Smoking Laws

and it's about time. Ft. Worth is seriously looking at changing the smoking laws within the city limits; and it can't come a moment too soon for my tastes. Don't get my wrong, I'm not interested in taking away the rights of others, I'm much more interested in protecting the rights of me. If there was a bar in my general area who's owner had the balls to make it a non-smoking bar, believe me when I say that's the bar I would frequent. I hate coming home after a long day at work smelling like an ashtray simply because I decided to stop at a pub on the way home for a quick beer. That's my right - stopping for a beer on the way home. I'm not telling smokers they can't smoke, I'm just asking them to choose a different location in which to indulge their habit. Now, the city of Ft. Worth is asking them to do the same. Apparently, the City of Ft. Worth put together an ad hoc group called The Smoking Ordinance Review ad hoc Work Group to gather together recommendations in regards to the existing Ft. Worth smoking ordinance. This is the list they have created and will be discussing in the public meetings scheduled over the next two months. The work group is looking to enact a ban:

• in Restaurants
• in Bars
• in Billiard Halls
• Bingo Parlors
• in Bowling Centers
• in Business/Office Buildings
• in Service Lines, including those that extend out the doors of non-smoking facilities
• within 20 feet of any entrace or openable window of a non-smoking facility

They will provide exemptions for:

• Retail tobacco stores unless they open into a mall or another non-smoking venue
• Outside dining patios, except portions within 20 feet of facility's main entrance.
• Sexually-oriented adult entertainement businesses

If you want more information about the meetings, please contact the City of Ft. Worth Smoking Ordinance Hotline at 817-212-2710.

Bar owners, tobacco companies and smokers are in wild disagreement with the proposals arguing everything from A through Zed. Bar owners are claiming that their sales will go down, when in fact there exists massive data to prove the opposite. Tobacco companies are, of course, upset because they see a decline in sales. But, I expect they will see a decline in sales from the new "sin" tax that goes in effect on 1 January to the amount of $1.00 per pack. Smokers, the most vocal of the lot, are furious that their ability to blow their nasty exhalations at non-smokers will be diminished greatly. I look forward to day when I can, in my own city, walk into a bar and not immediately have to breathe the carcinogenic poisons being exhaled by others. I can do it in the states of California, New York, New Jersey, the countries of Scotland, England & Ireland, the city of El Paso; but I can't do it in the city in which I live. How frustrating. Make your voice heard and let them know that smoking is fine, in the privacy of your home or vehicle, but not in a public venue.

Wastrel On! (Listening to: Pride (in the Name of Love) by U2)