Cigarette Smoking Bans & Ordinances

[EastEnd Susan]

Given that the City has virtually no plans for enforcement of the ordinance, the 25 foot rule will pretty much be a non-issue. Frankly, who is going to listen to a smoke Nazi complaining that a smoker is only 10 feet outside the door? The owner has no authority over someone on City ROW, the police are not going to take time away from fighting real crime to use a tape measure, and the City enforcement person is off at night. This is aside from the fact that in 10 years of smoking in front of buildings all over Houston, I have never once had the distance issue raised.

While I am quite sure that there are a few non-smokers looking to cause a stink over the 25 foot rule, I am even more sure that it will get them nowhere. I am also quite sure that bar owners will not be looking to inconvenience their smoking clientele more than they already will be. Those that think otherwise need only look at the opposition to the ordinance by bar owners in the first place.

No one in my building cares if the smokers smoke out in the smoking area or in front of the building. These people are our friends. But just wait.. Come Sept. 1st smoke Nazi will be out there with tape measure in hand. We really wish someone would drop a house on her. The boss made the mistake of making her saftey officer a few years ago because no one else wanted the job. Now she thinks shes SOMBODY!!

[RedScare]

Susan, the office building ban has been in effect for over 10 years. If the Nazi hasn't figured that out, you are probably OK.

[EastEnd Susan]

Susan, the office building ban has been in effect for over 10 years. If the Nazi hasn't figured that out, you are probably OK.

Even the 25 ft part? Thats what she harping on. Can I sue her for being annoying?

[TheNiche]

Even the 25 ft part? Thats what she harping on. Can I sue her for being annoying?

You can sue for any reason you so desire. You can't win, but you sure as hell can be crowned Ms. Annoying Woman of the Year if that's what you're really after.

[EastEnd Susan]

You can sue for any reason you so desire. You can't win, but you sure as hell can be crowned Ms. Annoying Woman of the Year if that's what you're really after.

The sueing part was a futile attemp at lighthearted humor. My co-worker smoke Nazi already had Ms annoying woman of the DECADE all locked up.

[musicman]

The sueing part was a futile attemp at lighthearted humor. My co-worker smoke Nazi already had Ms annoying woman of the DECADE all locked up.

i don't think you're inhaling that cigarette deep enough to really get some relaxation out of it! LOL

[TheNiche]

The sueing part was a futile attemp at lighthearted humor. My co-worker smoke Nazi already had Ms annoying woman of the DECADE all locked up.

I know. Frankly though, I've been awake the whole weekend and don't really know what I meant by that response.

I guess you can just disregard it. Sorry.

[EastEnd Susan]

I know. Frankly though, I've been awake the whole weekend and don't really know what I meant by that response.

I guess you can just disregard it. Sorry.

Its ok.

[Guest Marty]

I never seen anyone enforce the 25 foot no smoking zone. You always see people smoking close to the door.

No. Dropping it unaturally would make me a yankee tool.

I don't use it frequently, but when I do...usually while inebriated, I want it to be pure, a true reflection of myself.

Is this a Yankee tool?

[Native Montrosian]

If any smokers go to shows at the Meridian, they are building a smoking area on the Bell Street side. Can't really have shows sponsored by Camel and no facilities for smokers. Also, I understand that all bars who currently sell cigs can continue to do so. Patrons just have to smoke them in the area, which sounds like it will be pretty nice at Meridian, at least.

[MidtownCoog]

Hmmm....

Sounds like the smoking room at Blunt Bros. in Vancouver.

The BC Bud will blend right in.

[MidtownCoog]

Speaking of Yankees, here's a quote from the NY Times. Kinkaid should put this in his pipe and smoke it:

[Reefmonkey]

Some interesting findings that support this being a very real public health issue, not just for an individual's longterm health, but short-term health as well..

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,298418,00.html

ALBANY

[RedScare]

An observation I've made after a month of entering bars post September 1. Virtually every bar I have been in, including the one I was in last night, is empty. The patios are packed. I've talked to the staff in every establishment, and they all say the same thing. The smokers all hang out on the patio, and their non-smoking friends go out there with them. In every bar I have been to, the crowd outside outnumbers the crowd inside, with the exception of one sports bar. Even that bar was about equal parts inside and outside.

For all the talk of non-smokers coming in droves once the ban took effect, no one I have spoken to has seen it. Some say business is down, others say it is the same, but the inside is empty. As for bars without patios, I cannot say. I do not go to any bar that cannot accomodate me having a smoke with my drink.

One of my predictions absolutely came true. Now that the smoke is gone, many of the bars STINK from stale beer. Previously, the smoke hid the smell.

[sevfiv]

i made the stinky prediction too, and boy were we right

Warren's is especially musty lately...and smokers have to go to the sidewalk to smoke, for now.

[hokieone]

red scare you are right about the patios being packed, but at the same time, i'm still loving the smoking ban. i love to watch college football during my saturdays and the best place is sports bars where you can watch multiple games going on. the thing i hated though was coming home around 6-ish when the game died down and just reeking of the smell. these days, i get home and feel ok, other than of course the effect of the alcohol.

i don't think i would say any of the places i used to go to seem anymore empty, but people have definitely gotten used to going outside. and since most of my friends don't smoke, we're enjoying hitting some spots we used to like, but avoided during the week because of the smoke. loved the pizza and darts at keneally's, but hated the smell. now we go once a week.

i agree not everyone is loving it, but for some of us that love to grab a few drinks during the week and not have to deal with smoke hangover, its nice. and thank god for patios for the rest.

[musicman]

Warren's is especially musty lately...and smokers have to go to the sidewalk to smoke, for now.

lately? The owner is going for a patio permit for the front but the city turned her down because the sidewalk is now too narrow after the cotswald improvements.

[innerloop]

The outdoor patios are more crowded lately, but that's not all because non-smokers are hanging out with the smokers. The weather is getting cooler once the sun goes down so I'm enjoying the chance to be outside. Plus, I sat outside at Cobain's the other night because it was freezing inside.

[Reefmonkey]

For all the talk of non-smokers coming in droves once the ban took effect, no one I have spoken to has seen it.

Did someone here on this board say they thought nonsmokers would come out in droves after the smoking ban? I certainly never expected that. I said the opposite, that the smokers wouldn't flee the bars and the bar owners wouldn't see decreased revenue post-ban. It's exactly what I surmised would happen - the smokers keep coming to the bars, they just go out on the patio to smoke, and us nonsmokers who have been going to bars all along and silently enduring are now breathing (now that we finally can breathe) a sigh of relief. I don't see why anyone on either side would expect to see a non-smoking, traditionally non-drinking person suddenly start going to bars because of a no smoking ban.

I don't know, in the bars I've been to, I haven't seen them empty inside. Maybe it's the nights you go. I do know that I've been requesting outside tables at restaurants and chosen seats on patios at bars a lot more recently the last couple of months - not to hang out with smokers, but to enjoy the nice fall weather we've been having. Hmmm. Maybe we should take a look in January, and again in August 2008 to see how many people are sitting on patios versus inside?

Edited November 1, 2007 by Reefmonkey

[lockmat]

Went to watch the Rox tonight at Fox and Hound. It was nice back in Albuquerque when I went there and came back smelling the way I did when I got there. I could hang my shirt back up and wear it again, but no, it stanks of smoke. Too bad the ban doesn't extend out here to Montgomery county.

[DianeTX]

Does anyone have insight into COH stance on smoking ban in "non-enclosed" common areas of condos? Called and spoke to Smoking Enforcment office they stated ALL common areas are included in ban. But reading the ordinance sure seems to leave room for fighting about it.

Thanks!

[RedScare]

Does anyone have insight into COH stance on smoking ban in "non-enclosed" common areas of condos? Called and spoke to Smoking Enforcment office they stated ALL common areas are included in ban. But reading the ordinance sure seems to leave room for fighting about it.

Thanks!

The ordinance defines "enclosed" and "public places". The ordinance prohibits smoking in "enclosed" public places". If the common area is not "enclosed", then it is legal to smoke in that area (as long as you are 25 feet from the doorway).

Enclosed, when used in reference to an area or a building or

portion thereof, means closed in on all sides from floor to ceiling by

solid walls, with or without windows and exclusive of doorways.

Public place means an enclosed area to which the public is

invited or in which the public is permitted, including, but not limited to:

(13) Lobbies, hallways, and other common areas in

apartment buildings, condominiums, retirement

facilities, nursing homes, and other multiple-unit

residential facilities;

[Highrise Tower]

FDA Proposes Rules Prohibiting Menthol Cigarettes and Flavored Cigars to Prevent Youth Initiation, Significantly Reduce Tobacco-Related Disease and Death

https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-proposes-rules-prohibiting-menthol-cigarettes-and-flavored-cigars-prevent-youth-initiation

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is announcing proposed product standards to prohibit menthol as a characterizing flavor in cigarettes and prohibit all characterizing flavors (other than tobacco) in  cigars. These actions have the potential to significantly reduce disease and death from combusted tobacco product use, the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S., by reducing youth experimentation and addiction, and increasing the number of smokers that quit. 

“The proposed rules would help prevent children from becoming the next generation of smokers and help adult smokers quit,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra. “Additionally, the proposed rules represent an important step to advance health equity by significantly reducing tobacco-related health disparities.” 

“The authority to adopt tobacco product standards is one of the most powerful tools Congress gave the FDA and the actions we are proposing can help significantly reduce youth initiation and increase the chances that current smokers quit. It is clear that these efforts will help save lives,” said FDA Commissioner Robert M. Califf, M.D. “Through the rulemaking process, there’s an important opportunity for the public to make their voices heard and help shape the FDA’s ongoing efforts to improve public health.” 

[editor]

I've often found it odd how some cities and states spend so much money on anti-smoking campaigns, then turn around and say, "But it's OK to smoke pot!"  Well, make up your mind.  Is smoking bad, or not?

(I'm not a smoker of anything.  I'm just glad people can't smoke in airplanes and buses anymore.  That was awful.)

[august948]

4 hours ago, editor said:

I've often found it odd how some cities and states spend so much money on anti-smoking campaigns, then turn around and say, "But it's OK to smoke pot!"  Well, make up your mind.  Is smoking bad, or not?

(I'm not a smoker of anything.  I'm just glad people can't smoke in airplanes and buses anymore.  That was awful.)

Plus, pot smoking is frequently done roll-your-own style, which means no filters like in a cigarette.  Maybe marijuana smoke is good for the lungs?

[editor]

20 hours ago, august948 said:

Plus, pot smoking is frequently done roll-your-own style, which means no filters like in a cigarette.  Maybe marijuana smoke is good for the lungs?

I don't think I've heard anyone other than the potheads in my high school say that pot smoke is good for your lungs.  I'm not sure there is much of a body of serious research around it.  Without that, I feel pretty confident in saying that no smoke in your lungs is better any smoke in your lungs.

[Montrose1100]

Edibles for the win. Legally, this a joke.

 

Edit: I'll be interested to see the long term effects of vaping. I only have a handful of friends who do, but I always encourage them to quit. 

[mkultra25]

36 minutes ago, Montrose1100 said:

Edibles for the win. Legally, this a joke.

 

Edit: I'll be interested to see the long term effects of vaping. I only have a handful of friends who do, but I always encourage them to quit. 

Vaping cannabis is almost certainly not as bad as smoking it via "regular" means, as you're not inhaling many of the toxic byproducts generated by combustion. But it's still not great for your lungs.

Using any kind of "vape juice" cartridges, whether for cannabinoids or as a nicotine replacement, may very well be a different story. They're new enough to where I don't know that there's enough data yet to get a long-term picture of their overall effect on health, but just from what I've read, I'd be pretty hesitant to subject my respiratory system to the ingredients in many of those cartridges. 

[Reefmonkey]

It speaks to the power of the tobacco lobby that cigarettes, with all their well-documented high health risks, continue to be legal for recreational use when the FDA has banned so many other products for even therapeutic use that had much lower risks. Ephedra, for instance, I'm not saying it shouldn't have been banned, but there were an estimated 12 million people using it at one point, and it was implicated in 155 deaths over a 13 year period. The CDC says cigarettes kill 480,000 people a year. They estimate 34,000 nonsmokers die from heart disease linked to secondary exposure a year. I don't think anyone died because their parent or spouse took ephedra. Over a 30 year period, something like 30 women who took phenylpropanolamine either as a decongestant or in Dexatrim for weight loss suffered an intracranial hemmorage, and data indicated that 1 woman might have a stroke out of every 107,000 to 3.3 million women who used PPA (normal stroke incidence rate is 0.6 per 1 million), and it was yanked off the market. How many smokers have heart attacks or strokes every year? If tobacco is such a dangerous product (which it is) why not just take it off the market?

[BeerNut]

On 5/26/2022 at 11:14 AM, Reefmonkey said:

It speaks to the power of the tobacco lobby that cigarettes, with all their well-documented high health risks, continue to be legal for recreational use when the FDA has banned so many other products for even therapeutic use that had much lower risks. Ephedra, for instance, I'm not saying it shouldn't have been banned, but there were an estimated 12 million people using it at one point, and it was implicated in 155 deaths over a 13 year period. The CDC says cigarettes kill 480,000 people a year. They estimate 34,000 nonsmokers die from heart disease linked to secondary exposure a year. I don't think anyone died because their parent or spouse took ephedra. Over a 30 year period, something like 30 women who took phenylpropanolamine either as a decongestant or in Dexatrim for weight loss suffered an intracranial hemmorage, and data indicated that 1 woman might have a stroke out of every 107,000 to 3.3 million women who used PPA (normal stroke incidence rate is 0.6 per 1 million), and it was yanked off the market. How many smokers have heart attacks or strokes every year? If tobacco is such a dangerous product (which it is) why not just take it off the market?

Zero people have died directly from consuming LSD....just saying...