so - this'll be a polarizing one i bet. what do you guys think of the proposed ban? personally, i love it and hope it goes through like yesterday. of course im a non smoker - and am alergic to smoke. as a band dude, i absolutely love playing in cities that have banned smoking. it's hard enough for me to breathe after a set anyway. and it's not like i can say we're only gonna play in nonsmoking venues (in chicago), and it's "my choice" to be around the smoke - it's an occupational hazzard for me. it hasnt seemed to negatively affect any bars ive been to in california, ny, minneapolis and im looking forward to going to madison next month as i hear they just outlawed it.

so - i guess if you're a smoker "fuck you don't infringe on my personal decision to smoke - if i wanna get lung cancer that's my problem" or if you're a non smoker "fuck you smokers for your personal decision to smoke infringing on my personal decision to not smoke - your decision to smoke is gonna give me lung cancer"

seriously, these cases of nonsmokers getting lung cancer drives me batshit. ditka's outrage was pretty rediculous too.

It's pretty amazing, Madison just passed a smoking ban. I don't come home smelling like shit from the bars anymore. my nose would get really stuffy and my eyes usually get dry from being in alot of ciggarette smoke. It never bothered me to the extent where I was complaining. I've just noticed a big difference.

They did this in Minneapolis in February. I miss being able to smoke in bars once in awhile, but mostly I like not smelling like smoke when I get home from being out. The downside of that is, now at shows, we're forced to smell people instead of smoke. I'd rather smell smoke...

To answer the question of where I stand though, I kind of don't care either way. I know (being an on and off smoker) how much I like it when no one is smoking when I'm not, and if I feel like I need to smoke, I have no problem going outside to do it.

It really sucks having to smell sweaty punks at shows though...

this happened in bloomington on the first day of this year. It's a great thing. playing shows and seeing shows is a much better experience.
mtar

i guess coming home not smelling like smoke is good for people who don't take showers... but i think "outlawing" smoking in bars and other privately owned businesses is too much. it should be up to the business owner, period.

letting go of that right, one we've always had, is hardly a progressive step forward. granted, 2nd hand smoke doesn't contribute to any greater good, it IS easily avoided -- you can't smoke in most work places, or public buildings... not the mall, several states' worth of restaurants (including my own), nor your home/car if you (the owner) ask me not to...

a bloody waste of government resources, aimed to seem alert and problem-solving, without resolving an actual issue or setting any real precedent. i mean, why does it always have to resort to a ban? aren't there some things we can try and FIX... like the quality of big tobbacco or, i dunno... the quality of the air we breath on earth (hello spike in asthma!!!)?

woopty doo band dude who has to inhale smoke while he's in a BAR playing with a ROCK BAND for LEISURE and making MONEY off of it. or BAR PATRON in the BAR trying to let loose and get DRUNK and probably laid. i'm really supposed to be concerned?

kenoki wrote:i guess coming home not smelling like smoke is good for people who don't take showers... but i think "outlawing" smoking in bars and other privately owned businesses is too much. it should be up to the business owner, period.

letting go of that right, one we've always had, is hardly a progressive step forward. granted, 2nd hand smoke doesn't contribute to any greater good, it IS easily avoided -- you can't smoke in most work places, or public buildings... not the mall, several states' worth of restaurants (including my own), nor your home/car if you (the owner) ask me not to...

a bloody waste of government resources, aimed to seem alert and problem-solving, without resolving an actual issue or setting any real precedent. i mean, why does it always have to resort to a ban? aren't there some things we can try and FIX... like the quality of big tobbacco or, i dunno... the quality of the air we breath on earth (hello spike in asthma!!!)?

woopty doo band dude who has to inhale smoke while he's in a BAR playing with a ROCK BAND for LEISURE and making MONEY off of it. or BAR PATRON in the BAR trying to let loose and get DRUNK and probably laid. i'm really supposed to be concerned?

All these things you presume "rocknroller band dudes" do have nothing to do with the fact that playing shows and seeing shows is a much better experience when the venue is non-smoking.

I will agree thought that it's a little messed up that private businesses cannot choose how to run their establishment. That's pretty crazy. Still, in this case, it makes playing and seeing rock shows a much better experience.
mtar

I wasn't aware of a possible ban in Chicago. Here in Louisville, it's becoming closer and closer for a ban being passed. So far it only bans smoking in restaurants and daycares? The local bars won't be affected by it. I personally can't stand it when im trying to enjoy an expensive meal and some fucks are blowing smoke in my face and food. But it would suck if i couldn't smoke in bar. I don't know.

Any bar that doesnt let you smoke will never get my business. That's all I have to say about it.

Fucking people. Hey, I don't like something...they should pass a law that says NOONE can do it.
Don't be a fucking pussy, people have smoked in bars since way way way before you were born, deal with it.
I don't smoke and I don't like coming home smelling like smoke just like everyone else, but what kind of asshole would I be to insist everyone think and feel exactally like me? Some people enjoy smoking, lots of people, in fact....just because I wanna see a band, do I expect everyone to not smoke because I showed up and I don't like it? No, I realize I am not the center of the fucking universe, when I go out in public I must deal with the public...I can sit in my house if I want everything arranged just how I like it. The last thing we need to do in this day and age is make the concert going experience more rigid and regulated and boring. Can we please not let the dorks win this ONE fucking time?
If you don't like going to smoke filled bars it would seem to make sense you would stop going to smoke filled bars.
If people smoking cigarettes is something that just really bugs you, why would you get a job in a place consistantly filled with people smoking cigarettes?
How about the owner of the bar can decide if he wants to let people smoke inside his bar? Some bars can be smoke filled, some can be smoke free....people who like to smoke can go to and work at smoke bars and people who don't like it can go to and work at smoke free bars....for some reason this isn't good enough for some people, and I don't understand why.

Rotten Tanx wrote:Any bar that doesnt let you smoke will never get my business. That's all I have to say about it.

Looks like you're never coming to a bar in California.