New York to ban smoking in parks and beaches - Polidicks

[url]http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/nyregion/07smoke.html[/url] [release]After being caught off guard when the city’s health commissioner first proposed the idea, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Tuesday that he was leaning toward seeking a ban on smoking at city parks and beaches. Mr. Bloomberg said the ban made sense because it would cut the health risks of secondhand smoke and reduce littering by smokers. “We’re talking about banning smoking on beaches and in parks, and it’s partially because you can breathe the air,” Mr. Bloomberg said when he was asked about a ban. “It’s in the open air, but the air wafts in your direction. But it is also because people take their cigarette butts and the packages and just throw them away.” “When you ask people in our parks and beaches,” he added, “they say they just don’t want smokers there.” The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, said Tuesday that smoking was the leading preventable cause of death among residents, killing 7,500 New Yorkers per year, more than AIDS, drugs, homicide and suicide combined. He said a smoking ban would be the equivalent of bans on loud radios and glass bottles on beaches, and could save millions of dollars in trash cleanup. Dr. Farley cited a health department study, published online in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research in April 2009, that found that 57 percent of nonsmoking adult New Yorkers had elevated levels of cotinine, a marker for smoking, in their blood, compared with 45 percent nationally. The researchers, who sampled New Yorkers in 2004, a year after the city’s ban on smoking in most indoor working and public spaces took effect, said the density of city living might be to blame. “In reviewing the literature and thinking through the arguments, there is reason to seriously consider prohibiting smoking on parks and beaches,” he said. A ban would probably have to be approved by the City Council, Dr. Farley said. The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, is interested in the idea, a spokeswoman said, but “feels that fines should be modest.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California recently vetoed a bill that would have prohibited smoking at beaches and parks. Cheryl G. Healton, chief executive of the American Legacy Foundation, a smoking prevention group, said municipalities across the country have put the ban in place.[/release] This makes me glad I don't live in NYC.

Fuck yes. I hate public smoking.

[QUOTE=zombiefreak;23269140]Fuck yes. I hate public smoking.[/QUOTE] Even in wide-open parks?

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;23269121][URL]http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/nyregion/07smoke.html[/URL] [release]After being caught off guard when the city’s health commissioner first proposed the idea, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg said on Tuesday that he was leaning toward seeking a ban on smoking at city parks and beaches. Mr. Bloomberg said the ban made sense because it would cut the health risks of secondhand smoke and reduce littering by smokers. “We’re talking about banning smoking on beaches and in parks, and it’s partially because you can breathe the air,” Mr. Bloomberg said when he was asked about a ban. “It’s in the open air, but the air wafts in your direction. But it is also because people take their cigarette butts and the packages and just throw them away.” “When you ask people in our parks and beaches,” he added, “they say they just don’t want smokers there.” The city’s health commissioner, Dr. Thomas A. Farley, said Tuesday that smoking was the leading preventable cause of death among residents, killing 7,500 New Yorkers per year, more than AIDS, drugs, homicide and suicide combined. He said a smoking ban would be the equivalent of bans on loud radios and glass bottles on beaches, and could save millions of dollars in trash cleanup. Dr. Farley cited a health department study, published online in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research in April 2009, that found that 57 percent of nonsmoking adult New Yorkers had elevated levels of cotinine, a marker for smoking, in their blood, compared with 45 percent nationally. The researchers, who sampled New Yorkers in 2004, a year after the city’s ban on smoking in most indoor working and public spaces took effect, said the density of city living might be to blame. “In reviewing the literature and thinking through the arguments, there is reason to seriously consider prohibiting smoking on parks and beaches,” he said. A ban would probably have to be approved by the City Council, Dr. Farley said. The City Council speaker, Christine C. Quinn, is interested in the idea, a spokeswoman said, but “feels that fines should be modest.” Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger of California recently vetoed a bill that would have prohibited smoking at beaches and parks. Cheryl G. Healton, chief executive of the American Legacy Foundation, a smoking prevention group, said municipalities across the country have put the ban in place.[/release] This makes me glad I don't live in NYC.[/QUOTE] Smoking cigarettes is bad for your health and others around you!

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;23269152]Even in wide-open parks?[/QUOTE] Yes, it still pollutes the air and makes the area around smokers smell like shit. Also smokers tend to litter a ton.

[QUOTE=plokoon9619;23269171]Smoking cigarettes is bad for your health and others around you![/QUOTE] Wow, I didn't know that! I think I'll stop now just because of you!

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;23269197]Wow, I didn't know that! I think I'll stop now just because of you![/QUOTE] yay good for you prisma

[QUOTE=zombiefreak;23269140]Fuck yes. I hate public smoking.[/QUOTE] people like you are fucking annoying

[QUOTE=Doriol;23269221]people like you are fucking annoying[/QUOTE] Why? I don't go up to people and say "Stop smoking jackass".

[QUOTE=Reaver1991;23269215]yay good for you prisma[/QUOTE] That was sarcasm, but I'm pretty sure you got it.

[QUOTE=zombiefreak;23269232]Why? I don't go up to people and say "Stop smoking jackass".[/QUOTE] yes but you support the banning of smoking in a wide open space

[QUOTE=Doriol;23269221]people like you are fucking annoying[/QUOTE] No people who smoke are fucking annoying. [QUOTE=Doriol;23269283]yes but you support the banning of smoking in a wide open space[/QUOTE] Cause it does nothing good?

[QUOTE=E7Fan;23269292]No people who smoke are fucking annoying.[/QUOTE] you're 5 years-old [highlight](User was banned for this post ("Trolling/flaming" - Rusty100))[/highlight]

[QUOTE=Doriol;23269283]yes but you support the banning of smoking in a wide open space[/QUOTE] smoking is bad mmk

It's not a wide open space, it's a park, which is much more than what a wide open space like a parking lot would be.

[QUOTE=Doriol;23269294]you're 5 years-old[/QUOTE] Yeah but what does that have to do with anything? Seriously though smoking bans are good bans.

I think it's just a better idea to strictly enforce no-littering.

[QUOTE=E7Fan;23269292]No people who smoke are fucking annoying. Cause it does nothing good?[/QUOTE] 1) No, people who try to be the morality cops are fucking annoying. 2) Obviously you don't work a service industry job, since if you did, you'd know it relieves stress.

[QUOTE=Oreo Atlantica;23269304]It's not a wide open space, it's a park, which is much more than what a wide open space like a parking lot would be.[/QUOTE] could you repeat that in comprehensible english please [editline]01:34AM[/editline] [QUOTE=E7Fan;23269292] Cause it does nothing good?[/QUOTE] neither does farting, burping, or cursing should we ban those too

[QUOTE=PrismatexV8;23269320]1) No, people who try to be the morality cops are fucking annoying. 2) Obviously you don't work a service industry job, since if you did, you'd know it relieves stress.[/QUOTE] But it also causes cancer, I don't want to be breathing in shit some idiot decided to smoke. [QUOTE=Doriol;23269321] neither does farting, burping, or cursing should we ban those too[/QUOTE] Farting is healthy, burping is healthy, cursing is healthy. Hmmm

[QUOTE=E7Fan;23269330]But it also causes cancer, I don't want to be breathing in shit some idiot decided to smoke. [/QUOTE] argh

[QUOTE=E7Fan;23269330]But it also causes cancer, I don't want to be breathing in shit some idiot decided to smoke.[/QUOTE] 2nd hand smoke is bullshit. I bet you're one of those guys who catches the faintest wiff of a smokers cig and freak out

[QUOTE=E7Fan;23269330]But it also causes cancer, I don't want to be breathing in shit some idiot decided to smoke.[/QUOTE] So if I light up anywhere in a park, I'm automatically making you breathe it in?

[QUOTE=Aman V;23269344]2nd hand smoke is bullshit. I bet you're one of those guys who catches the faintest wiff of a smokers cig and freak out[/QUOTE] probably thinks weed is deadly, too

[QUOTE=Doriol;23269321]could you repeat that in comprehensible english please [editline]01:34AM[/editline] neither does farting, burping, or cursing should we ban those too[/QUOTE] Just because the ban is already passed, I think they do have a point in their argument and it's clear. Ahh fuck nevermind, you people are going insane.

[QUOTE=jjsullivan;23269352]Just because the ban is already passed, I think they do have a point in their argument and it's clear. [/QUOTE] what seriously how did they answer my question at all

[QUOTE=Doriol;23269349]probably thinks weed is deadly, too[/QUOTE] Weed is deadly, smoking anything is bad for you.

[QUOTE=E7Fan;23269374]Weed is deadly, smoking anything is bad for you.[/QUOTE] hahah oh wow you seriously have the mentality of a small child

[QUOTE=E7Fan;23269374]Weed is deadly, smoking anything is bad for you.[/QUOTE] Joking...? I hope

[QUOTE=Doriol;23269283]yes but you support the banning of smoking in a wide open space[/QUOTE] Cigarettes are bad. They get littered everywhere, and make an area and a person smell like complete shit. Go smoke in your house