I dont think smoking should be banned!!! But...

I agree that people can be rude, definitely. I don't know about Canada, but here in Washington State they are VERY strict on fines, and they're high fines-- 500.00 for littering, no smoking in bars, bus stops, and now they're talking about banning smoking in public parks as well. They do fine people, and enforce the fines. Even so, fining and taxation don't stop people from smoking-- just as they don't stop people from drinking. When people are behaving offensively around me here, I just ask them politely to stop, and they generally apologize and do. The last time I went to the casino, a lady sat next to me and asked me if I minded if she smoked. I didn't (no health problems or allergies), but the lady on her other side did-- so she didn't. Generally, people here (at least everywhere I've been in the U.S. lately) will stop doing something that offends others if they're asked to-- at least smokers usually do. Drinkers and people blasting obscene music, on the other hand, will usually cause a serious scene. Loud music affects my hearing, and gives me a headache-- and loud music can cause hearing damage for others. The last two times I asked someone on a city bus to turn down their boom box, I almost got physically assaulted. Should music companies be taxed? Should people playing their boom boxes at the bus stop be fined? Should car stereos and boom boxes be made so that they can't be turned up above voice level? What about home stereo systems? As I said above-- giving the government, any government, too much of a say in people's private choices is nothing but trouble. The U.S. government has a long and terrible track record of interfering with people's private lifestyle choices. Try to figure this one out: In Oregon, I have to have my gas pumped for me, because gas fumes can cause cancer in lab rats. But the gas station workers don't get higher pay, nor do they get protective equipment-- and because they pump gas every day, all day, they get far more exposure than drivers. Does this make sense? Oregon is also trying to pass a law requiring every vehicle registered in the state to have a GPS device that gives data to the state saying where and how much you drive. They claim it's for estimating gas consumption-- but state gas taxes and collections ALREADY tell them EXACTLY how much gas is used, and where the gas is pumped. Why does the state need to know not only when you drive your car, but where you go and for how long? What it always comes down to, to be blunt, is people mhave no problem with the government policing SOMEONE ELSE'S behavior-- but how will you feel when they start telling YOU what to do? In Tucson Arizona, my other half and I got a verbal warning once-- for hugging, FULLY CLOTHED, outside a mall entrance when we met for lunch. We moved to Washington.

Well that is just over the top to intervene just because of hugging and you weren't even doing anything else it was just a simple hug but again i think that for smoking it is different this can cause health issues to those who use them and the people around them not all people are polite like some that you have encountered especially in my side of town anyway i just hope that my idea happens to my country and to my people.

It SEEMS like a long distance between smoking and hugging, but it isn't. Both types of regulations stem from a vocal minority using political power in an apathetic voting populace to further individual prejudices and feelings. In our last presidential election, Obama won 52-48 percent-- BUT LESS THAN 70% of eligible voters voted! When it came to the hugging ban, it was led by Christian fundamentalists who comprised less than 30% of the voting base in Pima County Arizona-- but the vote passed by almost 70%. The rationale for bans on public displays of affection was that children would see adults "touching inappropriately". I personally don't see a loving hug or a kiss to be inappropriate for children-- it shows them affection is natural. It is far better than the violence and gore in movies, or depictions of women as objects or playthings. Thomas Jefferson, among others said that " evil will always triumph if good men do nothing"-- and that is what frequently happens. people who CAN vote don't so laws are passed based on a vocal minority. In Arizona, Michelangelo's David and Botcelli's Venus are both considered "obscene"-- because the fundamentalists voted, and the majority didn't. kissing on the lips for longer than 10 seconds is also illegal, as is telling an adult joke that can be heard more than 3 feet away. The Grapes of Wrath by Nobel prize winner John Steinbeck has been banned from hundreds of schools, as has Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Animal Farm and Fahrenheit 451-- all excellent books, but apparently too disturbing for young minds-- like rap videos, the "SAW" movies and Kill Bill aren't disturbing? Persons of conscience like yourself, and me for that matter, have an obligation to try to educate rather than lecture, help rather than penalize, and work diligently to improve our little corner of the world. Government is rarely successful at changing society-- PEOPLE are ALWAYS successful. Embrace your power, Stringer and Deodavid The answers lie within ourselves, not within our governments. Governments, at the end, always act to serve themselves.