[tracker1]

Agreed... I absolutely hate cigarette smoke, but voted against the bans. Though I wouldn't have minded nearly as much if they tethered the bans to allow smoking only at places with a hard liquor license that forbade children.

In general, I tend to favor personal liberty and freedom. There's a very small jump from this to similar efforts in favor of prohibiting any number of things on personal time and property (ban on fat people, meat eaters, sugar, grain eaters, etc). I mean, what's next? Morality clauses for all employees?

[swozey]

I was a smoker during the bans and happily voted for them. Airports and other huge event centers not having smoking areas is incredibly inconvenient but I didn't have any problem standing 25' from an entrance, going to a designated area or any of that. I've always thought it was disgusting and didn't want anyone to have to walk through my addiction.

Smoking is still legal in bars/clubs when I go back home and it's so disgusting when I get home that I want to trash my clothes.

[kodablah]

> Smoking is still legal in bars/clubs when I go back home and it's so disgusting when I get home that I want to trash my clothes.

Curious where this is that doesn't have many more non-smoking places? All places I see where it is still legal have more non-smoking bars/clubs than otherwise.

[swozey]

I'm specifically talking about Tampa. I haven't lived there in over a decade but went back in the last few years and completely forgot that you could smoke in bars there. It was so gross. And of course some drunk burnt me with their cigarette while walking through the packed bar.

Not sure the ratio of smoking/non-smoking. I was in Ybor the big club/bar area and I feel like everywhere was smoking. They even had cig machines in most if not all of the bars. It was constant smoke.

[kodablah]

Yup, we have to find places that conform to what we want (e.g. loud music, sells liquor, etc). So long as we have a reasonable choice, we're good. I am willing to go out on a limb and bet that there are more bars in Tampa that disallow smoking than ones that allow it. We should avoid outright banning something in all adult leisure places we never attend, lest we've moved the goalposts from health to convenience.

[tracker1]

But there's an easy way to effect your local bars/clubs ... talk to the owner, let them know you're voting with your wallet. It doesn't need to be a government position to limit personal liberty.

[swozey]

I'm not sure how you're realistically expecting a single person to walk into some 3 story club in the middle of Tampas club district and ask for cigarettes to be banned when every other club allows them. I'd be laughed out of whatever weird fish-tank backed club-boss room they let me in.

I mean, maybe it's worth trying but it just seems astronomically impossible to me.

[kodablah]

Bingo. I live in an area where adult-only leisure establishments can choose whether to allow smoking. About 80% don't allow it by conscious choice and everyone is happy.

[kodablah]

> I absolutely hate cigarette smoke, but voted against the bans.

This is why such bans at adult-only leisure places need to be at the community level, instead of at state level. So your vote matters where it happens.