... Louisville’s smoking ban is back.
Smoking ban passed, at the Courier-Journal’s web site.
The Metro Council passed a revised smoking-ban ordinance 23-2. The new ban did not include any exemptions for separately ventilated smoking areas.
The mayor said he will sign the ordinance at 10 a.m. (Friday).
“Louisville has placed an exclamation point on the ‘No Smoking’ sign. This vote removes the haze of confusion and makes it clear that Louisville puts a priority on the health of all people," Mayor Jerry Abramson said in a statement issued after the vote.
The Louisville Metro and Wellness Department said enforcement of the ban will probably begin this weekend.
Which reminds me …
At the conclusion of Monday’s New Albany city council meeting, former councilman Larry Kochert’s smoking ordinance was quietly struck from the lengthy list of accumulated, tabled ordinances, where it had reposed in unceremonious limbo for so long that I can’t remember when it was first proposed.
In truth, not a soul on last year’s dysfunctional council besides Kochert cared to expend a farthing of political spare change on the matter, and even Da King himself abandoned the idea almost as fast as he broached it. That’s no surprise, because as phantasmagoric Kochertian legacies go, the smoking ban ordinance was right down the center of the plate, with much puffing, posturing and pontificating, followed by serial inaction and the eventual hushed dumping of the evidence at night alongside the street spam and litter by the side of the legislative goat path.
So, what are the prospects for the issue of a smoking ban returning to the city council’s agenda during the next four years? I don’t see a smoking ban advocate among the current group, do you?
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9 comments:
As a smoker, I must say that a person or entity which owns a building, should be able to dictate legal actions within that building. I know that the New Albanian has told me it is an employee issue, regarding exposing employees to second hand smoke, but I believe there could be a waiver for employees to sign, particularly if they were smokers.
Still, I also feel that the state may try to implement this process statewide, before Daniels' hopeful exit. I have heard it is underway in Illinois, as other states such as California.
My two cents. As a smoker, I sometimes feel like a second-class citizen, but also feel that fats and sugars also contribute to our higher medicare/medicaid costs and insurance premiums...but, alas, eating a Big Mac, large fries and milk shake do not affect the guy sitting next to you.
Though the big macs and fries do not directly affest the guy sitting next to you, make NO mistake about it, it does have an affect on him. By way of healthcare costs, just the same as smoking does.
There are thousands of other behaviors we as a society CHOOSE to do that release the same toxins into the air that we all have to breathe as cigarette smoking does.
Let the business owners decide if their business is smoke free or not, and let the employees decide if they wish to work there or not, and let the costomers decide whether to go or not.
Do we as a society truly need laws and directives to hold our hands and make such tough decisions for us?
Oh I dont know this bunch wants to grow the size of government by agreeing to new jobs and salary increases, maybe the enhanced code enforcement officer could be put on smoking ban duty. I have high hopes this council of progressives will pass a smoking ban ordinance.
I've noted previously and will repeat:
I will not oppose a smoking ordinance that is comprehensive. Either the reasons "for" it are universal or they're not, and if they are, there cannot be exceptions.
Having said that, and with the current council's "progressive" leanings still open to intepretation, which current member is the one to grab the issue and run with it?
Because: That's what it will take for it to happen.
Smoking ordinance or not, we'll find plenty of other ways to kill each other.
Watching the citizens quickly maneuver (myself included) will be almost as much fun as watching newly elected officials do the same.
I went to a fight and a government broke out.
Big Mac & Fries doesn't cost $30 a carton either! mmmmmmm!
went to a fight and a government broke out. Bluegill, that one could have some staying power. Is that yours??
As far as I know, Coop. If I copped it somewhere, I did so subconsciously. Hell, google it and if nothing much pops up, we'll claim it.
We need some sloganeering and t-shirts anyway.
Did anyone hear it too? The drum roll and rim shot?? Here is a reference that might be of interest...maybe not. In hockey, brawling has become so essential to the sport that it spawned the joke of a thousand lounge acts: "I went to a fight and a hockey game broke out." Instead of a hockey game, Congress, Government, could be used. Found the reference on hiphopmusic.com. It was a December 21, 2006 article called, "Race and the Knicks/Nuggets Fight."
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