Pattycakes,

I am sorry to burst your bubble, but your notion of private property is a few hundred years out of date ... ever since the onset of imminent domain. If you think you own your home, try giving it to the government of North Korea, or Cuba, or Iran. You cannot do so.

Brian is correct in his conjecture that most bar and restaurant owners are smokers ... because they were trained and worked in the bar and restaurant business. I know of no state in the country where it is legal to smoke in a food prep area. But virtually everyone in the kitchen is a smoker... because the boss is a smoker. He may not understand, "I need ten minutes to call my girlfriend, but as a smoker, he understands, "I haven't had a break in two hours. I need a cigarette." Many bar and restaurant emmployees began smoking because it was the only way they could get a break.

By the same token, bar and restaurant owners love to hire Mormons because they don't smoke, drink, use caffeine...ie they are more profitable.

I believe Brian to be incorrect on his asbestos anology. We have known about coal miners and black lung longer than tobaccor or asbestos.... How many coal mines is the government shutting down ... zero. Because they need the coal slurry to keep the power plants runnig. Same with automobile emmissions.

Wait 'til they decide the emmissions from Van Camps Pork and Beans are dangerous and outlaw an industry in your backyard. Then, maybe, people will get on their bandwagon and you will see whet it is like for five or six family members at once to loose their jobs.

There is one other legal aspect of the non-smoking bans which has not been discussed. Laws change all the time. To protect those existing businesses which have been operating under previous law, the practise of "grandfathering" has been long established and recognized. Does anyone know of any "anti-smoking" ordnance which grandfathered any business? That to me, is the mark of legal fanaticism.

One last point. This country-wide ban in Ireland is fairly new, yet a web search will reveal several "smoking speakeasies"have already sprung up.

Ahh... back to prohibition.

dawg

[This message has been edited by greydog (edited 03-30-2004).]

Wisdom does not always accompany age. Sometimes
age just shows up alone.