Smoking Lobby Forum
Smoking Lobby Forum for Smokers Rights, Smoking Bans, and Unfair Cigarette Tax
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- News :: RE: Smokers harrassed-outside-Maryland calls it 'loitering'
âSo why all of sudden is the Police Department being aggressive with smokers when they havenât been enforcing loitering laws for 10 years?â
That's a d@mN good Q. Sounds like the loitering cops are giving those smokers 2nd class treatment which is no different from a smoke cop giving ME a ticket for smoking outside. But yet, he doesn't say a single word to the guy who's smoking himself!
Would the cops give nonsmokers a warning for standing outside of a bar? I seriously doubt it. - News :: Smokers harrassed-outside-Maryland calls it 'loitering'
Bar owners: Baltimore cops target smokers for loitering
The Baltimore Examiner ^ | March 8, 2008 | Stephen Janis
BALTIMORE - Banished smokers taking nicotine breaks outside bars in one of Baltimore Cityâs trendy neighborhoods are being told to move or face fines and arrest for loitering, bar owners said.
Hampden bar owners said they were shocked last week when police began warning patrons to move 150 feet away from the entrance of bars they were patronizing or face loitering charges.
âLoitering has always been a legitimate problem in the neighborhood that we couldnât get police to deal with,â said Benn Ray, owner of Atomic Books and head of the Hampden Village Merchants Association.
âSo why all of sudden is the Police Department being aggressive with smokers when they havenât been enforcing loitering laws for 10 years?â
âHarassing customers who are smoking creates a dysfunctional relationship with the community.â
At Frazierâs, a popular Hampden hangout, day manager Tabrina Sherman said the message police gave to patrons smoking outside her bar was clear.
âThey were told they need to move 150 feet away or they will be fined first and arrested the second time.â
City officials said enforcing loitering laws has grown trickier since the statewide smoking ban went into effect Feb. 1.
âParticularly in front of bars where there have been a history of problems, we have asked patrols to be aggressive to enforce the loitering laws; however, the smoking ban changes the dynamic,â said Sterling Clifford, spokesman for the Police Department. - News :: More Civil Disobedience
http://www.startribune.com/local/16261261.html
This "theater night" stuff is catching on. Seems many bar owners are pressing on with the civil disobedience in spite of threats from various antis.
I don't know if the organizer, Mark Benjamin, is in the same league with Jon Hemminghaus but he's certainly making some noise up here in the Northland.
Couple other interesting links about this stuff here:
http://freedomtoact.com/
http://www.barnaclesresort.com/Bar%20info.htm - Smokers Rights :: A victory for Hemminghaus
http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2008/02/illinois-business-owner-defies-smoking.html
From West Frankfort, IL. Jon Hemminghaus, the owner of the Wounded
Rig, installed a sign in front of his boat repair business which
reads:
"My Place, My Choice, Smoking Allowed"
"I don't smoke cigarettes," he said. "I used to smoke but I quit five
years ago. I don't think it's right they are telling me what I can do
in my own place. I bought and paid for that place. If somebody wants
to come in and smoke a cigarette they are more than welcome to it."
"This country was founded on civil disobedience, " Hemminghaus
said. "It has gotten to where, now, people are afraid to get into
trouble. It kind of makes me mad that everybody has turned into
cowards. I don't smoke but if everyone would stand together on this
one..."
Mr. Hemminghaus is correct, I have watched 158+ local bars &
restaurants go out of business as they complied with the revenue
damaging smoking bans, because they were afraid of getting into
trouble and losing their establishment. I have asked more than one
bankrupt owner, since the bans are eliminating customers and business
to the point of forcing you to close your doors for good anyway, what
would be the harm in defying the bans to begin with? If everyone
would stand up for freedom in an act of civil disobedience these laws
would get repealed in no time.
In the words of Mr. Hemminghaus ...It kind of makes me mad that
everybody has turned into cowards. Readers may have noticed that we
at Clearing the Air refuse to go silentlty into that dark night of
defeat, especially in light air quality test results that prove
secondhand smoke IS NOT a workplace health hazard.
Air quality testing by Johns Hopkins University, the American Cancer
Society, a Minnesota Environmental Health Department, and various
researchers whose testing and report was also peer reviewed and
published in the esteemed British Medical Journal..... .prove that
secondhand smoke is 2.6 - 25,000 times SAFER than occupational (OSHA)
workplace regulations:
http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2007/11/johns-hopkins-air-quality-testing-of.html
http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2007/04/bmj-published-air-quality-test-results.html
http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2004/04/american-cancer-society-test-results.html
http://cleanairquality.blogspot.com/2006/02/air-quality-testing-and-secondhand.html
Inspired by Hemminghaus' s words, smoking is now also allowed at
Clearing the Air's corporate offices..... ..smoke 'em if you got 'em. - News :: RE: An article on the smoke-in
With antis, it's all or nothin.
And those losers wonder why someone like me makes smokers look stupid. They don't care about businesses losing money and closing down due to smoking bans. All they want is a smoke-free world. So why the heck should I give a bunch of lowlifes respect when they want ALL places to be smoke-free?
They are a prime example of the "fascist" definition, that's for sure. - News :: RE: An IL smoking ban case to follow
I love the fact they don't mention any names, just the numbers of who voted how. And what's this 'less than 10% food served' hor$eShit? I get SO sick of that. WHY are restaurants NEVER up for discussion? I don't drink-but I enjoyed going out to eat several times per month before this insanity hit OheilO. - News :: RE: An IL smoking ban case to follow
This update article is SO appalling, me don't feel like sharing a copy of an article that proves IL discriminates against ALL businesses here. But here's the URL if you wanna read about the IL panel rejecting modifications of the smoking ban.
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/030508/REG_BFVFRRS4.041.php
Fvck you to every single IL politician in Springfield! And me hopes your rich, "w" @$$es get voted outta Springfield this November! Because you guys are killing IL even more! - News :: RE: An article on the smoke-in
None of the ba$tards ever mention going a little farther down the street to a non-smoking restaurant. They want it ALL. - News :: RE: An IL smoking ban case to follow
Here's a small update from Jim Blogg:
Quote:Here's the latest. The reporter just called me after he returned form the hearing. There were way too many problems with the law and the judge rescheduled for a later date. That gives us more time and it's looking good! - News :: An IL smoking ban case to follow
http://www.pjstar.com/stories/030408/REG_BFV59594.033.php
Will smoking ban hold up?
Bartender's lawyer will try to poke holes in young law today in court
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
BY MATT BUEDEL
OF THE JOURNAL STAR
PRINCETON - A Bureau County judge today will begin untangling a case that could potentially snuff out Illinois' 2-month-old ban on smoking in public places.
The case is against Karla Carrington, a bartender at The Family Tavern in Spring Valley, who was cited because she allegedly "knowingly allowed" a patron to smoke early in February when an undercover Spring Valley police officer came into the bar.
But Carrington's lawyer, Peoria attorney Dan O'Day, claims in several motions filed late last week that multiple provisions of the Smoke-Free Illinois Act - from the signage requirements to the likelihood of illegal invasions of privacy and fines - are unenforceable at best, or even unconstitutional.
"I think what happened was they designed a statute that was more like a press release," O'Day said of the ban, which state lawmakers approved last summer and took effect at the beginning of the year. "They forgot to make it a law."
And if any provisions of the act, which prohibits smoking indoors in public places and within 15 feet of building entrances, are determined to be invalid, a quirk of a clause buried within its text could overturn the entire ban.
The specific language is known as a "severability clause," which is not unusual and most often aims to uphold all other provisions of a statute if one provision is struck down by a court or becomes otherwise ineffective.
But O'Day said the severability clause in the Smoke-Free Illinois Act contains a peculiarity that appears to do the opposite: invalidate the entire statute if one of its provisions becomes a courtroom casualty.
That, however, is only one of what appear to be several anomalies that will be sorted in Carrington's case, which has been filed as a misdemeanor charge.
The court first will have to decide whether it has jurisdiction over the matter, which O'Day argues the act leaves only to an administrative state agency like the Illinois Department of Public Health.
But even the path through the IDPH was prohibited by the Legislature's Joint Committee on Administrative Rules in January because its "Lack of due process threatens the public interest and welfare," according to the Illinois Register.
If the court finds it can rule on the case, it would have to determine whether restaurant and bar owners and employees could even be cited for allowing smoking to take place, as the current language of the act appears only to allow fines for people in public places who are caught smoking, O'Day said.
And among several other challenges to the minutia of the law, Carrington's case also questions the constitutionality of the state's requirement for businesses to post no smoking signs at entrances and exits - some with the name of Gov. Rod Blagojevich, the insignia of the American Lung Association or other logos. The constitutionality of mandated ash tray removal also is challenged.
"The law's a dead duck that can't be enforced," O'Day said. - Smokers Rights :: South Carolina Legislation Alert
http://www.smokerpower.info/Alert/Alert.html
Comment from Samantha at Smokers Club:
SC Alert: Upcoming State Primaries - see who the antis are and take action!
SmokerPower.info now features a South Carolina State House and Senate Election call to action - find out
who's running, who's an anti and who isn't, and vote accordingly, or, for that matter, file for a seat and run yourself. - News :: RE: An article on the smoke-in
(A comment I read on the article page)
"But when my choices are either don't go out, or suffer from others smoke, or ask the government to protect my rights--I'll choose the latter. "
You got no freakin rights at all motha. If you prefa the govt protecting your rights, then how would you react to govts banning you from eating your favorite fast food! - News :: RE: Teen chick dies from SHS in MI bar
There are about 4000 asthma deaths every year from a variety of causes.
I've never seen a story about dust or pollen or exercise being banned
because they kill asthmatics. Lets face it, this woman died of asthma,
not smoke. - News :: RE: An article on the smoke-inDarkseid wrote:Amazing!! They DID print my comment-uncensored. I'm right ahead of the lovely Audrey from CLASH, too, an honor.
Yup, and mine is about 3 or 4 above yours (in case the wouldnt print yours) ... - News :: RE: An article on the smoke-in
Amazing!! They DID print my comment-uncensored. I'm right ahead of the lovely Audrey from CLASH, too, an honor.
