So uncle- should there be any enforceable rules for property owners then? Since they pay taxes on "THIER" property , they there should be no rules about pollution of any kind? You should be able to poison groundwater if you like dump crap in the air all you like and just behave however you like because you pay taxes on property?
Smoking negatively impacts others health. Non smokers make up between 75-80% of the population, why should the 20% that choose to destroy their own health be allowed carte blanche? I would also start by saying that cigarettes should be ILLEGAL as well. We all know why they arent too. MONEY and specialinterest lobbying. Funny how we can put warnings on packs about how this product will result in negative health impacts and death and yet we cannot seem to prohibit a product like this from being illegal? Marijuana is illegal and cigarettes are legal? Funny how that works huh? Money, not common sense for the greater good rule this country. We should have the freedom to make and ditribute products that kill millions of people though right? It is all about freedom right? With that mindest, all drugs should be legal too. All of you small government people should be all for removing all drug enforcement then IMO to stay consistent. Heroin, Cocaine, Meth, all of them are less addictive than cigarettes and can kill you as well, why should they be illegal?

If non smokers don't like the smoke, don't go. What bothers me most is the government telling people what they can and cannot do on property they paid for and continually pay taxes on.

sometimes public health needs to supercede profits in any business. Maybe the bar owners should get out of the business if they cannot succeed without smoking. Nobody forced them to become bar owners.

Its interesting that the approach the article took was that ban didn’t affect the tavern business that much. I’m a non-smoker who didn’t mind the smoke before but enjoy not smelling it now. However, I know a few bar owners who disagree with the positive spin of the article. What’s interesting is the reporter chose one of the most popular bars in town to use as an example. She should’ve sampled 5 or 6 other bars that aren’t as busy and get those bar owners inputs as well. But, since the Gazette favored the smoking ban from the beginning, we weren’t going to hear any negative effects of the ban.

Before the ban, popular opinion was that bar business would increase because ALL of the non-smokers that didn’t go before would go now. Yeah? Really? Ask those bar owners if that has happened. Granted, the economy is also a factor in the business downturn but if all of the bar owners in town were surveyed, I think it may clarify the effect the ban has had on their business.

One of my favorite smoking related quotes. Robin Williams in Good Will Hunting. " Hey Will, you know you'd be better off shoving that cigarette up your a$$."

That is so true unclesmoothie!

By the way johnnyreb..... it's the dogooders who want you to conform and assimilate to their way of life. Freedom of choice is quickly disappearing. Abortion? Not a problem. Smoking in a bar? You must hang. And for the record I do not smoke.

What's that?
The land of the free?
Whoever told you that is your enemy
Yes I know my enemies
They're the teachers who taught me to fight me
Compromise
Conformity
Assimilation
Submission
Ignorance
Hypocrisy
Brutality
The Elite....
All of which are American dreams.

Stolen from Rage Against The Machine.

Sigma but you are judging me and everyone else who is overweight. You sound more and more like a liberal communist that has to run everyone elses lives as well as their own and that way of thinking is driving this country down.

I love Ben & Jerry's "Half Baked" frozen yogurt--I eat at least pint of it a week. Also had a double cheeseburger from Culiver's today and substituted the cheese curds for the fries........damn--was that good.......I wish I could eat that every day.........

jcommon - Just like guns you can carry your cigs and lighter into a restaurant , just dont use either of them...thats all they ask.

johnnyreb6977 - If you go over to any other country you will not see people overweight because they have a bad back or leg. The ability to adjust your diet to compensate for your lack of calories burned escaped you. If you are unable to manage yourself.....how do you ever expect to manage an elected position? Obesity is one of the 7 deadly sins...It coincides with greed. Although in your favor... there are some people than can be excluded. I dont know your personal situation so I cant judge you individually. I do know that its not just me that judge people by the condition they are in. A slim person with a huge pot belly beer gut says a lot about a person.....not health conscious....along with smokers... they are not health conscious. Smokers are probably concerned about their health, they just find that need to say the hell with it for a quick fix. This trait I would never want in an elected official...someone who says the hell with it for a quick fix. No way!

Sandman: Some of us do throw our cig. butts and empty packs in the garbage, so quit lumping all smokers into a single group!

Hey...keep your smoke to yourself, and quit throwing your butts and empty packs and spent lighters out on the street and in parking lots. It's your trash, not anyone else's. If you want to waste money, ruin your health, stink of smoke, and yellow your teeth--all in the name of "smokers' rights" (whatever that means)--then at least dispose of all your detritus and paraphernalia properly.

Congrats Ezoner!

Actually -- I have lost weight eating junk food -- so to speak..... I just throw away the bun....totmato.... all carbs are thrown out. Have lost 50 lbs and counting..... try it ... it works.

Sigma: What I shouldn't run for office because I am over weight? For your information I have a bad leg and back from a motor cycle accident so I can not do a lot of strenuous exercise, I do not eat lots of junk food and yes I eat fruits and vegies. But in your warped little mind I shouldn't be able to hold office? It's people like you with your narrow ways of thinking is what's wrong with this country today!

Orange -- I use the pouches, and sometimes I use an old Mt Dew bottle, sometimes --- well yes down the hatch. Honestly, I would smoke if people would chill. I believe this 2nd hand stuff is more about people wanting to control others than really causing any harm. I also believe that less government -- get out of our lives.... less taxes.... less ... less less... Gov. just needs to tell people that complain about everything -- just go away.

Does anyone find it interesting that with the proper paperwork, and the restaurant owner's permission, you may carry a concealed weapon into a restaurant, but the owner(s) have no say on allowing smoking. Both should be owner's choice.

ezoner...now you chew and nobody even knows ???What are you doing with that stuff , swallowing it ?? And believe me,people have a pretty good idea of what's in your mouth when they see that black crap drooling down yor chin !!!

Maybe fearandrhetoric should move out to the mountains so that no toxic chemicals come near him or his family. Take a look at industrial plants and even cars on the road. Do you ever notice how near the end of winter all the snow on the sides of the roads is black? Let me give you a hint: It's not from cigarette smoke. Get a clue.

They mine as well just outlaw smoking all together. It's just the government's way of trying to regulate everything people do. If you're going to make it illegal to smoke in bars, public places, etc. then just make it illegal. Then the whiny non-smokers won't have anything to complain it, even though they still complain AFTER IT'S BEEN BANNED IN BARS!!! Find something else to complain about!

I simply believe they should tax Ben and Jerry's, Hershey, Sara Lee, Twinkie, chips, cake, soda and the rest of the whole darn list at the same percentage cigarettes are taxed. Isn't obesity extremely unhealthy, costly to employers, and an unusually high cause of many of the same serious illness listed here? Maybe shoppers should have to "weigh in" before purchasing these items. Very likely and addiction too. Just sayin'

unclesmoothie- greasy fast foods arent dangerous.. its the idiots that consume excess amounts and dont exercize. If you dont have the ability to ration yourself so you dont blow up into a blimp it is not the food you eats fault. The reason is people are lazy and uneducated. They want easy food and cheap. More people are now fat and unhealthy than healthy...so its now concidered normal. Whos fault? Us. All of us. If a person gets so fat they cant walk, we the tax payers buy them a mobility cart to cart their fat butt around in. Why? Why not a tread mill and a dietician? So pathetic. We dish out money to help.... but not to prevent. I cant believe how many young people smoke now.. Why? Our education system has failed. And now we'll have these fat overweight cancer ridden people running stuff pretty soon. They cant make good decisions for themselves (health wise) why do we let them make decisions for us? i think they should ban fat people from any elected position.

People who violate the law should have a sentence of walking along the roads, sidewalks and parking lots and picking up all the cigarette butts that smokers feel like they have a right to toss all over the place.

And to luvujvl, I had a girlfriend who died from lung cancer 3 years ago. She never smoked. Funny thing, her cancer was directly linked to chemicals she worked with.

At a seminar at UW Hospital the haed oncologist stated that the money for lung cancer research is extremely limited because everybody associates it smoking, which in truth causes about half of all lung cancer cases. Blindly associating lung cancer with smoking takes away research money to find cures. Even for the people who got it elsewhere.

I sure like Rocky's statement: Smoking is deadly for the smoker and for anyone who has to be near enough to inhale the smoke...THERE IS NO "SAFE USE"! In case you want to know, I AM TOTALLY AGAINST SMOKING

As for the taxes on tobacco products, I really don't care. However, if the government wants to tax unhealthy stuff, then lets tax the crap out of greasy fast foods. Doesn't that cause serious health issues? How many people with clogged arteries are hospitalized on the taxpayers dime?

If you choose to kill yourself with carcinogens, that's very, very sad - but ultimately your decision. But that does not give you the right to drag the rest of us down with you. Why is that so hard to understand?

The ban on smoking helps me. I can stop by a bar now and the wife never knows. I can have a drink and dont come home smelling of smoke..... so for me, its a win.....

I stopped smoking years ago. No I chew. I can do that anywhere and nobody even knows.

I love how because somebody is obese, drives an SUV, or drinks, that makes smoking a good choice. One drink isn't going to destroy your liver...much less the liver of the person sitting next to you. An SUV is often a waste, but sometimes is a good choice if you are moving a lot of people somewhere. Obesity is bad...but it does not make the person next to you as you eat obese also. Smoking is deadly for the smoker and for anyone who has to be near enough to inhale the smoke as well. There is no "safe use".

Oh yeah, a mixed bag of better health for all and going home smelling better. What mixed bag?

unclesmoothie.......As they should be. The negative health aspects which their "choice" places on those who they smoke around along with the undeniable financial burden they place on our health care system puts these people in a place where they should be heavily taxed to pay for some of it. When they all start developing cancer, it takes a while before they drop dead--that usually turns into a very expensive "while"..........

I like how the non-smokers rag on the smokers and whine about how unhealthy it is. Most of these non-smoking people drive gas guzzling suv's and are morbidly obese. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black.

OK, inside joke for one of the patrons! Of the hopps and barley type!

Dude, I was doin' 12 ounce curls when the can fell on my big toe.....life was suckin'!

Smokers may not be a race of people, but they most certainly are singled out and taxed heavily for their choice to smoke.

Comparing your "freedom" to smoke to the persecution of Jews? Is that all you guys have? That is just hilarious!! Like smokers are a race of people or something. LOL too funny, man settle down go in a closet and moke a ciggie.

bucky12345 wrote: "Hopefully they come for your freedom next."

The new law gives 80% of the population who doesn't smoke the freedom to breath cleaner air in enclosed spaces and workplaces.

SeaBeee wrote: "Non smokers art the most idiotic, self-righteous, hypocritical asses walking the planet."

You are writing about 80% of the population.

no... I will report it, but when we were there, they had signs up saying that they were within the law etc,etc. I didn't have time to take down the website on the sign, so I just thought maybe someone would know what the technicality is that they are using to get by with it. It did have the feeling of open air in there, but I couldn't tell... just wondering if anyone else knew...

When they came for the Jews I said nothing because I was not a Jew.
Keep using the anti-smoking narc line all you freedom lovers.
Hopefully they come for your freedom next.

I have commented before about this, if smokers feel so strongly about their addictive substance why don't they go to the next level and install a 5 pound capacity tray attached to their heating & cooling system, light it up and fill their residence with some real smoke so the inside of their house looks like London fog. No smoker has ever taken on this challenge.

Well boo hoo. when are you going to advocate banning the internal cumbustion engine, or most power plants, or anything that produces pollen, or landfills, or perfume, or cologne? Perhaps its time you just man (or woman) up and live. Does mommy still come over and wipe your bottom too?

One thing you said in your post is right on, cigs should be illegal. Non-smokers with kids(me) just want our kids not to be exposed to toxic CRAP that you inhale. I can drink a few beers , but I dont NEED to,and by drinking alcholhol in my home I am affecting no one as long as I can CONTROL it. I dont "get high" , I dont text while driving. I am not perfect and I have my own vises. My vises dont affect everyone within BREATHING distance. People that have little or no reservation for others because of their own addiction is where my problem exists. Poisoning others is just wrong, and is the main reason why they SHOULD be illegal. Funny how lobbying money can work isnt it?

i personally still think it should be a business owners choice , the playing field is still unfair . some have the room and the money to expand a smoking area some dont. if they wanna take the risk of losing customer because they allow smoking then the loss is on them . this way the state is forcing a loss on some while letting other wiggle around the law.

tbs123 , did you read the story they give a number to call to report it. or was that what your post was about someone else reporting it for you? thats how they get away with it , everyone else wants someone else to report it for them

Us inconsiderate smokers are fed up with all you health Nazis. Perhaps its time you thank us for helping to keep your taxes from going up.

It would be better if the ban were enforced better. Last night at the Aqua Jays show, even after announcing several times over the loud speakers that no smoking was allowed in bleachers, I was surrounded by inconsiderate smokers who didn't seem to care at all about the rules or any of the people around them.

I want to know how The Coach House Grill in Big Bend can get away with allowing smoking... if anyone knows, please share!!! It is that place off of Hwy 43 at the Big Bend exit where Brewer bus trips often stop for one on the way back to Janesville. We stopped there last week and I couldn't believe that smoking was allowed!!! wth?? anyway, if anyone can tell me how they are exempt, please do! thanks

Maybe all of us smokers should go up to Madison and protest! Either that or just run to Illinois, hide out like some do, and smoke there.......

With some of the comments it easy to understand that smoking is a very strong addiction.

I don't think they will be moving to California soon. Folks there can't smoke anywhere that non-smokers also gather. That includes public sidewalks.

Hotel rooms were included in this ban, and they now are realizing that they have lost a lot of tourist business. Studies say that 20% of tourists adults are smokers. I am OK with the nadf in restraunts and bars but who breathes my smoke in my room with the window open?
Too bad, but us smokers are traveling to all the states that border Wisconsin and beyond. Those state's hotel owners have mixed feelings about smokers, by my very unofficial questions, but they need the customers and are OK with the provisions for "dedicated smoking rooms" set aside for us.
Sorry Wisconsin, but I'll camp or go out of state just because I am a nasty smoker who likes to travel, and I am spending my vacation out of state this year.

I sure don't miss having my clothes smell like an ashtray anymore.