Smoking was banned in those places in the US before I was even born.
Where I live, you can smoke anywhere you want to (except for the western restraunts, but I never go to those places because I don't eat western food anymore).
Wow, that is surprising to hear. I thought that smoking restrictions were pretty universal in the States as far as public places go.
As you might have guessed, it's not so much smoking restrictions I have a problem with. Accomodating everyone is challenging, to say the least. I am all for separating smoking and non smoking areas, plus allowing business owners to decide for themselves whether or not they will accomodate smokers. Of course, the rule is, if you're going to allow smoking you must allow for non-smoking.
My problem is taxation. The only reason smokers are taxed so heavily is because it is a 'moral' issue. All that crap about rising health care costs is pure b.s. A smoker in the advanced stages of emphysema or lung cancer is out of luck unless they can foot the bill themselves (with the exception of life-threatening emergency care). More than enough stuff has come out about what states have really been doing with the tax money they are collecting from cigarette sales. This is being done on pure morals. Obesity-related health care costs are just as financially devastating (ho ho ho) as smoking related illnesses, but the fatties still have a 99 cent value menu to choose from. Does this seem right to you? Fast food is every bit as addictive as nicotine is, and just as likely to kill you at a young age.
You know, you'd think with all the money being collected from cigarette taxes, some organization would be sinking dough into finding some genetic way to render tobacco harmless.
I can remember when smoking was permitted on airplanes. I can even remember smoking on one myself on a flight from Phoenix to Chicago. My roomate flew from Los Angeles to Sydney on the last U.S. based international flight that permitted smoking.
I don't mind no more smoking on airline flights. This is NOT a bad thing. There's enough crud in an airplane's air supply on it's own without adding smoke to it. Likewise for grocery stores, banks, etc. I can just barely remember an advertisement for Kool's or something like that on television. I have given away my age now, no?
Ultimately, my predicition, the FDA will regulate nicotine and make it illegal for sale in the United States. Probably all at once. I can't wait to see that. 25% of the US population in nicotine withdrawl simultaneously. Those will be fun times.