California City Becomes First to Ban Smoking In One's Own Home

phr

phr

Bluelighter
Joined
May 25, 2004
Messages
36,678
Location
St. Charles, IL
California City Becomes First to Ban Smoking In One's Own Home
Drug War Chronicle


Belmont, California, located between San Francisco and San Jose, has become the first jurisdiction in the United States to bar some homeowners from smoking in their own domiciles. While states and localities across the country have steadily imposed ever-tighter restrictions on smokers, the action taken by the Belmont city council marks the escalation of anti-smoking fervor to a new level.

On Tuesday night, the council adopted an ordinance that declares second-hand smoke to be a public nuisance and extends the city's current smoking ban to include multi-story, multi-unit residences. Belmont and some other California cities already ban smoking in multi-residence common areas, but now the ban will be extended to residences that share a common floor or ceiling with other units.

Homeowners or renters will be allowed to smoke on their own property only in single-family homes and their yards. Dwellers in multi-residence buildings will only be able to smoke in "designated outdoor" areas of their complexes.

The new Belmont apartment-smoking ban will not take effect for 14 months, so that one-year lease agreements will not be affected. But the rest of the ordinance goes into effect in 10 days. It also bans smoking in indoor or outdoor workplaces, and in parks, stadiums, sports fields, trails, and outdoor shopping areas. Smoking on streets and sidewalks will be permitted, as long as it is not at a city-sponsored event or close to prohibited areas.

City officials said enforcement of the smoking ban will be complaint-driven.

Link!
 
This is just nuts.
That town must be one uptight bunch of boring and bland robots.
 
This is completely absurd.

It' s only a matter of time before our government has complete control.
 
Yep. Belmont is pretty boring. About 15 mins south. I guess this is one way they can get their 15 minutes.
 
Definitely alarming in terms of personal freedom and civil liberities bur totally expected.

On the other hand, as a man who has never tired any form of tobacco even once, and hates the odius habits associated with a substance that should not even qualify as a psychoactive, I am sorry to say a part of me feels vindicated...So many years spent complaining about that foul plant (tomatoes are the only reddeming feature of that whole class) and whining about inequities in perception concerning cannabis,etc. when the same people whining about life for cannabis growers do so sometimes whith tobacco on their breath. About time then. If you want to make a stand, do so in a less hypocritical way (directed against the anti-"drugs" folks.
 
public places as in private places? I mean, when you say public places, are you meaning public hospitals, schools, or are you meaning privately owned bars that are now not allowed to smoke cigarettes?
 
this has been predicted by sociologists

http://www.pipes.org/Articles/history.html

what has been going on in the media, government, literature, and social use patterns regarding smoking tobacco is the exact same thing that went on regarding alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, morphine, and psychedelics immediately preceding their prohibitions

tobacco is on the road to illegalization. it's almost there, considering most of the middle class have quit and now it's just the lower class clinging on. since it's the group of people with little power who have this 'bad habit,' now it can become an us-vs-them 'punishment' like every other prohibition has been

Because we love this idea of prohibitions, we can't live without them. They are our very favorite thing because we know how to solve difficult, social, economic, and medical problems -- a new criminal law with harsher penalties in every category for ""everybody"".
Click to expand...
 
qwe said:
this has been predicted by sociologists

http://www.pipes.org/Articles/history.html

what has been going on in the media, government, literature, and social use patterns regarding smoking tobacco is the exact same thing that went on regarding alcohol, marijuana, cocaine, morphine, and psychedelics immediately preceding their prohibitions

tobacco is on the road to illegalization. it's almost there, considering most of the middle class have quit and now it's just the lower class clinging on. since it's the group of people with little power who have this 'bad habit,' now it can become an us-vs-them 'punishment' like every other prohibition has been
Click to expand...
As much as I want to agree with that, and as much as I see a *slight* possiblity of a push towards it, I think that in our current society it wouldn't fly. There's still too many 'upper class' folk, professionals, etc that smoke and it's addictive as hell, so I don't see it becoming illegal anytime soon. Probably just bastardized until you can only smoke in your own house (and by house, I mean your own house on your own land, no duplexes/condos or anything like that), not in your car, in public, etc.

I just don't see a full illegalization anytime soon, but I sure as hell see a ton more places you can't smoke coming up!
 
depends where you live, can't buy them in a lot of places unfortunately. I recently moved across country, and as we got further south, there were fireworks places right off the highway! We were like kids in a candy store, I don't even remember how much cash I pissed thru there..
 
rachamim said:
On the other hand, as a man who has never tired any form of tobacco even once, and hates the odius habits associated with a substance that should not even qualify as a psychoactive, I am sorry to say a part of me feels vindicated...So many years spent complaining about that foul plant (tomatoes are the only reddeming feature of that whole class) and whining about inequities in perception concerning cannabis,etc. when the same people whining about life for cannabis growers do so sometimes whith tobacco on their breath. About time then. If you want to make a stand, do so in a less hypocritical way (directed against the anti-"drugs" folks.
Click to expand...


dammit racha i hate it when i agree with you

and just to make it clear this ban only affects apartments and condos.. the "home owners" mentioned in the article means condo owners, not people who own their own freestanding houses. This law helps guarantee nonsmokers can live in smoke free homes, and i think it's a good thing.

NBC11, the local television affiliate in San Francisco reports that smoking will still be allowed in single-family homes and their yards, and units and yards in apartment buildings, condominiums and townhouses that do not share any common floors or ceilings with other units.

The ban for multi-unit apartment buildings will not take effect for an additional 14 months after the ordinance is passed, so that one-year lease agreements will be unaffected.

Smoking will be permitted only in designated outdoor areas of multi-unit housing; it will not be allowed in indoor and outdoor workplaces, or in parks, stadiums, sports fields, trails and outdoor shopping areas.

Smoking on city streets and sidewalks will be permitted under the ordinance, except in the location of city-sponsored events or in close proximity to prohibited areas.

City officials have said that enforcement of the smoking ban will be complaint-driven.

http://news.monstersandcritics.com/...s_Calabasas_CA_in_race_to_ban_smoking_in_home
Click to expand...
 
Condo/apt whatever, with proper ventilation the other tenants won't be affected. It's not like we're talking about smoking in the hallways or other common areas.

Fucking California. I'm waitin' to see what they'll do when a study comes out saying that semen is a carcinogen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top