By LEIGH HORNBECK, Staff writer Tuesday, June 10, 2008
GREENWICH -- The Washington County Board of Directors is following the state fair's lead on smoking and has banned it from the grandstand.
Smoking has long been forbidden in buildings and tents on the fairgrounds. ``The board continued the ban as a courtesy to the public,'' said fair director Mark St. Jacques. ``People are sitting close together and you can't get away from it if someone is smoking next to you or in front of you.'' St. Jacques said the staff will post signs around the grandstand. Smoking is still allowed on the fairgrounds. The Washington County fair week is Aug. 18-24.
In response to the May 28 article, “Board eyes ban on smoking in town spaces,” I would like to highlight how important this issue is. As an avid park visitor, I enjoy being able to take in the outdoors without the annoyance of tobacco. Although I have no children, I would suggest they are the most important reason this smoking ban needs to be enacted. In addition to the health risks from secondhand smoke that everyone should already be aware of, smoking in front of kids is associated with a higher risk of them smoking in their adolescent years. Along with the hazards of public smoking on children, it’s also a fire hazard and unsightly for everyone trying to enjoy the natural beauty of parks. Why all parks aren’t already smokefree should be the real question, and the issue ought to be more focused on when, rather than if, smoking should be banned in our town parks. While Niskayuna is one of the first in the area to take this initiative, I think more communities will follow in the near future. I would urge everyone to be considerate and respect the surroundings of others. We need those who do smoke to lead by example and choose not to smoke where it may be either detrimental or a nuisance to others. NATHAN STAHL Albany The writer is a student at Albany College of Pharmacy.
By PAUL NELSON, Staff writer Thursday, June 12, 2008
NISKAYUNA - Parks and ball fields in town will soon be off limits to smoking, making Niskayuna among the first in the Capital Region to have such an extensive ban.
The Town Board voted 4-0 Thursday night to prohibit smoking at virtually all outdoor facilities where sporting events and other leisure activities often draw impressionable young people. Board member Liz Orzel Kasper was absent. The amended local law covers the dozen or so playgrounds, pools, dog and skate parks and hike and bike paths as well as parking lots, concession stands, bleachers and pavilions, Supervisor Joseph Landry said. "Our parks are designed for healthy activities such as walking, running, bicycling, or participating in sporting events, and they should be tobacco free," Landry said before the meeting. "This local law will promote an environment free from the hazards of second hand smoke." He expects the ban will take effect July 1. Freshman Council member Julie McDonnell, who pushed for the measure, said she was inspired by a smoking prohibition at city pools and a children's playground area in Central Park in Schenectady. The Niskayuna measure, which carries fines, is more preventative than punitive since the town didn't have a major problem with smoking to begin with, McDonnell said. Besides the dangers of second-hand smoke to young and old, there is also the influence smoking can have on youngsters and cigarette butt litter, said Jeanie Orr, project coordinator with Capital District Tobacco Free Coalition. Her group will furnish the metal signs that will alert people in Niskayuna lighting up will not be tolerated. The signs will feature a silhouetted figure of a girl on a swing against a green background and the slogan "Young Lungs at Play." The slogan is part of a statewide effort to promote a smoke free environment that Orr says began in Rockland County. And it seems to be catching on. Orr estimated that more than 40 municipalities statewide have some form of a smoking ban within their borders and more are looking to follow suit. In the Capital Region, Scotia, Averill Park and Lansingburgh are a few of the communities Orr said are considering varying degrees of smoking bans. "People go out to outdoor areas to breath fresh air, so it defeats the purpose of someone smoking near you," Orr said.
Smoking inside of a airplane - EVEN CIGARS was OK at one time. I think cigarette smoke has becomelike plutonium- Im surprised there arent more smoking related crimes reported- like the one below
Jun 20, 2008 5:59 am US/Eastern -This PageFBI: Flight Diverted After NYC Woman Lights Up
Passenger Accused Of Punching Attendant In Face, Screaming Racial Epithets DENVER (CBS) ― An unruly JetBlue passenger from Queens who lit up a cigarette mid-flight Tuesday forced the 145-passenger flight to be diverted after she became violent and uncooperative when asked to stop smoking, CBS 2 HD has learned.
Christina Szele, 35, was arrested and charged with assault and interfering with a flight crew, and remains locked up in Denver until a detention hearing scheduled for Monday.
Wouldn't it be great to have ALL smokers on one flight, and they ALL light up. Smokers should have a revolt. There should be one day that ALL smokers nationwide, light up in a place that prohibits smoking. Which is just about everywhere. Wouldn't that be an interesting news alert!!
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
I'll start this by saying "Back in the day", I smoked when I was pregnant for my first. She was born 7lbs 4 oz. 18" long. I smoked for my second and he was born 8lbs 6oz. 23" long. I quit smoking long before I had my 3rd. He was born 8'bs 6oz. 23" long. The first two did not have any medical conditions at all. My third did. Nothing serious, but something the other two (smoking ones) did not experience.
I just thought I would share my little pregnant stories with everyone.
Companies must reveal tobacco formulas BY MICHAEL FELBERBAUM The Associated Press
RICHMOND, Va. — The Food and Drug Administration is working to lift the smokescreen clouding the ingredients used in cigarettes and other tobacco products. In June, tobacco companies must tell the FDA their formulas for the first time, just as drugmakers have for decades. Manufacturers also will have to turn over any studies they’ve done on the effects of the ingredients. It’s an early step for an agency just starting to flex muscles granted by a new law that took effect last June that gives it broad power to regulate tobacco far beyond the warnings now on packs, short of banning it outright. Companies have long acknowledged using cocoa, coffee, menthol and other additives to make tobacco taste better. The new information will help the FDA determine which ingredients might also make tobacco more harmful or addictive. It will also use the data to develop standards for tobacco products and could ban some ingredients or combinations. “Tobacco products today are really the only human-consumed product that we don’t know what’s in them,” Lawrence R. Deyton, the director of the Food and Drug Administration’s new Center for Tobacco Products and a physician, told The Associated Press in a recent interview. While the FDA must keep much of the data confidential under trade-secret laws, it will publish a list of harmful and potentially harmful ingredients by June 2011. Under the law, it must be listed by quantity in each brand. Some tobacco companies have voluntarily listed product ingredients online in recent years but never with the specificity they must give the FDA, said Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. ...................>>>>.....................>>>>..................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00301&AppName=1
Re March 7 article, “Malls to ban outside smoking”: Let me start by stating that I am a non-smoker. But, most laws put forth the past several years against smokers are way beyond reason. Not allowing smoking in closed places such as movie theaters, small restaurants churches and buses, etc., because of the alleged problems caused by secondhand smoke, is one thing. But to not allow smoking in open spaces — such as parks, sports fields and parking lots, around any buildings, streets and, in some cases, even entire cities — is way beyond any sense of reason. I do not care for the odor of secondhand smoke, but I think smoking should be allowed any place that allows people to wear perfume. Nothing is more repulsive to me than to be in a closed area and have to smell or even gag sometimes because of the odor of someone’s putrid-smelling perfume. Men’s cologne is usually as bad. The recent ruling by Pyramid Corp. to not allow smoking anyplace on their property is the last straw. I will continue to walk at Crossgates in the winter when I can’t walk outside, but I will never patronize any of their stores again. I don’t particularly care to shop at Walmart, Kmart, Target, etc., but I’m sure I’ll find whatever I need there or at other malls and plazas. I urge everyone to do the same until they eliminate this absolutely stupid rule.
Once they get this passed then they can arrest anyone that's seen smoking anywhere. I'm an ex smoker but I still feel it's the right of the individual to choose to smoke or not, it's their life.
I agree, if someone is dumb enough to smoke... they are not smart enough to figure out that they are also killing those around them. Smoke if you want to... but before you smoke... pay for your own addiction. As it is now, NY state taxpayers pay about half of the cost of your smoking.
Again, smoke if you want to... but don't inflict your chemicals on others. That means smoke in an area where others don't EVER go... the doorway of a store or restaurant IS where others are forced to go.
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
Wouldn't it be great to have ALL smokers on one flight, and they ALL light up. Smokers should have a revolt. There should be one day that ALL smokers nationwide, light up in a place that prohibits smoking. Which is just about everywhere. Wouldn't that be an interesting news alert!!
A great idea Bumble... How about a PCB day too... and arsenic day, and even a Dioxin day... we could all go into the malls and spread toxic chemicals where everyone... even little kids would be forced to suck up all those chemicals.
You always come up with the best ideas!!!
The modern conservative is engaged in one of man's oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness. John Kenneth Galbraith
I agree, if someone is dumb enough to smoke... they are not smart enough to figure out that they are also killing those around them. Smoke if you want to... but before you smoke... pay for your own addiction. As it is now, NY state taxpayers pay about half of the cost of your smoking.
Again, smoke if you want to... but don't inflict your chemicals on others. That means smoke in an area where others don't EVER go... the doorway of a store or restaurant IS where others are forced to go.
Do not operate anything with a combustible engine around people either...Gas and diesel exhaust is MUCH MORE TOXIC than cigarettes.
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