Minneapolis / St. Paul Blog

These numbers are consistent to polls we have seen throughout the state, in the Twin Cities, rural areas, etc.

Nice to see that so many Minnesotans like living smokefree. The statewide adult smoking rate is now at 17%, down from 21% just a few years ago.

Good news!

Bob Moffitt
Communications Director
American Lung Association of Minnesota

I understand the anti-smoking argument from worker's rights; supposedly it's what this whole smoking-in-bars debate was all about. But it's funny how much more noise you hear from the bar patrons than the bartenders.

No posts about "Thank FSM our service workers are safer today;" it's always about how much better y'all feel not having to see our favorite band in a smoky bar.

Sorta undermines the conviction that anybody really gave a crap about service workers in the first place.

You dirty smokers ain't seen nothing yet.

We're going to be in your cars soon, followed shortly by your living rooms and your backyard. You'll have nowhere to hide! You'll be sneaking out behind the shed in your own backyard but there will be hotlines for your neighbors to call if they spot you.

We're going to let them keep on selling them though because we need the revenue and I don't want to be the one coughing it up.

I find the sight of smokers obediently slinking outside for a smoke quite entertaining and I'm sure Mr. Moffitt does too...right Bob?

Smokers are such an easy mark. You whine and cry but you never actually do anything about it. Talkers....not walkers.

And the business owners? Tough! If the ban forces hundreds of them out of business but causes just one person to quit the filthy habit, it's well worth it.

It's a real surprise that Clearway spends more money from the $10 million a year kickback that they receive from Minnesota smokers and the tobacco settlement to conduct this sham of a survey.

By targeting a specific demographic with leading poll questions, it's easy to produce the results you want. I could easily conduct a survey and find that 77% of the respondents are NOT in favor of the smoking ban--it's all about who you ask and the way you ask the questions.

If everybody truly embraced the smoking ban, and if charities weren't losing millions of dollars, and small businesses weren't going under as a direct result of the smoking ban, would Clearway even need to conduct and publish this ridulous survey?

www.banthebanminnesota.com

"Bartender Leo Dressen is absolutely convinced he's healthier today because of Minnesota's Freedom to Breathe Act.

The law, which took effect a year ago Oct. 1, prohibits smoking in all Minnesota workplaces, including bars and restaurants.

The fact that Dressen hasn't had a single asthma-related incident since that time is only one of the reasons he believes the smoking ban is a good idea."
................
Perhaps he should have read the Surgeon General's 2006 Report, he would not have had asthma related problems in the first place!

Respiratory Symptoms
4. The evidence is suggestive but not sufficient to infer a causal relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and acute respiratory symptoms including cough, wheeze, chest tightness, and difficulty breathing among persons with asthma.

Asthma
11. The evidence is suggestive but not sufficient to infer a causal relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and adult-onset asthma.
12. The evidence is suggestive but not sufficient to infer a causal relationship between secondhand smoke exposure and a worsening of asthma control.

Surgeon General says that SHS exposure did not cause his problems.

The people of Minnesota should be embarrassed and outraged at your legislature for allowing such a giant leap forward in the evolution of this nation toward socialism, and for not taking every administrative and legislative action available to block one of the most severe back-handed slaps at a segment of the population since Jim-Crow laws were abolished.
This law is specifically designed for the personal comfort of the majority at the expense of the liberty of the minority and will now be cited as precedent for even greater encroachment on the personal freedom of the next trendy target of hate, and of all future generations.