Smoke: Not in Your Club?

I randomly stumbled on this web video, Not in Your Guidebook. Watch it and learn more about the City of Angels:

Not In Your Guidebook from Adam Irving on Vimeo.

Alright, I didn’t randomly find this internet video. The host, Andres “Andy” Schabelman, was a roommate of mine in the past and practically forced me to watch it.  And, if Andres comes off as a tool, well, that’s because he is. Haha… I kid.

Anyway, in one of the segments, Andres goes into an underground, after-hours bar (a.k.a. a speakeasy). Apparently, anything goes at this speakeasy. Smoking laws be damned. The club allows its patrons to smoke cigarettes and… other things… despite state laws that ban such activity inside a building.

This raises the question: Should bars and clubs be forced to prohibit smoking inside their venue?

Anti-smoking groups argue that the negative health effects inflicted on non-smokers via second-hand and third-hand smoke justify the ban. Plus, cigarette smoke makes you and your clothes stinky…

Smokers and the tobacco industry claim that the health effects of cigarette smoke are exaggerated. Plus, they claim that smokers have a “right to smoke” and that a ban hinders their ability to exercise said right.

So what do you think? Are smoking bans in bars and clubs a good thing? Or is it too restrictive? Sound off.

Comments

[nlynn]

In an illegal, after-hours speakeasy, it doesn't seem proper to ban smoking. I mean, its part of the whole experience, right?

But, on a more practical note, as a "smoker" (thanks for the label, Rikki), I actually appreciate the ban on smoking in bars. No one likes their hair or clothes to stink and its really not a big deal to step outside onto the patio for a smoke. On a less superficial level, second hand smoke is a MAJOR health concern for people working in smoky bars. I've worked in one, it sucked.

Yeah, maybe the health effects of second hand smoke are exaggerated, but probably they're just not put into the correct context. Working 6 hour shifts in a smoky bar is very different than standing outside on a patio with smokers. And speaking of this patio...smokers have rights! Let us smoke on patios! Don't shame us by making us chug our drinks so they don't get roofied while we're forced to walk a half a block to smoke outside your giant effing patio.

Society means often dealing with things we find unpleasant. If infrequent exposure to second hand smoke in ventilated areas isn't a major health concern (which it isn't, but your liver is getting brutalized by the four cocktails you're consuming), then deal with it. I promise, listening to frat boy hitting on drunk girl after drunk girl, is way more obnoxious than the faint smell of camel lights on your clothing.

[Sarah]

As someone who is allergic to cigarette smoke, I find the ban on indoor smoking to be absolutely crucial to my enjoyment of life. It seems ridiculous that I wouldn't be able to go to a bar or club and have fun, when smokers could more easily step outside for a second, and then come back in when they've had their fill. Granted, I am an extreme case I suppose, but there it is.

But, I do see the point that in a speakeasy or other similar place, where smoking is actually part of the reason people go there, it seems silly to ban it. As a nonsmoker, I would know not to go to those places if the smoke bothered me---so, in that case, live and let live.