L.A. Smokers Beware: Starting March 8, You Could Pay Up to $500 for Smoking Near a Restaurant or Food Truck

LAsWaste

im gonna be walking down the street like a tweeker up for two weeks trying to avoid a ticket, great

Minou

Pretty much all fascist regimes in this world have been started and supported by extreme leftists. I am what you call a "disappointed liberal", having grown up as a genuine Democrat; but I see that inasmuch as the Tea Party-ers are rightist extremists, the "liberals" of today are no more tolerant. In fact, Republicans are more likely to respect our Constitutional rights than Democrats.As a former smoker, I see both sides of this problem. I respect that non-smokers do not want unwanted exposure to cigarette fumes. Cigarette smokers, however, have rights too. It is absurd that to restrict smoking on beaches or parks (for God's sakes, there's plenty of fresh air and breeze!) where smokers can easily stay away from children and adults.

Watch. Our "liberal" nation is rapidly taking on attributes of fascism. As Eddie Izzard so aptly ridiculed the smoking ban in San Francisco...... "So now there's no smoking. Pretty soon, it'll be "No Talking" and "No Eating"......"

Angela Garcia as NeonMosfet

I used to smoke like a chimney. Then I got cancer. I quit after they disemboweled me. So far, I've beaten it.

Angela Garcia as NeonMosfet

CarolT

The anti-smokers commit flagrant scientific fraud by ignoring more than 50 studies which show that human papillomaviruses cause at least 1/4 of non-small cell lung cancers. Smokers and passive smokers are more likely to have been exposed to this virus for socioeconomic reasons. And the anti-smokers' studies are all based on lifestyle questionnaires, so they're cynically DESIGNED to blame tobacco for all those extra lung cancers that are really caused by HPV. And they commit the same type of fraud with every disease they blame on tobacco.

http://www.smokershistory.com/...http://www.smokershistory.com/...

And, all their so-called "independent" reports were ring-led by the same guy, Jonathan M. Samet, including the Surgeon General Reports, the EPA report, the IARC report, and the ASHRAE report, and he's now the chairman of the FDA Committee on Tobacco. He and his politically privileged clique exclude all the REAL scientists from their echo chamber. That's how they make their reports "unanimous!"

http://www.smokershistory.com/...

For the government to commit fraud to deprive us of our liberties is automatically a violation of our Constitutional rights to the equal protection of the laws, just as much as if it purposely threw innocent people in prison. And for the government to spread lies about phony smoking dangers is terrorism, no different from calling in phony bomb threats.

anonymous

I can live with smokers, but the real turn-off is unwashed bodies and their odor. Can we tax the people who don't bathe daily and are offensive to my senses, enough to make me sick.

heiafgsu

I know smoking is bad for you wan all, but the level of investment that this journalist had in the anti-smoking sentiment just seemed unprofessional to me.

CarolT

What a pollyanna. The only reason those so-called "journalists" have been given their jobs is because they're lie-spewing pieces of scum just in Nazi Germany.

Michael J. McFadden

Now now. You Kookiefornians get SOOO upset about the little things.

Look, there's no such thing as a "slippery slope." That's just a lie to confuse you. All we want is a little nonsmoking section on airplanes. Really. Then we'll be happy. And maybe a corner by the kitchen in a family restaurant. That's all. That's it. No slip. No slope.

Well... maybe just a little...

To see the kind of lies that push this craziness, Google V.Gen5h and read the "The Health Arguments." It's short, openly one-sided, and a bit bombastic in style, but its facts are accurate and they're presented honestly. If you have any substantive criticisms of anything there, feel free to expose them here. Michael J. McFaddenAuthor of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"

Michael J. McFadden

Now now. You Kookiefornians get SOOO upset about the little things.

Well... maybe just a little...

To see the kind of lies that push this craziness, read the "Lies Behind The Smoking Bans" at: http://kuneman.smokersclub.com... It's short, openly one-sided, and a bit bombastic in style, but its facts are accurate and they're presented honestly. If you have any substantive criticisms of anything there, feel free to expose them here. I'm open about who I am, what my "competing interest" might be claimed to be, and I stand firmly behind every word I write.

Michael J. McFaddenAuthor of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"

not a smoker

people are far to obsessed with second-hand smoke...OUTSIDE!!! they ought to look at what they're ordering on the menu if they're so concerned about their health...OUTSIDE!!!. quit passing laws to protect me from myself; it's none of your concern.

YeahRight

Why are the food trucks being penalized (with a 40 ft distance) more than restaurants (with a 10 ft distance)? Food trucks generally, have less income than restaurants, so it's penalizing the little guy. Plus, food trucks are ALREADY OUTSIDE! I mean, 40 feet from a food truck is ridiculous? A food truck could be anywhere. At least a building is stationary and the proper signage can warn both smokers and restaurateurs alike.

And the idea that people can't smoke in a common area of their apartments is ridiculous. That's private property, subject to its own rules.

Maryminjarez

IF YOU MAY NO LONGER LIGHT UP IN L.A., THE SALES OF CIGARETTES SHOULDBE BANNED AND THE CITY OF LOS ANGELES SHOULDN'T PROFIT FROM THECIGARETTE TAX. THIS IS REDICULOUS. WHO WILL THE L.A. LIBERALS GO AFTER NEXT? FAST FOOD AND SUGARY SODA POPS, OR HOW ABOUT ALL THOSE LOADEDWITH FAT AND SUGAR COFFEE PLACES?

Terri

As a smoker, I can respect the fact that others don't want to smell or breathe in my smoke. I distance myself at bus stops, I do what I can to avoid causing even minor discomfort to others. But in telling me all of the places I can't smoke(even my balcony is off limits)could you tell me where I can? This product is so taxed, it's incredibly profitable, the medical community make billions off of it's health results. All this money, build us some damned rain shelters so we have somewhere to go.

Glue

is that true that you can't smoke on your balcony by law if it bothers your neighbors?

CarolT

All of this happened because you're obsessed with licking their boots instead of standing up for our rights. You haven't bothered to try!

Rogb007

what a joke................ what is this world coming to....liberals are destroying this country and our rights

citizenrobot

Oh no, the LIBERALS. Let's blame EVERYTHING on them. THE LIBERALS. You know what you sound like? The world's least interesting broken record.

CarolT

The so-called conservatives are exactly the same kind of garbage as the so-called liberals. It's a one-party system, ruled by a tiny little corrupt oligarchy at Harvard and Yale.

Defiant Smoker

As a Liberal myself, let me just ask you a question CR: Who do you think is behind these draconian and anti-American laws? To be fair, maybe we should call them something else, because they sure as hell aren't real Liberals. Real Liberals that used to run the party that I came from believe in individual freedoms (ie., like freedom of assembly, etc.) and freedom of choice, and with that freedom of choice comes the responsibility to make your own decisions with regards to what establishments you choose to patronize.. Real Liberals also believe in private property rights. Real Liberals do not violate the 5th amendment by taking private property rights away from business owners for the good of the majority. That IS socialism. In fact, it's even worse. These neo-"progressives" are more like despots than anything that resembles the socially liberal world that I come from. Funny thing is that most, if not all of my Left-leaning friends agree, which leads one to wonder: Just who are these little Mussolinis supposed to be representing? Special interests, that's who. Think Big Pharma.

Aflorez

The city needs more money and wants to tax the hell out of you like it does for traffic lights. Im sure a yearly bicycle fee ooopps Im ment lisc is next

Allison

Notice that they'll NEVER make smoking itself illegal, think of all the lost taxes!!! Hypocrites, every single member of the council. Making money on the backs of addicts....

Guestie

Its not a tax issue. Smoking is illegal in all parts of Santa Monica and its not because of cig taxes. Its for health and to create a peaceful, clean environment for EVERYONE. This is not about taking away people's rights, its about the greater good for every man, woman and child, you all must think about that. There is nothing healthy about smoking and its not needed. Other unhealthy things in life may slowly go away or become reintroduced, but Los Angeles just doesn't have the balls that Santa Monica does in making a broad rule because they actually don't want the masses of people (like you) to feel their rights are being taken away. They are trying to tiptoe to a healthier city, whereas Santa Monica is more stringent with their healthy policies. Basically, everyone is lucky to still be smoking in LA. Many cities are now banning it, some only in limited areas for now. Its better this way. I say this as a former smoker, and right now I have all my windows closed because there are 2 girls downstairs smoking and I didn't sign up for their secondhand smoke coming into all my windows on a hot day. Disgusting. This is exactly why smoking should be banned, everyone doesn't want to be a smoker and with smoke, you cannot control where it goes so its better to just ban it all together. You cannot make everyone happy but everyone does have the right to be a healthy as they can make their life.

CarolT

Out of all those hundreds of billions of dollars they've looted from us, not one cent has ever been used to protect our Constitutional rights. This is tyranny! And you can stuff your smear about "addicts," too. It's another piece of spew from the mouths of criminals and Nazis.

Guest

how are you supposed to know where food trucks are at all times? they move so often now, some places even require them to move parking spots every half hour...

Sam

What about places that serve hooka?

H8 RAVERS

1. Obesity kills more people in the US than smoking now.

2. Let's band cars, buses and stinky trucks. Those are affecting the quality of air, too.

3. Let's also ban fast food and other fattening treats.

Come on, LA. Quit being so damn hypocritical.

CarolT

Sucker! You're so dumb you believe them! The scum lie through their teeth about that as well. They're nothing but totally corrupt garbage.

http://www.smokershistory.com/...

YeahRight

Agreed. Lets tax the hell out of refined sugars and provide healthier, affordable alternatives. The tobacco lobby is too strong to fight, so they take it out on everyday citizens.

CarolT

Another sucker who believes media swill. The tobacco industry was taken over by the anti-smokers long ago and the whole "fight" is a charade. The proof is that they NEVER attack the anti-smokers' scientific fraud. They knew that they couldn't just take over the tobacco companies and shut them down, because others would simply enter the field. So, they created and built up enemies to persecute tobacco, particularly the American Cancer Society, the Harvard School of Public Health, and the American Heart Association, and used these as proxies to create and control the federal health establishment (the National Institutes of Health and National Cancer Institute, et al.) to manufacture fraudulent pseudo-science to deceive the public at taxpayer expense. The anti-smoker-controlled tobacco companies merely put up a phony pretense of fighting the anti-smoker-controlled "health" lobbies, and purposely throw lawsuits (that is, to those brought by the "right" plaintiffs) in order to financially intimidate potential entrants away from the tobacco industry.

http://www.smokershistory.com/...