but this is "good" fascism....

[Jbs2763]

Just saw this story on the news... I am all for a smoking ban in restaurants, bars..not so much, if you are gonna goto a bar...and get mad cause someone is smoking as you destroy you liver... a little much

but this takes the cake...on one front I agree with it, cause the kids cant really get out of the car...but this is does infringe on peoples rights a little to much...

Monroe Co. bans smoking in car with kids | IndyStar.com | The Indianapolis Star

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — The Monroe County commissioners have approved an expansion of the county’s smoking ban to prohibit smoking in vehicles carrying children.

Commissioners voted 2-1 in favor of the ban at a meeting today, one day after the county’s Board of Health unanimously recommended the move.

The ordinance will carry a fine of $100 for a person caught smoking in a vehicle carrying a child age 13 or younger. Police officers would not be able to stop a car just to enforce the ordinance.

Supporters said it would protect children from second hand smoke. Opponents called it an invasion into people’s personal lives.

Health board members say they will ask officials in Bloomington and other Monroe County communities to approve similar measures.

[Guest missingsomething]

Jbs... you never cease to amaze me.

[Gwen]

will not smoking in the car change things that much for the kids health? if someone smokes in the car with their kids you can fairly safely guess they are smoking in the home with the kids. will they ban that next?

[hordak]

will not smoking in the car change things that much for the kids health? if someone smokes in the car with their kids you can fairly safely guess they are smoking in the home with the kids. will they ban that next?

No you can't. As an on again off again smoker (mostly on again) i have never smoked in my house once i had kids. Homes don't have the same ventilation as a car. Actually of all the people i know who smoke very few do so in there home. Those who do are from an older generation.

As to this law when i was in Cali the proposed it (not sure if it passed) for anyone under the age of 18 in the car.

[prospectmom]

I guess common sense is too much to hope for to be enough.......

[Just_A_Guy]

I wouldn't call it fascism. But it is troubling. Between cases like this, and cases like the FLDS in Texas--where four-hundred-odd kids were taken out of their homes (even demonstrably monogamous homes) primarily because the ideology of the parents--we're building a rather nasty set of precedents.

[applepansy]

This is already law in Utah.

[Guest missingsomething]

Well not only that - but it distracts people too... and I HATE that people throw their butts out the window!

[hordak]

Well not only that - but it distracts people too... and I HATE that people throw their butts out the window!

I think that has to do with the decline in smoking. When i was a kid my parents cars had an ash tray for every passenger. As smoking has become less popular ash trays have become an extra option one has to buy. My last 2 cars didn't have them. (as if having the ash tray there will cause people to start smoking:rolleyes:)

[RachelleDrew]

I actually think THIS should be a law instead of the anti-smoking in bars law.

Kids should not have to be subject to their parent's idiocy. My parents smoked too, but you can bet they didn't do it with me near them to inhale it. Never in the car, never in the same room of the home.

Adults can choose to leave a business with smokers in it. I actually think that law is stupid.

But a four year old cannot force their mommy to roll down a window while she's sucking on her Virginia Slims, much less put it out. It's harmful.

I'm all for the government leaving people alone and giving them their freedoms. In the privacy of your own home you can freebase crack for all I care, but the minute a kid who has no choice has their well-being affected then your freedoms get curtailed.

[Moksha]

... and I HATE that people throw their butts out the window!

Not to mention driving down State Street and mooning us from their car windows! What are they, some sort of teenage scofflaws and fascists?

[Fiannan]

Well not only that - but it distracts people too... and I HATE that people throw their butts out the window!

I thought the topic was smoking, not mooning.

[hordak]

Kids should not have to be subject to their parent's idiocy.

I'm all for the government leaving people alone and giving them their freedoms. In the privacy of your own home you can freebase crack for all I care, but the minute a kid who has no choice has their well-being affected then your freedoms get curtailed.

We would have to wright an awe full lot of laws to stop that.

[WANDERER]

The law about not smoking in a car with child passengers is already here I think. Along with no smoking in public places (all)....10-15m? from playgrounds, entrances to buildings, shopping centres, restaurants etc *not sure who enforces it but*. Some taverns have designated areas for smokers outdoors as they claimed it would severely affect their incomes. Cigarettes that automatically go out are going to be introduced over the next 6 months (to prevent bushfires from butts). Also laws about displaying cigarettes (they wanted them to be hidden from view, but settled for some sort of limited percentage on display). No advertising. Etc.

Civil liberty isn't even mentioned here...I think with free health care there's the opinion that smoking and smokers overload the health system at the expense of others and are fair game. There are calls to increase laws and restrictions instead/they want to increase the tax on them and make them more expensive. It has been banned in mental health centres/homes. I think in prisons as well.

[pam]

This is already law in Utah.

I thought it didn't pass. That was the last I heard.

Deseret News | Bill to ban smoking with kids in car fails

Edited March 29, 2009 by pam

[hordak]

There are calls to increase laws and restrictions instead/they want to increase the tax on them and make them more expensive.

The already have, plenty of times. A pack of smokes that cost $2.50 8 years ago cost $8.00 today. In fact the most recent regulation don't allow the military base to sell them for less then 5% under the local competitors when they don't even tax items sold on base.

[Moksha]

So is the op suggesting that the right to smoke in one's own car outweigh the right of defenseless children from developing later in life lung damage from this second hand smoke?

[beefche]

Here's my concern: where does it stop? Obviously we are all for children living in a smoke free environment. But does that mean the government will soon ban smoking in a home with children? What about alcohol? There's no doubt that alcohol often (not always) plays a role in domestic violence--so shouldn't alcohol be banned from homes as well? Where will it end?

I want children to be protected and, unfortunately, there are a lot of ignorant or uncaring parents who don't take care of their children as they should. Should the government step in to protect the weak or defenseless? Yes, of course. But where does it end? I'm very concerned about the power the government (federal, more than state, but I'm seeing it becoming stronger in states). Power tends to corrupt.

[a-train]

Here's my concern: where does it stop? Obviously we are all for children living in a smoke free environment. But does that mean the government will soon ban smoking in a home with children? What about alcohol? There's no doubt that alcohol often (not always) plays a role in domestic violence--so shouldn't alcohol be banned from homes as well? Where will it end?

I want children to be protected and, unfortunately, there are a lot of ignorant or uncaring parents who don't take care of their children as they should. Should the government step in to protect the weak or defenseless? Yes, of course. But where does it end? I'm very concerned about the power the government (federal, more than state, but I'm seeing it becoming stronger in states). Power tends to corrupt.

Unfortunately, many have fallen for the alluring lie that government intervention will raise the standard of living for these people. What people don't realize is that the cost of such intervention always outweighs the benefit and the overall effect is therefore a lowering of the standard of living of all. If we want to see children living in better households where parents are not drinking, smoking, and fighting, we need to go back to policies that allow Americans to prosper. Prosperous people tend not to engage in such activities. They are not as stressed. They are not as depressed. Free the people and teach them correct principles and let them govern themselves.

-a-train

[Churchmouse]

I thought the topic was smoking, not mooning.

They both have butts.:)

[Churchmouse]

If they want to ban something, how about alcohol? I say more "innocent" people die each year as a result of alcohol than second hand smoke, but you don't hear any crusade against that.

[a-train]

If they want to ban something, how about alcohol? I say more "innocent" people die each year as a result of alcohol than second hand smoke, but you don't hear any crusade against that.

Actually, they did that. They even amended the U.S. Constitution and everything. They called it the Prohibition. The whole thing was a complete failure and a nightmare. It created a giant black market that led to gang warfare and the enrichment of gang leaders like Al Capone. There were many deaths and a whole slew of adjacent crimes that were all created by the liberty crushing fascism of the Prohibition.

In 1933 it was finally realized that Prohibition is worse than freedom. We are fast approaching the time wherein we will be compelled to acknowledge the same about other drugs, the business for which black market entities are fighting daily.

In Kansas City, the smoking ban that was inacted last year gave an exception to the casinos. Thus, the only restaurants and bars wherein smoking is allowed are those on the grounds of the casinos. So, locally owned bars and restaurants lose the business of the smokers to the non-locally owned casinos (none of them are local, they are all national chains). As usual, the fascist do-gooders are out making sure they are an effective tool in the hands of the politically connected elite.

-a-train

[john doe]

If they want to ban something, how about alcohol? I say more "innocent" people die each year as a result of alcohol than second hand smoke, but you don't hear any crusade against that.

Probably because the alcohol ban was already tried, and its failures would be brought up again if tried again. Prohibition turned out to be far worse for society than if it had not been attempted, including the emergence of organized crime.

[john doe]

Looks like a-train and I were on the same thought process on this one.

[applepansy]

I thought it didn't pass. That was the last I heard.

Deseret News | Bill to ban smoking with kids in car fails

Thanks Pam. I heard it passed last year. I guess I need to catch up on current events.