UA becomes a smoke free campus on Jan 1, 2015

TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
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Huntsville, AL,USA
It's just a matter of time before smoking is banned in all public settings everywhere. Can't come soon enough.
I dread going to our courthouse. To comply with the security statutes, only one entrance is now open, on the west. The employees can't smoke near the door, so they congregate at the NW and SW corners. IOW, if you approach the courthouse from the east, as most do, you have to run a gauntlet of blue smoke. I already empty everything out of my pockets (the small ACL anchor in my left thigh doesn't seem to set it off) and drop my sidearm before I go over. Now, I've found out I'm going to have a hip replacement, with all that metal, which means I'll set off the alarm every time. I guess I'll have to register for a badge. It's such a hassle now, between the smoke and the TSA wannabees, I usually con one of the girls into going over... :blush:
 

RammerJammer14

Hall of Fame
Aug 18, 2007
14,488
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UA
Not a smoker. But i disagree with "smoke free" everything. Smokers get treated like lepers, for their "own good". They seem to be the only people you can brazenly segregate to back entrances and alleyways.
 
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Crimson1967

Hall of Fame
Nov 22, 2011
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I dread going to our courthouse. To comply with the security statutes, only one entrance is now open, on the west. The employees can't smoke near the door, so they congregate at the NW and SW corners. IOW, if you approach the courthouse from the east, as most do, you have to run a gauntlet of blue smoke. I already empty everything out of my pockets (the small ACL anchor in my left thigh doesn't seem to set it off) and drop my sidearm before I go over. Now, I've found out I'm going to have a hip replacement, with all that metal, which means I'll set off the alarm every time. I guess I'll have to register for a badge. It's such a hassle now, between the smoke and the TSA wannabees, I usually con one of the girls into going over... :blush:
Good luck with the new hip. When are you having it done?


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OreBama

All-American
Sep 26, 2005
3,349
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57
Portland, OR
Not a smoker. But i disagree with "smoke free" everything. Smokers get treated like leppers, for their "own good". They seem to be the only people you can brazenly segregate to back entrances and alleyways.
I agree. I quit about 10 years ago, but smokers are treated like garbage. I think it's wrong. I do like the smell of smoke I must admit.
 

92tide

TideFans Legend
May 9, 2000
58,103
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East Point, Ga, USA
Not a smoker. But i disagree with "smoke free" everything. Smokers get treated like leppers, for their "own good". They seem to be the only people you can brazenly segregate to back entrances and alleyways.
they are treated like lepers in part due to the nasty byproduct of their habit.
 

Bama Reb

Suspended
Nov 2, 2005
14,446
0
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On the lake and in the woods, AL
From a personal standpoint:
I quit smoking 26+ years ago, Mrs. Reb before then. Her sister though still smokes and is free to continue, as long as she does so outdoors. She has her own place out on the front and back porches for that purpose.
Frankly, I don't care if she or anyone else smokes, but no one, and I mean no one, smokes in our home.

I don't blame the ptb at UA for prohibiting smoking inside the buildings, but I don't understand the reasoning behind making the entire campus smoke free.
 

TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
84,487
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Huntsville, AL,USA
From a personal standpoint:
I quit smoking 26+ years ago, Mrs. Reb before then. Her sister though still smokes and is free to continue, as long as she does so outdoors. She has her own place out on the front and back porches for that purpose.
Frankly, I don't care if she or anyone else smokes, but no one, and I mean no one, smokes in our home.

I don't blame the ptb at UA for prohibiting smoking inside the buildings, but I don't understand the reasoning behind making the entire campus smoke free.
I think it's really a method of applying subtle pressure to help people decide to quit, just by making it more and more inconvenient. In some cases, like the courthouse situation I set out above, having smoking zones anywhere near entrances, etc., can actually exacerbate the second hand smoke problem, sort of like having a peeing and non-peeing end of the pool. (In fact, the kiddie pool in the corner is really the "peeing zone," anyway...
 

CrimsonNagus

Hall of Fame
Jun 6, 2007
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Montgomery, Alabama, United States
Not a smoker. But i disagree with "smoke free" everything. Smokers get treated like leppers, for their "own good". They seem to be the only people you can brazenly segregate to back entrances and alleyways.
Tough luck IMO. If smoking wasn't harmful for others around the smokers, didn't make everything smell horrible and, for me, make my throat hurt and eyes water after a few minutes then folks probably wouldn't have an issue.

I don't care if smokers want to slowly kill themselves but don't try and take me with you. Do it in the privacy of your own home but, it should be banned in all public places just for health reasons imo.
 

Bazza

TideFans Legend
Oct 1, 2011
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New Smyrna Beach, Florida
Tough luck IMO. If smoking wasn't harmful for others around the smokers, didn't make everything smell horrible and, for me, make my throat hurt and eyes water after a few minutes then folks probably wouldn't have an issue.

I don't care if smokers want to slowly kill themselves but don't try and take me with you. Do it in the privacy of your own home but, it should be banned in all public places just for health reasons imo.
+1

It really affects my ability to breathe - even a small dose of second-hand smoke will shut down my sinus cavity to some degree and make me nauseous.

Those little sit down areas for smokers to take breaks outside buildings and stores only make it worse as the nasty stench is concentrated and these areas are right next to entrances and exit....where you are forced to go through. I usually hold something over my face as I walk by....like a towel or tee shirt.

And those butts that are tossed down to the ground....don't get me started on those...:mad:
 

Displaced Bama Fan

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Jun 5, 2000
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Shiner, TX
Tough luck IMO. If smoking wasn't harmful for others around the smokers, didn't make everything smell horrible and, for me, make my throat hurt and eyes water after a few minutes then folks probably wouldn't have an issue.

I don't care if smokers want to slowly kill themselves but don't try and take me with you. Do it in the privacy of your own home but, it should be banned in all public places just for health reasons imo.
Exactly. Plus, most smokers just throw their cig butts on the ground as well. Maybe they should write them a ticket every time they do that as well.
 

Tide1986

Suspended
Nov 22, 2008
15,670
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Birmingham, AL
Just curious. What is the Libertarian take on this law/ordinance?
Here is one libertarian view of smoking bans in general:

http://www.examiner.com/article/libertarianism-101-what-s-the-libertarian-position-on-smoking

...lumping "privately owned" under the "public places" category disrespects and destroys private property rights and subjects the owners to laws that never should apply to them.

In a free society every bar, restaurant, grill, night club, liquor lounge, bistro, greasy spoon and private business in general has the right to allow smoking or not, and every individual has the right to patronize the place or not.
Freedom and coercion are mutually exclusive. Voting for the bans, no matter what the justification, is anti-freedom.
But, the University is public property, and smoking in any place where people congregate or where people pass through would seem to violate this libertarian principle: "That all people are entitled to choose their own lifestyles, as long as they do not forcibly impose their values on others."
 
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4Q Basket Case

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Nov 8, 2004
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Not a smoker. But i disagree with "smoke free" everything. Smokers get treated like leppers, for their "own good". They seem to be the only people you can brazenly segregate to back entrances and alleyways.
Smokers aren't cast out because smoking is bad for them. They're cast out because it's physically impossible for them to smoke and not affect others. If nothing else, it's an unpleasant stench, and nobody who doesn't smoke wants to be around it. Worse than the smell, though, is the effect smoke has on non-smokers.

Just as the right to swing one's fist ends where the other guy's nose begins, the right of smokers to smoke ends where they affect others.

Another factor that hasn't been brought up: in the form of increased insurance premiums and taxes, we non-smokers end up footing the medical tab for an endless litany of diseases and chronic conditions that come directly from smoking.

So when smokers say, as a group, that they have the right to smoke if they want to, they're also saying that they have the right to force the rest of us to help with the consequences.

I'm not naive enough to think that's going to stop any time soon....I'm just saying it isn't right, and is another reason to dislike being around smokers.
 
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TIDE-HSV

Senior Administrator
Staff member
Oct 13, 1999
84,487
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Huntsville, AL,USA
Smokers aren't cast out because smoking is bad for them. They're cast out because it's physically impossible for them to smoke and not affect others. If nothing else, it's an unpleasant stench, and nobody who doesn't smoke wants to be around it. Worse than the smell, though, is the effect smoke has on non-smokers.

Just as the right to swing one's fist ends where the other guy's nose begins, the right of smokers to smoke ends where they affect others.

Another factor that hasn't been brought up: in the form of increased insurance premiums and taxes, we non-smokers end up footing the medical tab for an endless litany of diseases and chronic conditions that come directly from smoking.

So when smokers say, as a group, that they have the right to smoke if they want to, they're also saying that they have the right to force the rest of us to help with the consequences.

I'm not naive enough to think that's going to stop any time soon....I'm just saying it isn't right, and is another reason to dislike being around smokers.
I'm in total agreement. One thing I've been seeing more and more is employers either discharging (or not hiring) smokers, or, at the very least putting a much heavier copay for health insurance on smokers. That is one class which is not protected under the Civil Rights Act. Anyone who believes smoking happens in a vacuum, without affecting the rest of us, has his/her head in the sand. Also, beginning on Thursday, a smoker may be charged a health insurance premium of 150% of a nonsmoker, under the ACA...
 

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