A no-nicotine county

[TropicalBob]

Pulling this back on topic ...

The first Florida city to ban hiring smokers, North Miami, dropped the requirement. The outcry in Sarasota this past week has been so great that the County Comission will "reconsider" the matter this Tuesday. I expect the ordinance to be canned. I was among those firing off angry letters that got their attention. I'll update after the vote.

 

[Machina]

Right. They are banning ALL nicotine use, including exposure to second-hand smoke.

Plus, their argument that smokers cost the health-care industry more than 'healthy' individuals is absolutely absurd, as found in a recent study that compared the cost of health-care for smokers, obese individuals, and healthy individuals.

http://www.jointogether.org/news/resear ... ty-no.html

Ok, so it's a matter of money spent on sick smokers then? Alright, we just need to cut some expenses from a normal companies health insurance.

So..... lets find the slack by making the fatties lose weight No money spend on double and triple bypasses and we can go back to smoking.

 

[TropicalBob]

Brief update: The commission did not take up the ordinance this week. They had their hands full with a more pressing public matter causing extreme local outrage: a proposal to charge for metered parking at public beaches. So great was the outrage that that commission withdrew any notion of charging for beach parking.

 

[Minus Sign]

Can we get these commissioners mailing addresses Bob? Or...the mailing address of your congressman? It should be public record.

Speaking personally, this is not an outrage. It is illegal; a broken legal loophole being milked as hard as it can be by a public official that is catering to his affluent non-smoking majority. But the how makes this abuse of power at best. When the law stops protecting the public and seeks only to persecute a minority(be it ethnic, religious, social, or people who use a legal substance responsibly) that's discrimination. It doesn't matter if the people making this policy are working for a company or a county, until nicotine is designated an illegal substance, its recreational use cannot be a factor in deciding who is and is not employed. This is the same as firing people if they tied one on during off hours, despite coming to work sober.

And sense snuss, snuff, dips, nicotine patches, gums, and e-cigs do not contain "secondhand" side effects, the health issue is one of personal choice.

Banning smoking from public places is one thing. Banning nicotine from people's bloodstreams is government meddling at its worst.

I want a lawyer to chime in on this one. Seriously; this has got to be unconstitutional. I hope someone takes it to the supreme court. Soon.

 

[Minus Sign]

darn. hit quote instead of edit

 

[TropicalBob]

This is a red-hot issue in Sarasota County. The link here is to today's "guest column" from the county manager, answering numerous letters to the editor. http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20080602/COLUMNIST13/806020606/1008/OPINION

Note the "anti-tobacco, no-smoking" message when what they're really banning is nicotine in the bloodstream. They don't get it! E-smoking, snus, dissolvable tobacco bits .. all are lumped in with the "killer" cigarette smoking practice. I, too, hope some court says this is far beyond an employer's legal right to restrict personal risk choices.

 

[Minus Sign]

TB, you've got experience as a reporter. How do you get something like this forwarded to a national paper? Like the NYTimes or USA Today maybe.

 

[TropicalBob]

Yes, I do. I wish I had clout to make it happen. Strangely, the Sarasota Herald-Tribune, the newspaper where all this is occuring, is a New York Times chain paper. So the stories are moved to other Times' papers. It's up to individual papers to determine whether a particular news story has local worthiness. My hunch is that most editors view this as a "Sarasota issue," not seeing the ramifications for everyone if this catches on.

 

[NerdyCinderella]

Yes, I do...

I'm surprised TB. I thought you were against spreading public information on the subject of ecigs. I'm sure I'm missing a nuance.

 

[TropicalBob]

What I worried about, some time ago, was tipping the FDA in any way. I figure they're busy chasing down killer ingredients in Chinese food and medical products, so they haven't noticed e-smoking yet. SJ and I briefly exchanged on this. I was preparing a magazine article on e-smoking (no, it's not yet purchased but indications are good it will be) and I needed to get some "official" reaction to the products.

Now, I am press, so I ended up asking the FDA's press office for a statement on e-smoking. Ha. They didn't even reply. Never answered a detailed email. Never returned a phone call. That is typical, by the way, of federal agencies and I didn't take it personally.

I'm not against information. I'm against misinformation. And that's what's being spread by poorly researched TV reports and some newspapers that feel the need to "balance" e-smoking's benefits with angry statements from anti-tobacco fanatics. I keep their email addresses handy, just in case some editor says "balance" is needed. (I like the whackiest ones, who will proclaim this the "devil's instrument" or something equally nutty). I usually argue with an editor that our goal is "truth", not giving opposing statements equal weight and leaving readers confused. But I lose that argument often. "Fair and balanced" is the goal, so nobody can complain.

 

[Minus Sign]

I guess I wasn't fair or balanced enough because...looks like the Herald is censoring me. S'alright. I came in with guns blazing and they slammed the door in my face. My comments don't make the page, but stay quietly in the forum...better than a permaban I suppose.

 

[NerdyCinderella]

Thanks for clarifying that for me TB

 

[pekulior]

I live in Utah. You wanna talk about craziness? I'm severely in the minority here. I'm a smoker (soon to be e-smoker...) and I'm not a mormon, I occasionally drink and I have tattoos. I'm pretty much the devil incarnate to them. Apparently, I'll eat their babies and get their women pregnant with the spawn of the devil or something.

Anyway....on to what I was going to say. We have the indoor clean air act going on at the moment. They're trying to pass a law banning smoking in public parks. By 2009 they're hoping to have a law banning smoking anywhere except your own home or vehicle. When I first moved here about a year ago, I had a hell of a time trying to find a place to live because I smoke. Even though I smoke outside! One place wouldn't even show me a house because they found out I smoke. I tried to explain I don't smoke indoors, but it wouldn't do. sounds like a fun place to live eh?

I moved here from Kansas where, at the time, I could still smoke in bars and restaurants and what not (I know...I'm spoiled). First time I go out to eat here, I ask them for the smoking section and they stare at me with this dumb look on their face like I'd just told them I wanted to set the place on fire. I asked them what was wrong and their reply was "you're not from around here, are you?". HA! the next funny part was when I tried to order a double whiskey sour while waiting for my food. Not gonna happen! 1oz of alcohol at a time. 3 in the first hour and 1 every hour after that! How can you get drunk like that!?

I really hope they don't pass that law, but I think it is probably going to pass somehow and that makes me a sad panda.

 

[TropicalBob]

Next, we'll have weight scales at the all-you-can-eat buffet entrance. Step on 'em to enter the restaurant...

"I'm sorry, madam, but you are seriously obese and are forbidden from dining in any all-you-can-eat establishment. We do have a 'diet' section if you'll follow me .."

In Florida, I can go stand on a beach while a hurricane is preparing to come ashore. Winds blowing my hair wildly, surf pounding so hard that foam is created and blasting past me ... but I can't light up a cigarette. No smoking on beaches. Or parks. Or baseball stadiums. Or increasingly large numbers of private business properties. And the signs now are being to changed to "No Tobacco Product on this Property." Smokeless is a new demon to exorcise.

Is is pathetically naive to think the anti-smoking people who coerced our present bans into existence are just going to smile and say "Cool" when they observe e-smoking. Hell will freeze over first.

 

[dnakr]

by TropicalBob on Wed Jun 18, 2008 9:45 am

Is is pathetically naive to think the anti-smoking people who coerced our present bans into existence are just going to smile and say "Cool" when they observe e-smoking. Hell will freeze over first.

Unfortunately, you are right. This will not be accepted easily, if ever.

 

[dbitton]

Hey Bob,

Don't worry! Someday there will be another revolution and we won't have to worry about it... If you spent all the energy you're blowing off typing about this on rallying some troops and protesting it, at least you could say that you tried to help liberty along! This country... (and every other for that matter) should be for the people, by the people! The majority of the masses here FEAR the government, FEAR the repercussions and ramifications of standing up for their liberty against governmental opposition, thus HANDING ABSOLUTE POWER to the government, who, in turn has no problem whatsoever telling us how to live our lives. I got news for ya, the people faaaaar outnumber the government and they are well aware... they have no choice but to keep the masses scared, otherwise there would most definitely be a shift of power! The United States Government, after 911 televised that in order to protect yourself against chemical attack you should wrap your house in plastic and duct tape!! And there were people who did! LOL It would be impossible to make your home air tight. and if you could you would have a limited time to live anyway... I mean, complete bull****, and just another slap in the face to the people. I'm glad there are people who depend on the government for things like that though... less competition for food when all the fighting breaks out. I'm sure they all turned their guns in voluntarily during operation clean sweep... so they will be the first to go.

Hey, Did they ban Potatoes? Do you think that companies are going to just let go of 20% of their workforces, and not have some sort of major crisis on hand? It's a good thing the housing industry is so tanked right now cause I'll tell you, they will not find very many suit & tie type non-tobacco users to build everything you see!

 

[andreo]

This is very scary.
Someone should tell the overweight people that they are next. Followed by older people, diabetics, people with a history medical conditions in their family and so on.

 

[jburns]

Right. They are banning ALL nicotine use, including exposure to second-hand smoke.

Plus, their argument that smokers cost the health-care industry more than 'healthy' individuals is absolutely absurd, as found in a recent study that compared the cost of health-care for smokers, obese individuals, and healthy individuals.

North Carolina is about to pass a bill that will limit the amount of heath insurance of any state employee that tests positive for nicotine to 70/30 coverage. I've payed for 90/10 for years. Everyone is using the economic situation to push their own agendas. BTW if the E-cigs catch on in a big way it won't be long before there will be both federal and state taxes on cartridges and liquid.