Ban Smoking in Bars??

[Kikshaaz]

Freetail and Blue Star are the only brewpubs. If nothing else, I highly recommend you stop by Freetail.

Ranger Creek is a new brewstillery that may be having tours when you're visiting. Cool guys.

Flying Saucer is the best craft beer bar.

Thanks!

 

[elkdog]

I agree that's it's a great thing. I couldn't be happier that they banned them here a couple years ago. Not a smoker myself. But enjoy being able to go into a bar/restaurant and being able to enjoy myself. It's easy for people to say that smokers have a "right" to smoke. No, you don't have a right to possible inflict disease on other people. "But they don't have to be there if they don't like the smoke", not so much the employees if they're trying to support themselves and families.

Someone said in another thread that you have the right to swing your fist around as much as you like, but my right to not get punched is just as valid as your right to swing your fist. Smoking in a public place (such as a bar, which must meet other government regulations safetywise that my house is not subject to) is not a benign behavior toward non-smokers. I love our smoking ban here, but I also love that there are designated areas, usually nice ones, where those who smoke can do so. I go to bars more now, and I find them at least as crowded as they were before.

 

[IrregularPulse]

I agree. Bars around here are still just as busy as ever. Maybe for a few weeks people would avoid them, but then they realized, they like getting drunk and hanging out with friends more than smoking indoors.

 

[david_42]

Oregon used to allow bar owners to decide, but to protect the people too stupid to live, we now have a total ban. Too bad, it was a great way to eliminate dives with one sniff. Although I admit, I haven't been into a non-brewpub in years.

 

[Airborneguy]

...but my right to not get punched is just as valid as your right to swing your fist.

Actually your right to not get punched far outweighs anyone's right to swing their fists. Hence, criminal law.

 

[Rhoobarb]

It's been banned in all public places (that includes coffee houses) here for a couple of years now and personally, I love it. Bars lost some revenue when it first went into effect, but that trend reversed within 2-3 months - maybe b/c non-smokers realized the law had gone into effect!

My wife & I went to South Carolina a couple of months ago and smoking is still allowed in bars there. We went to two bars and it was a kind of a surprise to see the air thick with smoke. We'd been so used to it being smoke-free here that we forgot what that was like! The first bar had an outdoor area and we made a beeline for it to get some fresh air. We weren't so lucky at the second bar and it made for a miserable experience. We had one beer and left. On the plus side, the one brewpub we went to was smoke-free.

 

[beninan]

Here in Maine it's illegal in all public places. They have been trying to pass a law (maybe it did pass, I don't pay attention) to make it illegal practically everywhere except your own house or a designated smoking area. It's also illegal to smoke inside your car with a child under the age of 18 in my city, even if it's your own child. They are trying to make Maine nothing more than a tourist state (jacked up the taxes that make it difficult to live here, the licence plate says "vacationland" on it, the whole anti-smoking everywhere law is to help save the air in the forests and parks for the tourists, blah blah blah...)

 

[ChshreCat]

Just my $.02... I'm a smoker, at least at the moment and I don't mind the smoking ban in my state. Going outside for a smoke isn't that big of a deal for me and I like being able to come home and not reek like stale smoke. I always hated that.

Plus, when I've been trying to quit, it makes it a lot easier. In the past, I just had to stop going to bars when I quit. Now, the temptation is much less. If I want to bum a smoke, I have to get up and follow a friend outside rather than just grab their pack from the table and light up.