What I don't understand is the tobacco companies have been found guilty in court and are now paying literrally millions of dollars back to the states. Cigarettes still kill more people than any auto accident, etc YET we are still allowing them to produce cigarettes and collect the taxes on them.

Yet a drug that is found to cause heart attacks is removed from the market immediately.

What is wrong with this picture?

Can someone explain this to me?

I could go on and on about the smoking ban. I think it is nearly criminal what some of these restaurants are doing to go around this law. For example, we patronized O'Charley's in Springhurst after the smoking ban and it was very pleasant. We re-visited them this past Saturday and, immediately upon entering the bar, I said to my husband, "Why does it smell like smoke?" I saw ashtrays and asked the server. Indeed they had found a loophole and seemed quite proud of it. We left immediately after explaining to the server that we were sorry to hear that. I see restaurants putting their loyalty to the smoker's ahead of the health of the entire community more and more. Shame on all of you. We have restaurants that we patronize regulary in the Springhurt/Summit area - namely, Outback Steakhouse, who was ahead of the curve on ceasing smoking in their restaurant weeks before it was law - Kudos to you all at Outback! Stony River Legendary Steaks is another that we frequently patronize and they did the "right thing." We will not dine in any smoking establishment any longer - period. For those of you restaurant owners and managers who are putting your loyalty to the smoker's ahead of the entire community's health - SHAME ON YOU!

You know, I don't understand people at all. I have been a smoker for 7 years this year. I am almost 21 and I started when I was 14. I have quit 3 times, and I keep coming back to it. Regardless of the side effects that everyone loves talking about, it was my choice to smoke.

Now, concerning the smoking ban, I consider it a form of intense discrimination. I mean, come on. What's next, prohibition all over again? The city council knows that they could never outlaw alcohol because bars and restaurants who sell alcohol make a fortune in liquor sales. It makes no sense to me that we're restricting smoking in restaurants, but we're opening liquor stores on Sundays. Apparently, the city is more worried about something that COULD impact a person's health over many years rather than restrict something that can cause an immediate death. Drunk drivers are a problem, too, but you don't see alcohol bans going into effect in Louisville.

I might not be as well versed with the provisions of the smoking ban, but I am a criminal justice major in college - 3rd year - and parts of the smomking ban just seem like they border on violating human rights laws. Smokers have a right to smoke. If we can pay an exorbant amount of money for a simple pack of cigarettes, then we have earned the right. Smokers put a ton of money into the Kentucky economy, and now the Metro Council wants to restrict that. I am personally insulted that I must visit restaurants that take part in this ridiculous ban. Smokers must stand outside restaurants to smoke, and it isn't right. We have just as much of a right to be in that restaurant as anyone else.

This smoking ban is causing restaurants to lose money, lose business, and causing such a controversy in Metro Louisville that it seems we are back in the time of the Civil Rights Movement - smokers on one side, non-smokers on the other, all screaming for justice! For those restaurants that are allowing smokers to dine there and smoke, THANK YOU! Someone needs to stand up for our side of it. Everyone might not like smoking, but it is still a right that we have.

Gary,
I am not a proponent of smoking, but am pro choice.
I don't understand hoe we can call our nation "free" and still outlaw something so simple as smoking. If we are entering a smoking prohibition then do so now. Let us get it over, as the alchohol barons did in the 2930's.
It is NOT freedom of choice anymore, is it??

I have been researching Second Hand Smoke since 1998. I have over 200 studies and special reports written by investigative reporters. It’s much more information than you would have time or the inclination to read. This is the most comprehensive studies done too date by the most reliable organizations.

I would like to give you some background of what I have found in my searching the Internet over a six-year period. I cannot possibly cove all I have found.

There is an organization called The World Tobacco Control Council. It is based in Geneva. It is backed by the Pharmaceutical industry which provides Millions to have the countries of the world to raise Taxes on cigarettes and spread the myth that Second Hand Smoke will kill your children and people working in the Bar and Restaurant business. They found that telling people they were killing themselves by smoking was not working so they now spread the myth of SHS. They know that people will do anything to protect the children. Because of this misinformation they have been making Billions upon Billions selling pills and patches. Johnson and Johnson has given over ten million to the cause. This is only the tip of the iceberg of the money to be made.

In order to spread the word they have the help of the EPA, The World Health Organization, the American Cancer Society and the CDC plus others. Through these groups, information is sent to our Health Departments in the form of lectures and study groups etc. My daughter is in nursing school and they are even taught that SHS is killing people. Of course, if it is taught in school it must be right. Wrong. SHS will become known as the biggest hoax of the 20th century. Whole countries have fallen of this myth because people want to believe they are doing the right thing when they are protecting the children.

If you have been to hearings, as was done here in Louisville, you will no doubt hear about the miracle of Helena Montana. It has been shown to be false but the EPA has it included in lectures across the country. The EPA has been found to falsify findings in their studies to backup the myth of SHS. The American Cancer Society and The World Health Organization both found, in the largest and most comprehensive studies they have done, that there is no connection between SHS and cancer or Heart disease and have been trying to cover-up their findings since 1998 because it was not the conclusion they were expecting to find. The WHO even went so far as to state that; “SHS may be beneficial to children in that it helps to develop their immune systems.”

Every country, state or city that has imposed a smoking ban has devastated the small businesses that depend on customers who eat or drink in their establishments. In every instance those same country, state or city governments deny that the ban has affected business. They use tax records to prove their point. What they don’t tell is they include the drive thru business that do not depend on sit down customers. This way they can show there is only a small drop in business. Applebee’s owner said he has not been hurt by his ban on smoking in his 80 restaurants. He is the Vice Mayor of Lexington. If you will notice, the next time you see an Applebee’s advertisement, it will include their new Curb Side Service. He is trying to recoup the lost business he says he didn’t loose. He is going to cities now to help pass bans so he can compete. Lexington has had at least 30 businesses to either go out of business or have lost as much as 50% of their customers. It has been like this in New York and all other cities. Cincinnati did not pass a ban when it finally had their vote, the same as Washington D.C. and other large cities. If you listen to only people who want a ban you will not hear about the cities that would not fall for the myth of SHS.

There are more dangerous cancer causing agents in your own home and in the outside air than can be found in Bars and Restaurants. Children need to be around all kinds of disease found in daily life in order to help build their immune systems so that later in life they will be able to fight off sickness. You must have a good immune system in order to live. We cannot be protected from everything. You will find no death certificates that say, Cause of death was cancer caused by Second Hand Smoke.

Many years ago there was a hospital here in Louisville called St. Anthony’s. They called their cancer ward, Little Rubber Town. The majority of their patients came from around the Chemical plants in that area. If the common man knew it that long ago what has taken so long for it to come out? It has been shown that micro particles of industrial waste in large cities are the problem. The EPA is just now admitting that.

Our Courier Journal has been beating the drum of the Pharmaceuticals by using only government web sites to do their research. The truth cannot be found where they are looking.

OSHA has a way to estimaet the danger of SHS. They say it is almost as harmful as our drinking water here in Louisville. Anyone want to stop people from drinking Clorinated water?

If SHS was as bad as the ACS would like us to believe, no one over 6 yrs old would be alive today. The Drug companies are making Billions and spending millions to keep the Bans rolloing. It may not smell good to some but how many people do you know that are droping dead from SHS?