Kaine visits Beach to push for statewide smoking ban

..The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) passed by Congress Oct 2006 (which was secretly added to a Port security bill) without a vote last year, passed in the middle of the night without anyone any the wiser but a few of the congressmen in cahoots to get it shoved through, makes it illegal for financial institutions to process money for internet gambling anymore, that includes card playing such as spades, backgammon, poker, and such. Where was your freedom to vote for or against that then? Freedoms being slowly deteriorated..you betcha...And just what did internet gambling have to do with the Ports Security Bill...??? Nothing! You tell me...Now we are in a heap of trouble with the WTO over this...and guess what, it's all coming out of your pockets! BBinVB, there already are pools for those that like peeing and not peeing, you just aren't aware of it..all public pools are peed in and thanks for the chuckle tho...glad i don't like swimming...

As stated previously, I am an asthmatic and also allergic to cigarette smoke. Other fumes in the air may bother me from time to time but it's rare and it doesn't keep me from going about whatever activity I was trying to go about. Smoke from someone's fireplace or fumes from a factory are only bothersome as I drive past the area and they dissipate quickly. Eating dinner (and trying to socialize a little while before and after the meal) is torture when sitting in a restaurant that has a smoking section. Not to mention going to one of these restaurants means coming home with stinky clothes and hair. I don't think it should be up to rude smokers to determine where I can and cannot go out. They're not allowed to keep me from going to a store or other businesses, why restaurants? This comparison has become cliche recently, but it's true. Would it be fair for pools to have a peeing section and a non-peeing? All those who like peeing in the pool could go swim and have a good time. Those who don't pee in the pool would just have to tolerate it or stay home.

Some just won't admit it. It is time for the French solution.

It is not the smoking that bothers anyone, it's the thought of such a habit one has. People, the air you breath is filled with garbage. Why pick on just one small aspect of it? You really make no sense at all. Banning smoking isn't going to clean up the environment...look around you! My goodness. I really can't believe how blind you are. We have plastic bags, plastic soda can holders , all kinds of garbage being tossed out on the wayside and you scream over a butt? We have toxic fumes from grills, fireplaces, backyards,restaurant kitchens, factories and you scream over a cigarette. I am so amazed that we have lost all common sense over this one small habit. Put some energy into something that really matters, such as our country becoming a country for spanish speaking illegals. Now that is a fight worth fighting. Where else can one be so discriminated against except the USA. Push 1 for English 2 for Spanish? What happened to all the other languages we speak? Why should we push 2? It is still America , or is it?

Banning smoking in restaurants is not the return of the third reich, in spite of the comments some have left here. It is about having clean, non-poisonous air in public accommodations such as restaurants. Private business owners, restaurants included, have many rules they must follow. They must provide a safe environment for both patrons and employees and there are various laws to ensure this. Fire safety, how meats and dairy are handled, how insecticides are stored, accommodations for the disabled, proper handwashing procedures are all rules mandated to protect patron and/or employee health. Ridding restaurants of carcinogenic smoke seems in line with these other measures. Also, employees have a right to a healthy work environment....do you think these restaurants are going to pay for the illnesses that these employees are likely to develop after years of working in a cigarette-smoke laden environment? These restaurant jobs don't provide health insurance. Who do you think will foot the bill for any illnesses or diseases that strike the friendly waitress who works in your neighborhood pub for several years? We the taxpayers will foot the bill. Banning smoking in restaurants is prob

As previously stated, by 2020 it will not matter. I used to smoke, but quit of my own decision. If I only had Kaine and Clinton to make these decisions for me earlier, and show me the way. Domo arigato, Mr. Roboto..........

Think about the "private business" aspect that people who likes to subject others to second-hand smoke in restaurants are so adamant about. Are not grocery stores privately owned businesses? What about Target? Beauty salons? Office supply stores? 7-11? These aren't public or government establishments. If the general public and employees are protected from hazards due to the foolish, disgusting habits of others in these privately owned businesses, why should restaurants be any different?

I can't help being disgusted by all the smokers who feel that people who can't stand smoke or really can't physically tolerate it for health reasons should just mind their business and have no desire to visit places where smokers choose to puff. As an asthmatic and someone who is allergic to cigarette smoke, there are lots of places I simply cannot go because it isn't safe for me to be there. I start coughing and wheezing when someone next to me at a stoplight is smoking with their windows down. Dare I sit in the lobby of a restaurant with a smoking section and that lobby is near that smokers... Burning, itchy eyes are just the beginning.

My father fought in this 1954 rebellion to gain our freedom to come to this great country and he paid a dear price for it. Him and my mother both were in holding camps with us kids and they were beaten daily until he managed to escape with all of us. I am here as a witness of just what an inch of government encroachment can and will do on ones freedom if continued to be allowed. My most horrible day was when I heard from our own presidents lips, that we should be a dictatorship so he could rule alone, without question..my heart sank to my knees thinking, yes, it is happening again. A little piece at a time and no one is LISTENING! Smoking? It stinks, it is offensive and I can walk away FREELY because I can. What will be next on their agendas, if these bans come to pass? This is just testing the waters people! I don't even want to think it for it could be more horrible than a butt in the street or a puff of smoke in the air! Keep letting them strip away others freedoms..your in line next and do not think it won't happen to you too!

Any situation or circumstance where some small, undesirable situation permits the gradual and inexorable weakening of personal responsibility/rights by government that is promulgated by the public for the greater good of our state - is a bunch of HORSE-HOCKEY!

From an old Arabian proverb: "If the camel once gets his nose in the tent, his body will soon follow."

If adopted, the legislation will mark the inception of supervision and control of private business by the State.

Whether or not you are a smoker or a nonsmoker....YOU DO NOT WANT GOVERNMENT MAKING THESE DECISIONS!

from several posters here. It's amazing to see so many up in arms about this subject, and how some have turned it into their own political forum; some have gone as far as bash certain political figures as if doing so will make a change. Some have accused certain political figures of fanning the flames(no pun intended)for their campaign efforts. The only realistic post I have seen so far, states that it should be left up to the individual restaraunt or pub owner. I could not agree more. I am sure the debate will continue regardless of what gets decided and/or what is bill is actually passed. Not only will the debate continue in Richmond, but here locally as well. Some posters make claim that smoking is not a right...yeah it is. It's totally up to the individual. Some claim that there is some hidden government conspiracy to take over pubs and resturants and control every move we make. Yes, I agree the measure is a bit overbearing, and it should indeed be left up to the individual restaruant owner.

It's wrong, plain and simple wrong! Individual business should have the right to make this decision on their own without the government stepping in. If this bill passes, I hope every smoker will get their cigarettes from neighboring North Carolina; then you will see how much that affect your taxes in the future. Then many of you will start complaining again because complaining and telling others what to do is what you do best. Remember this, gun control and the use of cell phones haven't seen their day by our law makers, but the day is coming when you will get your share of government contol.

You say it is sick to state an analogy of something from the past. I feel so sorry for you. I think it is sick and sheepish to complain about something because it offends you, when you don't even understand it. It was meant to point out how so many people will follow someone elses agenda without even thinking about the end results, their own loss of freedoms and rights. It shows the hypocracy of people like Kaine and the city councils in this area. If they are so concerned about our health, then ban the sales of cigarettes altogether. But they would never pass a law like that because THEY (the city and state)would lose to much money. If they wanted to pass a just law, then make it where the establishment owners decide, and the patrons decide. Not people that don't even patronize the specific establishments. As for operating the ovens, the people that were down trodden by the government back then, were the ones that were forced to operate the ovens. Have a nice day.

Yes, I quit in 1996. I can smell smoke on someone's clothes 6-10 ft away. Do I like it. . . No!

Is it MY job or responsibility to regulate for someone else what they can and cannot do.

I can choose to go to a resteraunt that allows smoking, and I can choose not to.

Le me make MY choices, as well as letting the Resteraunt owners make their choices. This is NOT the role of government!!!

Leave it up to the restuarant/bar owners to decide if they want a no smoking establishment or not. Patrons then have the choice to eat/drink
where they enjoy a meal with or with out smoke. The wait staff and others
working in bars/restuarants have a choice where to apply for a job.

If the smoking ban becomes law I recommend the next thing to outlaw
in bars/restuarants is the cell phone, make those who wish to receive and
make calls do it from the outside along with the smokers. their habits are just as offensive to diners.

is to see the term "freedom fighter" used as a perjorative and to have people celebrating the likelihood that the tyranny of the majority will triumph over individual rights.

It is truly sad that some people here can look with glee at the demise of all that made America 'the shining city on the hill' Reagan reminded us we could be.

Even a cursory reading of the history of Europe in the last century would reveal that the minimal risks of secondhand smoke are trivial compared with the danger posed by governments that place the collective above the individual.

You know, I'm glad that more places are deciding to become smoke free. But if memory serves Big Daddy Kaine said that he would not do just this thing because it would be like instituting a "police state". Never the less, the business owners should decide not the government. If they ban Cig's Rob Maz, where will Hillary get the money for Child Healthcare, SCHIPS? What about the states that already depend (read as already budgeted) from the Settlement? Where will Hillary get the money for all the other programs already tied to the Tobacco Tax? Do you really think Hillary is going to put out of business those who farm Tobacco especially since we subsidize them anyway to continue the addiction. Your government is just as complicit in addicting the country to smoking, where's the law suit against them?

You are a very sick and immature person to bring up Nazi's and saying you would like to be the oven operator for the "sheep" who are proponents of smoke free air. I intend to make a formal complaint against you since I feel you do not deserve a forum to spew such vile thoughts. If you are a smoker, it's obvious the dangerous chemicals have polluted your brain as well as your body. Please see your General Practioner and Psychiatrist immediately. Your twisted thinking is as dangerous to others as your second-hand smoke.

So many people with such a narrow view of life..if smoking was the cause of all our ills, we all would be dead. Smoking has been a custom for centuries and that will never be stopped just as drinking, gambling and sex. It's part of our lifestyle we were raised with. One could try to change another by demanding to do it their way but isn't that imposing ones will upon another once again? As I said, smoking is small stuff...take your blinders off and look at the BIG picture...what isn't being banned that is hurting you a 1000 times more than a puff of smoke from a cigarette. Many of your children in the near future will be born deformed due to the allowable spewing of carcinogens from other sources in the air. Why isn't anyone screaming over this? Because one feels mightier when one can take anothers pleasure away..I pity all of you for not seeing this for what it really is..a gesture from politicians..who really don't care for if the did, we wouldn't have ozone alerts now would we?

ALL smoking will be banned by 2020 anyway. Sooner if Clinton gets in there.

The state requires restaurants to pay a fee and obtain the appropriate license in order to serve beer, wine and liquor.

Why not require restaurants to pay a fee and obtain the appropriate license in order to permit smoking?

If Governor Kaine wants to save the lives of his fellow Virginian’s, why not propose a bill that will actually saves lives? Outlaw all cell phone use while driving.
I know what you are thinking; talking on a cell phone and smoking in a restaurant are not even close. Well guess again Skippy! I cannot count the narrow escapes I have had riding my motorcycle by someone talking on a cell phone while driving. However, I can tell you which restaurants I can go to that are smoke free.
It is becoming the thing to do to ban smoking. All the politicians are jumping on the ban wagon. Lets see how many of you good citizens vote for this one. You do not smoke and you do not drink. However, I will bet you chatter like crazy at 60 mph.

Whether an establishment permits or prohibits smoking does not dictate where this smoker chooses to dine. My choices are based upon the quality of food and service. Whether to allow smoking or prohibit smoking is a decision best left to restaurant management.

It's about freedom to choose. Not about rights. The list of freedoms are becoming smaller and smaller. Smoking? Thats just a tip of the iceburg. If smoke was all that bad, then why haven't they banned fireplaces? You can smell the smoke from a mile away. Why not ban leaf burning that brings on more noxious fumes than one can stomach. Why haven't they banned factories yet that spew carcinogens hourly and daily into the air? They even have air quality contol data now over these smog ridden states due to these kinds of things but are they banned? Not on your life cause people can't relate to this. Smoking? thats just a needle in a haystack. I don't smoke but I won't tell another not to...it's their choice and freedom to do so since it is still legal here in the good ole USA.! Yes, the day will come that you too will react unbelievably against a freedom you thought you were entitled to when it is denied to you too!

Okay, let's all put aside how gross, stinky smoking is. What about others health? Or do we not care about someone having lung cancer from second hand smoke, not to mention what it does to the smokers’ health. Even places that have nonsmoking/smoking is not good enough, smoke still travels, and what is funny in some restaurants you are waiting for a seat in nonsmoking and the smoking area has maybe two tables with customers!?!? Smoking is not a RIGHT; it is just a habit some have. Everyone gets so crazy about it, and go on about rights! What about my right to stay alive?? Some people never look at the big picture, just care about #1.

Sadly, as it's the "squeaky wheel that gets the grease", it's also the ones that whine the most get their way. I am not a smoker, and (like an earlier posted response said) I have the option of choosing where I go. I think it is unrealistic and unfair to make restaurants change to meet MY needs, and it saddens me to think that the government will get involved to make them do so. It almost reminds me of prohibition: let's take something that many people like and enjoy - and take it from them. They say it's because it's bad for them. I say if that's the case why stop there? Let's go ahead and make those same restaurants stop serving beef, fried foods, soda, and salad dressings! That way we can have fun places to meet up with friends and drink water. Lord knows enough people die each year as a result of their diet and poor (non smoking-related) health. Heck, in most European countries people smoke and are still in better shape/health than most Americans. But hey, we can overlook that fact and feel good about our fresh air as long as we can still Super-size our value meal.

Our government is regulating too much of our lives. I don't smoke and don't like going into establishments that have a lot of it... BUT, I don't think it's the governments job to decide if a business should be smoke free. It should be up to the owner. They are the ones who will have to deal with the outcome, good or bad. I appreciate the effort to save everyone, but maybe the government should focus on other things, like our roads, corruption, education, preserving our historical monuments, etc. Telling business owners that they can't allow smoking in the establishment they pay for and run is completely unconstitutional. There is a reason it was written- to protect the people FROM the government. Enough with the trends, we needs real leadership!!!!

Think again my comrads. It is a war and it is against us as citizens. It started and you people have no idea what is coming down on us...sure, lets keep giving the government what they want..they are tickled pink with people such as you always wanting to ban things and take away another FREEDOM form your fellow man...READ HIS LIPS, geezes..A dictatorship would be a heck of a lot easier, there's no question about it." - President George W. Bush, July 26, 2001.Another step towards presidential dictatorship: Bush orders US citizen held indefinitely by military ... jailed indefinitely by the Bush ...Bush's Wartime Dictatorship The threat of presidential supremacism ... "Bush's constitutional argument, in the eyes of some legal scholars. President Bush has once again decreed that his personal pen is the highest law ... Bush pulled the same trick in March after he inked a ...and you don't think it can happen her?? It already started..