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State-Wide Smoking Ban
Unrealistic. That is the best term that can be used to describe a state-wide smoking ban in Missouri. In February, Senator Kurt Odenwald proposed a state-wide smoking ban to the Missouri General Assembly. Governor Matt Blunt stated in contrary that, in his opinion, each city and county should decide the smoke ban individually, instead of the state making the ban.
This is a good idea, far better than the state making the decision.
A smoking ban would hurt a lot of businesses and just make people in some cities upset, whereas in other cities it could help bring in more business. So far only two of 1,575 cities (Blue Springs and Kansas City), have had any support for a state-wide smoking ban since it was proposed in February. Before the ban was proposed, only eight cities (Arnold, Ballwin, Chillicothe, Columbia, Farmington, Jefferson City, Independence, and Kirksville) enforced one.
The city council of each of the 1,575 cities in Missouri should be required to take the best interest of the owners of each bowling alley, restaurant, bar, etc. individually into consideration when deciding to enact a major ban, and to let each owner make his or her own decision whether to ban smoking or not. Also, the members of each city council should be more worried about infringing on the rights of the affected owners instead of trying to take their rights away. Activists like Bill Hannegan, creator of the blog Keep St. Louis Free!, and the founders of Kansas City Business Rights Coalition, are fighting for the rights of the owners who have put their all into their businesses. People like this could keep the rights of Missourians and Americans as a whole safe, in the world today to make everyone happy, not just the majority.
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This article has 17 comments.
Illinois has this "you can't smoke in public buildings" thing. I find it quite stupid. There was a man who lit a cigarette in a bar 30 minuets after the law went into effect and got arrested and fined for it, I do believe.
I think that it should be allowed in places like bars, bowling alleys, and certain restaurants. Places like Applebees though, where there are little kids around will be sensitive to it and stuff, but if your going to a local place or something, who cares?
The whole thing is just stupid, it's the persons life, it's their decision.
