Welcome back to "Mike's Opinion on the News"...

[gumby_145]

So today Rod Blagojevich signed in an anti smoking ban in Illinois that prohibits smoking inside public places. The article in the daily newspaper here included the opinion of an obviously very well educated person who says

Comments

[monban]

Don't you feel it should be the discretion of the business owner whether to allow people to smoke in their establishment or not? Please don't misunderstand me, when I go to a restaurant I always sit in the non-smoking section, to quote a very wise man "having a smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section in a pool" (Brian Ho). But at a pub or casino, a lot of people like the smoky atmosphere, it's part of the experience.

Why should the government decide to ban that kind of thing? If you don't care for that kind of atmosphere, vote with your feet and your wallet and take your business elsewhere. The government has too much control over private businesses. This is not their job, it's not their responsibility, if people really want smoke free establishments then the free market will provide them.

[gumby_145]

I do understand your line of thinking and could ALMOST agree with that but not quite. It makes me think too much of segregation. And I realize that some smokers would say that stuff like this is discriminatory agains them but I don't think that is the case because if they could invent a way to smoke without encroaching on the right to breathe clean air of the person next to them, then this problem wouldn't even exist.

Also, with casinos most often residing on rivers to avoid state laws, this wouldn't apply to them anyway.

You provide a very compelling argument though. But if you are going to provide a public service, it should be inviting to ALL the public I think.

[anonymous]

Excellent opinions and arguments on both parts.

I believe that private businesses should be granted more liberties than major corporations since there comes a point in time that it is ineffective to boycott against "x major corporation." A friend of mine argues that an unhappy McDonald's consumer can say "I'm never coming back here again!" But to what affect? None.

I have no solution, but I sympathize with both parties.