Kansas smokers, don't celebrate yet, but there's hope you won't have to freeze your asses off to light up every time you go to a bar.
All four Kansas gubernatorial candidates say they believe the statewide ban (excluding, of course, private clubs and state-owned casinos because they're special) goes too far and should be decided by local governments. The ban has been the subject of lawsuits and bar owner rage since it was implemented in July.
Democrat Tom Holland, a state senator, voted against the measure,
and said only individual municipalities should decide over puffing in
public. Sam Brownback, in a surprisingly big-government opinion,
said all state offices should go smoke-free to set an example, but it's
up to cities to decide on bans.
Although the Lawrence Journal-World astutely notes
that none of the candidates have advocated for the ban's repeal, if
they politicians are being genuine (har har, I know...), it could be a
big pain for the Tobacco Free Kanasas Coalition.
Meanwhile, in
other smoking ban news, the Star reports
a judge has ruled that the Kansas City smoking ban is pretty much lawsuit proof.
Georgia Carlson, a bartender at JC's
Sports Bar, brought a lawsuit against the city when a food inspector gave
her a $50 ticket in April 2009 for smoking and
allowing patrons to smoke.
She claimed that the inspector
couldn't give her a ticket, because he was just a lowly public servant
and not a cop. The appeals court more or less said that's a dumb
argument because food inspectors give tickets all the time and don't
arrest people. It only took a year and a half to figure that out?
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The smoking ban is definitely good, given the fact that so many alternatives like e-cigs and the like are available.
'Closing small businesses'? Just exactly how many small businesses in Kansas have closed as a result of the smoking ban?
I've never talked to a smoker that refuses to go out to restaurants or bars because they have to go outside to smoke, but I know plenty of non-smokers that will not go to any establishment that allows smoking.
While everyone's ranting about the evils of the smoking ban, it might be worth pointing out that only 25% of adults smoke. I would think that from a business standpoint that it would make more sense to try to appeal to the 75% that don't smoke.
This is why all smokers should switch to those new Crown7 electric cigarettes! These things get by all the bans and allow you to smoke wherever you want.
NO they do not give tickets. This is a new power they have taken for themselves! And I am one of those small business owners that are organizing statewide, (including bingo people, tavern owners, billiard hall people, and diner owners) who are outraged at what Parkinson and his pharma funded buddies perpetrated on the business people of Kansas! Our customers and friends are angry as well. We are statewide and now we are politically active. The lobbyists for nicotine replacement bought our government for a pittance! They turned against TAX PAYING business people to serve this special interest, who had already bought the Cancer Society for their lobbying purposes! The LAST thing that lying TObacco Free Kansas wants is a tobacco free Kansas. What a joke! If people want Kansas to be tobacco free, STOP licensing the selling of it. THAT is the ONLY way to create a level playing field! Let's see how honest the grant sponges really are! No more tobacco sales equals no more grant funds from nicotine replacement! I'm outraged and I haven't even had my coffee yet!
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