Virginia is for lovers; no longer loves smokers

[bfunkified]

COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Office of the Governor

Timothy M. Kaine FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Governor February 5, 2009


GOVERNOR KAINE, STATE LEGISLATORS ANNOUNCE GROUNDBREAKING AGREEMENT TO BAN SMOKING IN RESTAURANTS

~ Statewide ban will

Comments

[rawbery79]

They did this in Iowa. I think it's stupid, personally. A lot of restaurants were already smoke free. I think people who make these rules forget that some people are, oh I don't know, addicted?

[layweed]

Shrug. They can go outside and have a puff then. If I'm enjoying a nice meal at a restaurant the last thing I want is have to deal with the smell of cigarette smoke.

[rawbery79]

They can't--you have to be 10 feet away from any entrance. It's possible in some instances, but not always.

They also made one exception--right now, you CAN smoke in casinos. Which is fucked up.

[iamrosalita]

I'm not understanding how having to be 10 feet from an entrance means you can't go outside to smoke.

[rawbery79]

Oh, and you can't smoke on any state owned property. So my boss has to go drive around to have a smoke, which is kind of dumb...burning the gas to have a smoke...redundant all around.

[layweed]

Lol, that sucks. Yeah I know it's not a perfect system. I don't really get the 10-15 foot rule anyway, you're already outside so why can't they smoke? I guess they allow smoking in casinos because it keeps the patrons inside, infront of the slot machines, tables, etc. If it were a patio or an outdoors area too then sure, smoke away. It's mainly the indoor environment that I have a problem with.

[rawbery79]

Yeah, the outside rule makes NO sense. The smoke is dissipated in the air...as long as you aren't right next to the door, it shouldn't be an issue. I think they are revisiting the casino issue, but I am not totally sure

[irisira03]

My heart just bleeds for Philip Morris and RJ Reynolds.

The 10-15 foot rule is for doorways and windows (at least, in NY). My office building (a government building, btw) has cigarette disposals at the foot of the steps. People smoke out there.

[charming_goats]

I can understand. The smokers used to just hang out right outside of the door to my school and since there was so many of them lined up there, you couldn't avoid the secondhand smoke going in and out of the building.

[lotr_crazed]

"I think people who make these rules forget that some people are, oh I don't know, addicted?"

They can go outside and smoke.

I'm asthmatic and allergic to some stuff found in cigarettes. The little glass wall dividing smoking v. non-smoking or putting the smoking and non smoking on different sides of the restaurant doesn't always work. There's nothing worse than trying to eat and then not being able to breathe, feeling like you're going to be sick, and having a massive headache all at the same time.

[rawbery79]

As explained in my other comment, there's the ten foot rule, which makes it difficult when you have a cluster of businesses and you can't smoke within ten feet of them. So where do you go?

And most of the restaurants were already smoke free of their own volition. We really didn't need a law.

[ihatemostthings]

Yeah, I strongly support the 10-15 foot rule; without it people basically smoke IN the doorways (I used to see this alllllll the time in NYC) which is pointless, lots of smoke in the area people have to walk through to get inside, and plenty drifting into the building.

[one_hoopy_frood]

This still happens to me at my school, which is really frustrating as an asthmatic. Every time I want to go into a building, I have to go through a crowd of anywhere between 5 and 20 smokers right at the door.

[intothenightx]

This. Nobody made them start smoking, it was their own decision so they can deal with not being able to smoke. I dont go rubbing peanutbutter on people with nut allergies, so why do I have to deal with people smoking when I'm allergic to it?

Good For Virginia!

[ihatemostthings]

amen to this (also allergic)