Disclaimer: I am an asthmatic non-smoker and non-bar/restaurant owner. I am no fan of OSHA, the renegade agency that drives up the prices of everything we buy by putting (often ridiculously) unnecessary and costly demands on business-owners, but I am hard-pressed to find a reason why OSHA (of all agencies!) would put out a false study on the dangers of second-hand smoke. In contrast, the anti-smoking groups, in their seemingly noble quest to stop people from using a legal product they dislike, have a clear incentive to exaggerate figures to support their agenda, and their pseudoscience has been refuted time and again. This is not about public health. This is about the politics of control the same culprit behind the USA PATRIOT Act, our unelected President, the classification of marijuana as a drug with no known medical value (despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary), etc. ad nauseam.
And even if second-hand smoke were dangerous, it is the consumer's or worker's choice to enter or avoid the confines of a privately-owned establishment, so the popular "your rights end where my nose begins" axiom doesn't fly here. Maybe I'm not up on my current events, but I have yet to hear of anyone walking down the street and minding their own business suddenly being forced into someone's smoky bar or restaurant at gunpoint. Has the Star Tribune published anything about Amish people being kidnapped and driven to Applebees? If one fears for one's life or values one's health so much more than one values convenience or diverse socialization, one can choose to avoid such establishments, just as one can choose to buy organic or grow one's own food. One need not force their values upon the rest of society. If even a modest minority of consumers and workers truly desired completely smoke-free establishments, such a niche would have already been exploited for profit in the marketplace. Clearly the demand is not even there, proving that the rights and livelihood of We The People are being hijacked by a relatively small group of politically-connected people. Our leaders today are all too quick to surrender to the pressure of such interest groups, forcibly overriding our inalienable rights, especially if they're convinced they can sell it to the public as being "for our own good". In doing so, our almighty state is becoming the greatest single threat to our long-term well-being. A free society is about choice for all, consumers and business-owners alike. The ends do not justify the means. And, perhaps more importantly, by suppressing human rights, the unintended consequences of such draconian measures make us all less healthy in the long run. Paul Sathe St. Paul From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] on behalf of Dan McGrath Sent: Mon 10/24/2005 3:06 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [Mpls] Will never again darken the Door of Molly Quinn's David Strand Wrote: > I was so disgusted by the performance on the news > Sunday morning of the owner of Molly Quinn's in > regards to the smoking ban that I will never ever > darken the door of that establishment again... > The "poor me" from some businesses which have lost > business after the smoking ban was implemented was > drawing my sympathy but the crass and irresponsible > disregard for community, public health, accessibility > and outright selfishness where the owner even said "my > worker's don't have to work for me as much as I would > like to be able to make them" or something to that > effect turned my stomach. Let me tell you something about Matthew Lamphear, and his relationship with his employees. Molly Quinn's was like a family. The staff and owners loved and cared about each other. It broke Matthew's heart to have to lay his entire staff off. He had been financing payroll on his credit cards for as long as he could, so they could keep their jobs. He got himself in debt over a million dollars trying to hang on after the smoking ban, and is on the verge of losing his house. He took that risk for the sake of his employees. At last, he's succumbed. The anti-smokers have won. He's laid off twelve people, and reduced his hours to 7 hours a day, five days a week. David, you won. Those twelve employees are safe now, thanks to you and your friends. David went on to opine: > The idea that they are subject to OSHA standards and > not those of the EPA( as if OSHA is doing the job they > are supposed to these days anyway) and that she > doesn't believe that her employees suffer any harm > from being exposed to cigarette smoke(not to mention > her clientele) is pathetic and antiscience. OSHA has guidelines for tobacco smoke in the workplace. A recent OSHA study found that it is nearly impossible for bars to exceed safe paramaters with second hand smoke. OSHA's statement to this effect read: "Field studies of environmental tobacco smoke indicate that under normal conditions, the components in tobacco smoke are diluted below existing Permissible Exposure Levels (PELS.) as referenced in the Air Contaminant Standard (29 CFR 1910.1000)...It would be very rare to find a workplace with so much smoking that any individual PEL would be exceeded." Dan McGrath Longfellow http://www.shegstad.us REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls __________________________________ Yahoo! FareChase: Search multiple travel sites in one click. http://farechase.yahoo.com REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact 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 Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[email protected] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
