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The Unofficial Opie & Anthony Message Board - FU to more ridiculous anti-smoking laws

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Posted ByDiscussion Topic: FU to more ridiculous anti-smoking laws
IrishAlkey
Chucky
Official OA.com Homo
Nothing makes me harder than the thought of my lips wrapped around a pulsating cock, awaiting that one second when it will explode with semen, flooding my throat and nostrils until I choke. Jokes on you... This won't be here much longer... BTW: me and Ants have had sex multiple times and I ALWAYS catch.
PORTUGAL CUNT ROCKETTE
Look who's laughing now, fuckers!!!

Is It In Yet? JYD-4-LIFE
 [Sarcasm]Subzero316 fan since day one!!1!![/Sarcasm]
"my mod powers are on temporary hiatus"
This status is sponsored by:
P®oJë©T M@¥hέm		posted on 11-24-2001 @ 8:17 AM      
O&A Board Veteran
Registered: Aug. 01
quote:
Did I just type hooey?


Yes, you did. And for your own personal welfare, I suggest you never do it again.





Now I'm having a problem with my balls. Are they supposed to hang so low, or is there more gravity in my pants than I originally thought?
Freedom is worth fighting for.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. All my girlfriends have been blind.
Created by Psycho/Inspired by Greek
LunaBabe
Ok, I know this is all a ploy, but, I'll play anyway.

Dylan? BAH! I've heard BETTER!

JYD-4-LIFE
'Shrooomer		posted on 11-24-2001 @ 12:56 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Jun. 01
quote:
Once again, the government appeases a few loudmouthes and forces a new revenue stream on the backs of law-abiding citizens.

But, you know, the government doesn't want all us addicted nicotene addicts to quit smoking...they make too much money off of it.

And about (most) health insurance companies, they would rather pay for the end care of a cancer/emphesyma patient but not cover any drugs, etc. to aid the smoker to quit...examples: Zyban, wellbutrine, nicotine patches/gum...(you get the idea).

It is easier (so I have heard from all kinds of medical professionals) to kick a heroin habit than it is to quit smoking.


Darkness at the break of noon shadows even the silver spoon the handmade blade, the child's balloon eclipses both the sun and moonTo understand you know too soon there is no sense in trying. Pointed threats, they bluff with scorn suicide remarks are torn from the fool's gold mouthpiece the hollow horn plays wasted words proves to warnThat he not busy being born is busy dying. Temptation's page flies out the door you follow, find yourself at war Watch waterfalls of pity roar you feel to moan but unlike before you discover that you'd just be one more person crying. So don't fear if you hear a foreign sound to your ear. It's alright, Ma, I'm only sighing. As some warn victory, some downfall private reasons great or small can be seen in the eyes of those that call to make all that should be killed to crawl while others say don't hate nothing at all except hatred. Disillusioned words like bullets bark as human gods aim for their mark make everything from toy guns that spark to flesh-colored Christs that glow in the dark It's easy to see without looking too far that not much is really sacred. While preachers preach of evil fates Teachers teach that knowledge waits can lead to hundred-dollar plates goodness hides behind its gates but even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked.An' though the rules of the road have been lodged it's only people's games that you got to dodge And it's alright, Ma, I can make it. Advertising signs that con you into thinking you're the one that can do what's never been done that can win what's never been won meantime life outside goes on all around you.You lose yourself, you reappear you suddenly find you got nothing to fear alone you stand with nobody near when a trembling distant voice, unclear startles your sleeping ears to hear that somebody thinks they really found you. A question in your nerves is lit yet you know there is no answer fit to satisfy insure you not to quit to keep it in your mind and not forget that it is not he or she or them or it that you belong to. Although the masters make the rules for the wise men and the fools I got nothing, Ma, to live up to. For them that must obey authority that they do not respect in any degree who despise their jobs, their destinies speak jealously of them that are free cultivate their flowers to be nothing more than something they invest in. While some on principles baptized To strict party platform ties social clubs in drag disguise outsiders they can freely criticize tell nothing except who to idolize and then say God bless him. While one who sings with his tongue on fire gargles in the rat race choir bent out of shape from society's pliers cares not to come up any higher but rather get you down in the hole that he's in. But I mean no harm nor put fault on anyone that lives in a vault But it's alright, Ma, if I can't please him. Old lady judges watch people in pairs limited in sex, they dare to push fake morals, insult and stare while money doesn't talk, it swears obscenity, who really cares propaganda, all is phony. While them that defend what they cannot see with a killer's pride, security it blows the minds most bitterly for them that think death's honesty won't fall upon them naturally life sometimes must get lonely. My eyes collide head-on with stuffed graveyards false gods, I scuff at pettiness which plays so rough walk upside-down inside handcuffs kick my legs to crash it off say okay, I have had enough what else can you show me? And if my thought-dreams could be seen they'd probably put my head in a guillotine But it's alright, Ma, it's life, and life only.
SOBERMAN
posted on 11-24-2001 @ 10:41 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Oct. 01
Get cancer and fucking die a slow painful death smokers or you can get some will power and quit.
Slow suicide is your choice.
A public dis-service announcement.

Wookie
posted on 11-25-2001 @ 12:19 AM      
Psychopath
Registered: Mar. 01
quote:
But, you know, the government doesn't want all us addicted nicotene addicts to quit smoking...they make too much money off of it.

So we agree, I think, right?
The government makes a crapload of money off of our vices, in many ways, shapes and forms, and is all too happy to add to the pot. Tax the cigs, the booze, and the treatments that come from them. And then, in what is actual brilliance, SUE to get even more from the same companies!!


Happy Thanksgiving to you all!
You're reading this sig with antici

pation.
Welcome to Lifestyles of the Perverted & Privileged!

IrishAlkey
Chucky
Official OA.com Homo
Nothing makes me harder than the thought of my lips wrapped around a pulsating cock, awaiting that one second when it will explode with semen, flooding my throat and nostrils until I choke. Jokes on you... This won't be here much longer... BTW: me and Ants have had sex multiple times and I ALWAYS catch.
PORTUGAL CUNT ROCKETTE
Look who's laughing now, fuckers!!!

Is It In Yet? JYD-4-LIFE
 [Sarcasm]Subzero316 fan since day one!!1!![/Sarcasm]
"my mod powers are on temporary hiatus"
This status is sponsored by:
P®oJë©T M@¥hέm		posted on 11-25-2001 @ 3:15 AM      
O&A Board Veteran
Registered: Aug. 01
quote:
Get cancer and fucking die a slow painful death smokers or you can get some will power and quit.


Fuck you too.






Now I'm having a problem with my balls. Are they supposed to hang so low, or is there more gravity in my pants than I originally thought?
Freedom is worth fighting for.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. All my girlfriends have been blind.
Created by Psycho/Inspired by Greek
crx girl
Newbie! vg Y's me
ugo girl
Limey Mothercocker 		posted on 11-25-2001 @ 3:18 AM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Oct. 00
i need a cigarette :(



An invasion of armies can be resisted, but not an idea whose time has come. --Victor Hugo
regardless of my status, i am a nice person. no really, i am, i swear;) crack hitler belongs to me :)
need me? try: [email protected]
MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-26-2001 @ 1:34 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
I haven't been here since last week, and I am amazed by the responses - my point was not that smoking isn't bad for you, but that the law is absurd and it's going way too far. And Mr. Brownstone I'll have to get back to you, after I do some research to find the article where I read that in the long run it will cost the health care system/government more money if everyone where to quit smoking.

But all that aside, FU to all of you who think this law is ok, you might as well make leaf blowers illegal then, I have to breathe those fumes, oh but it's not PC to pick on that.

MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-26-2001 @ 3:03 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
Mr. Browstone - here's what my point was - Because smokers tend to die earlier than nonsmokers, the short-term costs of treating tobacco-related illness are balanced, and probably outweighed, by savings on Social Security, nursing home stays, and medical care in old age.

Here's another point:
Federal and state excise taxes on cigarettes already generate more than $13 billion in annual revenue -- far more than the smoking-related costs paid out of public coffers. Economists who have examined the data have concluded, without exception, that publicly funded health expenditures are less than current excise tax collections. And if we consider pension and geriatric savings due to premature deaths, total social costs are less than half the prevailing tax bite. That may sound ghoulish, but it's the government, not tobacco companies, that laments the financial impact on the public treasury. In calculating that impact, both costs and savings must be considered. In a nutshell, tobacco companies and their customers have more than paid their way. (From an article - "Hooked on Taxes", Robert A. Levy, 3/15/99)

Anyway, my point regarding the above was that the government doesn't want to make smoking illegal because of the costs involved (although I'd prefer that smoking was illegal), so if it's not illegal, I totally believe that I should most certainly be able to do it in my own home/on my own property and that's why this Maryland law is absurd.


SOBERMAN
posted on 11-26-2001 @ 4:32 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Oct. 01
Fuck you too?
Witty comeback IrishAlkey.
Must be the squash rot you suffer from tough guy.

MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-26-2001 @ 5:02 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
quote:
Get cancer and fucking die a slow painful death smokers or you can get some will power and quit.

What exactly is your problem SOBERMAN? Why do you care if someone else smokes, and care to the point that you wish them to suffer? And as far as will power goes, why do you assume that every smoker wants to quit but can't?


Mr. Brownstone
posted on 11-26-2001 @ 5:25 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Dec. 00
I did a search and this is the closest I could come up with. There isn't a thing about smoking in your own house. Please get some real facts together.
quote:
Excerpts from: Maryland Village Endorses a Ban on Outdoor Smoking

By THE NEW YORK TIMES [11/25/00]

CHEVY CHASE, Md., Nov. 22 — Smoking
outdoors will soon be outlawed in a small
corner of Maryland, except on private property, if
the local Village Council gets its way.

In Friendship Heights, a neighborhood of about
5,000 residents in Chevy Chase, just outside
Washington, the Council is seeking county
approval for a ban on smoking in all public
spaces that are maintained by the village.

Under the ban, smoking on sidewalks, streets,
patches of grass or any other area owned by the
village would be punished with a $100 fine.
Anyone discarding tobacco products in those
areas would also be subject to the fine.

If the regulation is approved by Montgomery
County, Friendship Heights will have the most
far-reaching ban on outdoor smoking in the
nation, according to Americans for Nonsmokers'
Rights, a group that works to limit the exposure
of nonsmokers to secondhand smoke.

Some 60 jurisdictions nationwide already ban
outdoor smoking in some form, but none of the
bans extend beyond enclosed public spaces —
like stadiums, beaches or parks — to the
sidewalks and streets outside, the group says.

The County Council is expected to vote on the
measure on Dec. 12.

The prime mover behind the ban, Alfred Muller,
the mayor of Friendship Heights, said that the
goal was not only to deter smoking, but also to
protect civil rights.

As an example, Dr. Muller, a physician, brought
up the case of a resident with asthma who often
had to cross the street to avoid smokers.
Otherwise, Dr. Muller said, "he would get smoke
in his face. He would start coughing and it might
set off an asthma attack."

The regulation's prospects in the County Council
are uncertain, officials said. But Dr. Muller said
that he liked its chances and that the regulation
was consistent with other county and state laws.

"You're not allowed to walk down the street with
alcohol," he said, "and no one makes a fuss
about that."

"Public areas," he said, "were not built for people
to do whatever they want."










This space for sale.


I see stupid people...They're everywhere...They don't know they're stupid...


This message was edited by Mr. Brownstone on 11-26-01 @ 5:42 PM
MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-26-2001 @ 8:13 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
That was not the article I saw, the one I saw (which I don't have on hand, but which was on drudge the day I posted it) spoke about the $750 fine if your smoke bothered your neighbor. What is your problem Mr. Brownstone? You wanted an explanation of
quote:
and health care system (never mind tobacco companies) because they want it legal. They make money from it, and the health care system would be overwhelmed if all those who died from smoking didn't actually die anymore

Remember, you said
quote:
Explain please

Which is what I just did. Now you're accusing me of not having my facts straight. Well, I got the info off an article on the web, hence the FU. So what exactly is your problem? Seems like it's with me in particular, if that's the case, speak up, but if it's a problem with my FU, I think I've addressed your concerns although I guess now I have to find the original article...in the meantime why don't you lighten up, hehehe, or light up and relax

MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-26-2001 @ 8:23 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
Here you guy Mr. Brownstone
This is the link http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A62743-2001Nov21.html

This is the article
Md. County Passes Smoking Measure The Associated Press
Wednesday, November 21, 2001; 6:08 AM

ROCKVILLE, Md. –– An affluent, populous county just outside the nation's capital has approved one of the most restrictive anti-smoking measures in the nation, allowing residents to be fined up to $750 if neighbors complain about odor from their homes.

The measure stems from Montgomery County's attempt to regulate indoor air quality. County Executive Douglas Duncan initially excluded tobacco smoke from a list of pollutants covered by the measure, but a committee restored it and six of the nine members of the council agreed after a heated debate Tuesday.

The measure would treat tobacco smoke in the same manner as asbestos, radon, molds, pesticides or other pollutants. If the smoke gets into a neighbor's home, the neighbor would be able to complain to the county's Department of Environmental Protection.

"This does not say that you cannot smoke in your house," said council member Isiah Leggett. "What it does say is that your smoke cannot cross property lines."

Landlords or condominium associations that do not properly ventilate their buildings – or smokers who do not take steps to relieve the problem – would face fines of up to $750 per violation.

"If you live in a house on a two-acre lot you are exempt from the moral police, but not if you are unfortunate enough to live in a small town home or an apartment," said council member Michael L. Subin, who opposed the measure.

The first focus will be on educating violators. They would be fined only after a series of warnings, said Duncan's chief regulator, Jim Caldwell. He added that a problem often can be solved by tinkering with a vent, opening a window or plugging a crack in the wall.

Duncan, who has promised to sign the bill, predicted that most people wouldn't be inconvenienced.

"We get little or no complaints about smoking, so I don't think what the council changed is going to have much effect," he said.

Montgomery County has been the site of tough anti-smoking ordinances in the past. Friendship Heights, a community in the county of about 870,000 people, had banned outdoor smoking in public places, including parks and sidewalks. But a judge earlier this year halted the ordinance, considered one of the toughest in the nation.

Happy? Enough facts for you? Man, I wish I knew what your beef was, still upset about the handicapped spot thing huh? Deek!

This message was edited by MomYou'dLikeToF' on 11-26-01 @ 8:33 PM
RainDancer
posted on 11-26-2001 @ 9:34 PM      
Hanger-On
Registered: Sep. 01
I think that is just wonderful. I wish they could pass that law where i live. There wouldn't be so many smoking laws if smokers were more considerate. That law just helps us non-smokers continue to be smoke free. No offense anyone but i think that it is a great idea, a little strict but still a great idea.


"A man's got to do what a man's got to do. A woman must do what he can't" -- Rhonda Hansome
SOBERMAN
posted on 11-27-2001 @ 9:06 AM      
Psychopath
Registered: Oct. 01
MomYou'dLiketoF',
I have no problem.
Whats your problem with me?
I wrote what happens if you smoke.
Its like any other substance abuse problem, it eventually winds up killing you.
I dont mind smokers or cigarette or cigar smoke.
I just feel bad because I have seen the end results of smoking first hand.
Call it tough love, you either quit or you die(or just smell bad).
Its a free country and its legal so smoke 'em if you got 'em.
You can quit anything if you set your mind to it.

MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-27-2001 @ 11:47 AM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
SOBERMAN - I don't have a problem with you, but I assumed when you said "die a slow painful death" that you where sort of saying, you smoke, you're a jerk etc. Chalk it up to a misunderstanding. Sorry, that's the problem with message boards, you can't hear what & how someone is saying so you have to infer what someone meant. My mistake.

RainDancer - have you really had a problem with your neighbor's smoke bothering you? And as far as being inconsiderate, how are smokers inconsiderate given that there are hardly any places where they can smoke anymore?

Mr. Brownstone
posted on 11-27-2001 @ 1:39 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Dec. 00
quote:
The measure stems from Montgomery County's attempt to regulate indoor air quality. County Executive Douglas Duncan initially excluded tobacco smoke from a list of pollutants covered by the measure, but a committee restored it and six of the nine members of the council agreed after a heated debate Tuesday.

The measure would treat tobacco smoke in the same manner as asbestos, radon, molds, pesticides or other pollutants. If the smoke gets into a neighbor's home, the neighbor would be able to complain to the county's Department of Environmental Protection.
Makes perfect sense to me.
quote:
So what exactly is your problem? Seems like it's with me in particular
Nope
quote:
quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
and health care system (never mind tobacco companies) because they want it legal. They make money from it, and the health care system would be overwhelmed if all those who died from smoking didn't actually die anymore

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Remember, you said
quote:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Explain please
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Which is what I just did. Now you're accusing me of not having my facts straight. Well, I got the info off an article on the web, hence the FU.
1) The healthcare system would not be overwhelmed if all smokers quit because a) these people would be living healthier lifestyles and not need as much medical intervension and b) smokers tie up alot of medical resources as they start the long process of dying from smoking related illness.

2) If you want to talk about something you saw online your argument will be much stronger if you present the article you want to talk about, rather than the vague "I saw something somwhere". That's what I meant.




This space for sale.


I see stupid people...They're everywhere...They don't know they're stupid...
MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-27-2001 @ 1:45 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
quote:
1) The healthcare system would not be overwhelmed if all smokers quit because a) these people would be living healthier lifestyles and not need as much medical intervension and b) smokers tie up alot of medical resources as they start the long process of dying from smoking related illness.

That's not what the article I quoted/posted said so I don't agree with you, but whatever, I'm sure there's arguments/research on both sides.
quote:
Makes perfect sense to me.
Not to me, hence the FU. I think it's carrying things too far, if I'm sitting on my deck smoking and my smoke drifts over to my neighbors yard and into their house I 1. don't think it's enough smoke to hurt them 2. I think it's unfair since I'm smoking at my home 3. They can close the window 4. I don't smoke IN my house, only outside so now I can't even do that (theoretically anyway)
Obviously we'll never agree, and as long as your problem is not with me personally, I'm happy to debate it forever or just drop it. I just got the impression you had a problem w/me personally.
So now that we have that cleared up, FU (said with a smile) to all you people who can't see that this is law is totally overboard. Like I said, make it illegal if it's so bad but don't make it impossible for people who like to smoke to do so.
Carry on.

Faceman
...And now the battle between us and them has begun.

JYD-4-LIFE.

posted on 11-27-2001 @ 1:54 PM      
O&A Board Veteran
Registered: May. 00
Boo-fucking-hoo to the smokers.
question:Why do smokers come off as such elitists?



Why do we live this life
With all of this hate inside
I'll give it away 'cause I dont want it no more
Please, help me find it please
Somewhere far away
Yes I'm going, you'll never see me again





Mr. Brownstone
posted on 11-27-2001 @ 2:09 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Dec. 00
quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1) The healthcare system would not be overwhelmed if all smokers quit because a) these people would be living healthier lifestyles and not need as much medical intervension and b) smokers tie up alot of medical resources as they start the long process of dying from smoking related illness.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


That's not what the article I quoted/posted said so I don't agree with you, but whatever, I'm sure there's arguments/research on both sides.
I don't see a thing about this in the article you posted.
quote:
I don't think it's enough smoke to hurt them
The Montgomery County Department of Environmental Protection disagrees. But I guess along with your super medical diagnostic skills you also know how to judge the air qualinty in people's home's in other states, without even visiting there.
quote:
3. They can close the window
Bzzzz!!!!! Wrong, try agin. It's your smoke, you figure out how to keep it out of my house.
quote:
I don't smoke IN my house, only outside so now I can't even do that
Why not? Becuse it stinks to high hell? Or maybe you don't want your kids exposed to it? Guess what, I don't want that shit in my house either.
quote:
FU (said with a smile) to all you people who can't see that this is law is totally overboard
:)Fuck you too:)




This space for sale.


I see stupid people...They're everywhere...They don't know they're stupid...
MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-27-2001 @ 3:33 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
quote:
question:Why do smokers come off as such elitists?

I'm so sorry faceman, please tell me, what makes me sound elitist?
quote:
I don't see a thing about this in the article you posted.
See the article by Robert Levy in one of my earlier posts
quote:
Bzzzz!!!!! Wrong, try agin. It's your smoke, you figure out how to keep it out of my house.
It's my smoke that I'm generating on my property, so if you don't like the smell coming in from outside it's your problem. As I mentioned earlier, do people get fined when they're blowing their leaves off their property and I have to smell the gas from the leafblower, and why isn't it a problem if someone is having a bbq and I get smoke from the grill on my property, or if someone is burning something in their backyard? Those things don't matter right? And don't tell me exhaust/gas from a leafblower isn't bad for me, or even say, exhaust from a car warming up in the driveway?
I have to say, the more I argue about this, the more annoyed I get. You are right Mr. Brownstone, I'm not a doctor (yet again), but I think I have a decent amount of common sense. I really can't believe that smoke drifting over property lines can be all that harmful. My main problem with this law is that it just goes too far. I think smoking has been restricted in many places, and I don't have a problem with most of it, but banning it outside, at home just seems totally unfair to me, and again, if it's really THAT BAD, make it totally illegal. But for now, it's not illegal so if I can't even do it at home without offending someone or getting fined, where can I do it? Does that seem fair to you if you look at it objectively and not just as someone who dislikes smoke?
How's that Ken'sPen, long enough for you? And by the way, could you give me a little help here. Looks like I'm alone on this one, and that blows my mind :)
Oh, one more thing, as far as smokers being a financial burden etc. should we ban fast food, force people to exercise, close bars etc? Fat people and alcoholics certainly cost society a lot of money. How about not letting people work too much, that causes stress, stress causes health problems - ok I'm being extreme, but I think you get my point. Actually, you probably don't, but oh well, it's something else to debate ;)




This message was edited by MomYou'dLikeToF' on 11-27-01 @ 3:51 PM
MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-28-2001 @ 1:58 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
Well now I definitely won't move to Maryland:

XXXXX DRUDGE REPORT XXXXX WED NOV 28 2001 11:14:49 ET XXXXX

FIRST NO SMOKE, NOW NO SANTA: MARYLAND TOWN TELLS JOLLY 'OLE NICK TO STAY HOME

A Maryland town in the very same county that tried banning cigarette smoking in homes, has now told Santa Claus to stay away from a public Christmas tree lighting!

The Montgomery County community of Kensington has banned the jolly old man from its annual tree lighting ceremony this Sunday. "Because two families in our town felt that they would be uncomfortable with Santa Claus being a part of our event," Mayor Lynn Raufaste said.

The Town Council banned Santa after the complaints.

In years past, Santa would arrive on a fire truck and light the tree with the mayor. But on Sunday, the mayor will do the honors herself.

"This is a part of the American life, and I just think it's a shame that we can't have one in our town this year," Raufaste said.

Montgomery County lawmakers recently passed legislation that would have regulated smoking in the privacy of people's homes.

The county reversed course this week after a rash of worldwide attention and a public opinion backlash.

"At least now Santa can stay at home and smoke, if nothing else, since he is now banned from the tree lighting," mocked one Montgomery County lawmaker on Wednesday. "We have become a national embarrassment."

Developing...


MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-28-2001 @ 2:04 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
Looks like we weren't the only ones debating this, but I'm happy to say that intelligence prevailed :) kidding, sort of ;) :) :)

MomYou'dLikeToF'
posted on 11-28-2001 @ 2:04 PM      
Psychopath
Registered: Sep. 01
Looks like we weren't the only ones debating this, but I'm happy to say that intelligence prevailed :) kidding, sort of ;) :) :)

Global Ridicule Extinguishes Montgomery's Anti-Smoking Bill
By Jo Becker
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, November 28, 2001; Page A01


Montgomery County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D) yesterday vetoed legislation that would have regulated smoking in the privacy of people's homes, reversing course after a rash of worldwide attention and a public opinion backlash.

Duncan took the action after a key County Council member who voted for the legislation took a public stand against it yesterday, a defection that means supporters no longer have the votes to override the veto.

Council President Blair G. Ewing (D-At Large) acknowledged that political reality, expressing disappointment but saying the erosion of political support had effectively killed the legislation.

Council member Michael L. Subin (D-At Large), an opponent, said, "We've become the laughingstock of the world."

The provision, which the council passed last week as part of a package of indoor air-quality standards, represented one of the most restrictive anti-smoking measures in the nation. Had it become law, the legislation would have set fines of up to $750 for people who smoke in their homes if the smoke crossed property lines and offended neighbors.

Last week, Duncan unequivocally promised to support the measure. Yesterday, he said he had changed his mind after realizing that the anti-smoking provision "went way too far" and had received little public input before passage.

"Based on initial discussions with my staff, I believed that this bill could become law and that we could manage the tobacco smoke issues through a combination of education and prudent use of enforcement resources," Duncan said in his veto message. "Upon further consideration, however, it has become clear that the tobacco smoke provisions will be nothing more than a tool to be used in squabbles between neighbors, and that significant resources will be required to address these complaints."

Council member Howard A. Denis (R-Potomac-Bethesda) had urged Duncan to veto the bill, announcing yesterday that he could no longer support legislation that the public "overwhelmingly" opposed.

The legislation was initially designed to give environmental regulators an enforcement tool to deal with indoor air-pollution complaints involving such irritants as mold, excessive dust, pesticides, paint and carpet glue odors, or gases such as carbon monoxide.

Denis said he voted in favor of the bill, despite the decision by other council members to add tobacco smoke to the list of regulated pollutants, because he believed it was important to address indoor air-quality health issues.

But since then, Denis said, the legislation generated widespread ridicule. Conservative commentator -- and Montgomery County resident -- George Will compared the council to the Taliban on ABC's nationally televised show "This Week." Journalists deluged the council with requests for interviews, and the Moscow Times even weighed in with a column.

"I got put in the same bag as the Taliban," Denis said. "The public has spoken. The reputation of the county is literally at stake here."

Denis's switch was critical because his vote had provided the veto-proof majority.

The version that the Duncan administration originally drafted excepted tobacco smoke from the new regulations, which define indoor pollutants as agents that are "likely to pose a health hazard to humans, plants or animals or unreasonably interfere with the use or enjoyment of residential or non-residential property."

But the council rejected that exception, arguing that secondhand smoke should be treated the same as any other air pollutant.

That prompted tobacco companies to threaten a legal challenge, the American Civil Liberties Union to express concern about the impact on property rights and opponents on the council to charge that the law would unfairly target the poor because it would probably have no impact on people who live in single-family homes on large lots.

Ewing said the council is likely to pass an air-quality bill that is virtually identical to Duncan's original proposal. But he blasted Duncan for doing an about-face.

"I think the public will be disappointed," Ewing said. "Tobacco smoke is a toxic air pollutant. . . . So to have an indoor air-pollution bill that doesn't include tobacco is absurd on the face of it."

The council has supported a number of tobacco regulations, including a ban on restaurant smoking that is tied up in court and a ban on outdoor smoking in Friendship Heights that did not survive a legal challenge.

"It's the same old saga -- there's a significant vocal minority who do not want to see us regulate a lethal product," said council member Steven A. Silverman (D-At Large), a supporter. "What you are not hearing are the people who say this is a good thing, and if it saves a few lives, great."

Residents and nonresidents flooded the council with letters.

Some, like Shana Trostel, of Rockville, praised the council for taking steps to "protect those who suffer from exposure to other people's tobacco smoke." Trostel, who suffers from asthma, wrote that she cannot use her deck or open her windows because of her neighbor's smoke.

But most letters blasted the legislation as paternalistic.

"While I fully support restricting smoking in public places, I am aghast at the prospect of such ridiculous antics arising from this council," wrote Joseph Wilmot, of Poolesville.



© 2001 The Washington Post Company




Sephiroth
posted on 11-28-2001 @ 2:10 PM      
O&A Board Regular
Registered: Dec. 00
To Sum it up Angry Non-Smokers: Shut Up. The cool people dont want you in their bars anyway.

L33T LIEK JEFFK MOTHERBITCHES

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