thing, but it seriously rubs me the wrong way. What other legally sancioned and protected activity is confined to the home only, other than sex? The outright ban, absent any thoughtful discussion or offerring of reasonable alternatives, smacks of puritanism, not fascism.
-Dorian Eder
Northeast Minneapolis
REMINDERS:
1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait.
For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
