For those of you who don't live in Ohio, and/or don't know about it, a law passed in the last election -- effective tomorrow -- wherein there is NO SMOKING in ANY workplace or public place. Not only do you hafta step outside to smoke, you can only do it in approved areas.

Even on your own property. Think about that.

The guy I work for owns this building. He owns it. Period. The poor schumck can't even step out into the plant and have a cigarette -- in his own building.

A few thoughts:

*** We have liquor licenses for businesses, why not have smoking licenses?

*** The new Smoke-Free Ohio Law is not a health issue. It's about property ownership and the right to conduct business as an owner sees fit.

*** Maybe the next move should be to forbid unruly children to dine in adult restaurants -- now there's an idea (for those people who want to spend quality time with their kids).

*** Or, perhaps it will soon be illegal for obese people to order fattening foods. After all, some people are disgusted by watching an overweight person eat. Think about what that does to the observer's stress level, watching a fat person scarf down a cheeseburger.....

OH, WAIT. That has already begun. New York City, just yesterday, has banned restaurants from using trans fats. Excuse me, but I thought that people who OWN a business can use whatever ingredients they want -- fully declaring them to their customers -- and then if the customer doesn't want to eat that food they can choose NOT to eat at that establishment.

It's all about choice, folks. And now Ohio business owners no longer have the choice to do what they want within their own walls.

And don't think I'm up on my soapbox because I'm a smoker. I'm an EX-smoker. This has NOTHING to do with smoking. It has EVERYTHING to do with control.

Wow. Now I feel better.

I just moved from Ohio, where you couldn't smoke in bars or restaurants. I miss it so much! I am in Virginia now and Big Tobacco is pretty entrenched here so I don't think that the laws will get here anytime soon.

I just moved from Ohio, where you couldn't smoke in bars or restaurants. I miss it so much! I am in Virginia now and Big Tobacco is pretty entrenched here so I don't think that the laws will get here anytime soon.

I was amazed a few years ago to see people in Kentucky walking thru the grocery store, puffing away. Tobacco is to Kentucky what coal is to West Virginia, though. It pays the bills.

Ah, the virtuous anti-smoking Nazis strike again! While I think that it is fair to ban smoking from indoor work spaces, taking the battle onto the open street is a bit too much. What about breathing in the exhaust fumes from all those SUVs, etc? Are these not much more deleterious to one's health? And on the environment? These attacks on the smoker have turned into a witch hunt. There are much bigger problems that are being ignored.

I was amazed a few years ago to see people in Kentucky walking thru the grocery store, puffing away. Tobacco is to Kentucky what coal is to West Virginia, though. It pays the bills.

It is getting better, though. I live and go to school in Kentucky. Several counties have gone non-smoking. My county isn't, other than the university, but I am hoping it won't be long before it is.

Ah, the virtuous anti-smoking Nazis strike again! While I think that it is fair to ban smoking from indoor work spaces, taking the battle onto the open street is a bit too much. What about breathing in the exhaust fumes from all those SUVs, etc? Are these not much more deleterious to one's health? And on the environment? These attacks on the smoker have turned into a witch hunt. There are much bigger problems that are being ignored.

Oh please! A witch hunt hardly! Americans need cigarettes!

1. The tobacco industry is beyond huge

2. Lawyers need the work

3. Hospitals make billions a year treating cancer paitents and other effects from smoking

And I would rather inhale fumes from SUV's than these:

CIGARETTE INGREDIENTSThere are over 4,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, some of which are included on the list below. Children are especially susceptible to these poisons. For them, exposure to secondhand smoke can cause middle ear effusion, decreased lung function, lower respiratory tract infections and increase the intensity of asthma conditions.

Acetone

Nail Polish Remover

Hydrogen Cyanide

Gas Chamber PoisonAcetic Acid

VinegarMethane

Swamp GasAmmonia

Floor/Toilet CleanerMethanol

Rocket FuelArsenic

PoisonNaphthalene

MothballsButane

Cigarette Lighter FluidNicotine

Insecticide/ Addictive DrugCadmium

Rechargable BatteryNitrobenzene

Gasoline AdditiveCarbon Monoxide

Car ExhaustNitrous Oxide Phenols

DisinfectantDDT/ Dieldrin

InsecticidesStearic Acid

Candle WaxEthanol

AlcoholToluene

Industrial SolventFormaldehyde

Preservative - Body Tissue & FabricVinyl Chloride

Makes PVC2Hexamine

Barbecue Lighter

Cancer Causing Agents

MetalsNitrosamines

Crysenes

Cadmium

Benzo(a)pyrene

Polonium 210

Nickel

P.A.H.s

Dibenz Acidine

B-Napthylamine

Urethane

N.Nitrosonornicotine

Toluidine

Aluminium

Zinc

Magnesium

Mercury

Gold

Silicon

Silver

Titanium

Lead

Copper

I have no problem with this law. Tobacco is huge here, so I doubt this will affect NC anytime soon. I think people have the right to smoke, but I don't like accomodating my life around it. An example, when I went to visit my mother while she was in the hospital I would have to hold my breathe just to walk in the entrance. Of course you still end up smelling like smoke.

I do feel though, that it is my choice to go places were smoking is allowed. Ex: casinos, bingo, bars, etc. I don't have to go those places.

SO TRUE Jack SO TRUE!!

....smoking is optional....

.....breathing ain't.....

Your right.

Some part of me cringes every time I see "nazi" used so freely, to describe what - people with opinions? Activitsts?

It has not been very many years ago that the very opposite was true....there was no way for NON smokers to escape the tyranny imposed upon them

I'm 30 and this has happened in my lifetime. My mother used to be a big-wig with the American Cancer Society. Every now and then I would go in to work with her. I remember very clearly the hallway from the front door to the offices... walking down it. It was lined with acrylic-bound cross sections of diseased lungs. (Gee, wonder why I never smoked?) This was early - mid 80s, and people smoked in the office there.

Love that big slice o' greasy irony.

I live in OH and voted yes on 4, no on 5 or whatever it was to outlaw the smoking and am thrilled! It will be nice to go to a restaurant w/my son and not be sitting in the 'no smoking section' getting someone's second hand cancer stick exhaust. Remember, a no smoking section in a room is like a no peeing section in a pool! My husband smokes (outside only), I buy him cigarettes, but he also knows I will NOT take care of him when he gets a smoking related disease. The sad part is that I really don't care, and he knows it. Just don't' do it around me, our son, or our animals.

:clap2:

...he also knows I will NOT take care of him when he gets a smoking related disease...

Wow. Really? You buy his cigarettes -- contributing to his addiction -- but you won't take care of him if (and when) he gets sick?

Wow. That's just cold.

Florida has been smoke free for awhile now, you can finaly call it the Sunshine State again because you can see the sun again now that the smoke has cleared! ha! There is a loop hole in our law. You can still go to The Hard Rock Seminole Indian Reservation Casino in Tampa and puff all you want!

Wow. Really? You buy his cigarettes -- contributing to his addiction -- but you won't take care of him if (and when) he gets sick?

Wow. That's just cold.

The truth hurts. What can I say.

I am from Ohio and I voted to ban smoking. My husband is an ex-smoker and he voted to ban it also. I have never been so happy in my life as I am now when we go into a restaurant and they don't ask if we want smoking or non?! My husband notices how his son smells awful and his clothes when he is with us because his mother smokes so much. He never noticed before. I WAS TRULY HAPPY THE DAY THIS LAW PASSED, I CAN ONLY BE HAPPIER WHEN I GET BANDED!!!

I have no problem with this law. Tobacco is huge here, so I doubt this will affect NC anytime soon. I think people have the right to smoke, but I don't like accomodating my life around it. An example, when I went to visit my mother while she was in the hospital I would have to hold my breathe just to walk in the entrance. Of course you still end up smelling like smoke.

I do feel though, that it is my choice to go places were smoking is allowed. Ex: casinos, bingo, bars, etc. I don't have to go those places.

It may be your choice to go to those places but what choice do the workers get that need a job and are exposed to second hand smoke?? Just a thought....