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Originally Posted by screwballl View Post
First, if I ever end up somewhere here in the US that tries to tell me I cannot smoke in a public place, outdoors, I will fight it. That is illegal and I hope the courts start to step up and fight it as a freedom.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by AlbertaCowboy View Post
What people enjoy doesn't seem to matter much when someone else decides that it's his absolute right to deprive you of that enjoyment because he disagrees with it.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by queentess
What about freedom to enjoy smoke-free air? Who is infringing on who's "rights"?
I enjoy smoke-free air. But I guess that doesn't matter when someone decides it's a "right" to deprive me of the enjoyment of breathing fresh air.
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I have the freedom to smoke, I choose to smoke, I have the right to smoke. By making it illegal for me to smoke in public open air, those laws therefore deprive me of my rights to life, liberty and freedom. My smoke does NOT impinge on others rights, freedoms or liberty (and impinging on life is debatable so I will not get into that). The only complaints against smoking are just that, complaints and inconveniences, not infringement of rights or freedoms.
I have a right and the freedom to smoke and live my life how I choose, however you do NOT have any right to tell me how I am to live.
Also
this Wikipedia page shows there is NO state law in California about banning smoking. There are individual towns with specific laws but nothing statewide. If I was visiting or living there, I would carry around a copy of the Constitution, especially the 5th and 14th Amendments.
As a side note, I do not like but I understand the need for restricting it from certain restaurants, and I agree with the ban indoors at your workplace... but bars? Come on its ok to kill your liver but not your lungs? That has to be one of the STUPIDEST bans I have ever heard of.