Should Smoking Be Allowed Outdoors?
SodaHead Living
2011/02/24 16:00:00
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972 votes
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348 votes
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The great outdoors has become the last remaining option for many Americans in need of a cigarette break -- but even this might be going up in smoke.
Chicago and San Francisco already have initiatives to curb secondhand smoke in public places. Now, New York City will ban smoking in parks, beaches, boardwalks, pedestrian plazas and other public spaces beginning on May 23, Reuters reports.
"Frederick Law Olmsted hailed public parks as the 'lungs of the city' -- a haven where one could escape the overcrowded, noisy and polluted streets," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement after signing the legislation on Tuesday. "We need to ensure that our public spaces provide just that -- a healthy place in which to relax and enjoy the surroundings."
New Yorkers are not allowed to smoke in restaurants and bars. They are permitted to light up on sidewalks and streets as well as in parking lots and in their homes, although most landlords don't allow it.
Beginning on May 23, any New Yorker who's caught smoking in a "banned" public space will be given a warning, followed by a $50 fine.
Needless to say, the city's smokers are running out of places to puff -- and some are none to happy about it.
"This is tyranny, rationalized by a lie," Audrey Silk, director of New York Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment, told Reuters. "That secondhand smoke is harming anybody outside is an absolute lie."
Chicago and San Francisco already have initiatives to curb secondhand smoke in public places. Now, New York City will ban smoking in parks, beaches, boardwalks, pedestrian plazas and other public spaces beginning on May 23, Reuters reports.
"Frederick Law Olmsted hailed public parks as the 'lungs of the city' -- a haven where one could escape the overcrowded, noisy and polluted streets," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said in a statement after signing the legislation on Tuesday. "We need to ensure that our public spaces provide just that -- a healthy place in which to relax and enjoy the surroundings."
New Yorkers are not allowed to smoke in restaurants and bars. They are permitted to light up on sidewalks and streets as well as in parking lots and in their homes, although most landlords don't allow it.
Beginning on May 23, any New Yorker who's caught smoking in a "banned" public space will be given a warning, followed by a $50 fine.
Needless to say, the city's smokers are running out of places to puff -- and some are none to happy about it.
"This is tyranny, rationalized by a lie," Audrey Silk, director of New York Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment, told Reuters. "That secondhand smoke is harming anybody outside is an absolute lie."
Read More: http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/23/us-nyc-s...
frjm
Have a good one
frjm
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frjm
.... you want to bust 'em for littering when they toss a butt on the ground .. okay .. prohibiting an outdoor habit, crazy ... just crazy
Best Wrinkle Cream
For all of those highly opposed to outdoor smokers and want to ban it altogether, how about taking a journey on the Interstates and test the emissions you breathe coming thru your Heating/Air Conditioning Ducts in your Automobile from the thousands of 18 Wheelers delivering your daily goods. Perhaps once you understand the dangers, someone smoking a Cigarette is not nearly as deadly.