Smoking Bans in Bars... now banning smokers from government jobs

[Tipsy]

HeraldTribune.com - News - News stories about Sarasota, Manatee and Charlotte counties in Florida, from the newspapers of record. - HeraldTribune.com

SARASOTA — Citing the burden they place on taxpayers who pay for government workers' health insurance, Sarasota County officials announced Monday that they no longer will hire smokers.

I could understand if some private business owner was banning people from working for him/her because they smoked, but the government doing it? That seems a tad questionable to me.

 

[Renzokuken]

Smoking will be illegal one day. Can't wait.

 

[RavenholdtRogueL13]

Wow. Sounds a bit like discrimination to me. Not hiring someone because of a lifestyle they choose to accept? Banning smoking in government offices, okay, fine. Go outside to a designated area. But completely banning smokers from the work place? Over the line. And what qualifies as a smoker anyway? One pack a day? Two? Maybe you're a social smoker and only have a ciggie when you're at the bar or with friends drinking a beer. Perhaps you tried cigarette's when you were younger, smoked for a few years, and then quit...but every now and again, you have that nic-fit....

Seriously, people need to get over it. Designate a place for smokers to have their five minute break, and non-smokers, just don't go near that place. I'll be the ACLU is going to be all over this one, which it should. Go for it.

 

[Emperor Pan I]

Advertisements for smoking is banned. No smoking in resturants or bars. it is illegal to display cigarettes in stores now.

Take the hint, smoking is stupid.

 

[Malcom Sex]

I feel like that crosses the line to be perfectly honest

 

[Metal Gear Flash]

legalize it

 

[concrete_sox]

pan i thought u smoked marijuana now ur saying smoking is stupid?

 

[Emperor Pan I]

pan i thought u smoked marijuana now ur saying smoking is stupid?

1. I don't smoke pot anymore
2. Smoking Tobacco doesn't do anyhting for you, besides cancer and all that fun stuff.
3. Marijuana has the added fun factor.

 

[concrete_sox]

tobacco taste good tho

 

[Galatia]

Smoking is definately stupid, but so is sunbathing from 11am to 4pm - to name one example. Both are choices, though. And nobody has the right to take these choices away from other people - unless they are minors.

 

[Renzokuken]

You can't compare smoking to sunbathing.

 

[concrete_sox]

They both give you cancer

 

[Galatia]

Check your facts, mr. Renzo. Sunbathing seriously damages your health. There is not a single skin cancer case that didn't start with a sunburn.

 

[Renzokuken]

Yeah but sunbathing isn't addictive. I sunbathe when i'm at the beach in the Summer, but that's about it. By your logic that's like me having cigarettes seasonally depending if i'm out or not.
People don't need to sunbathe, it only damages your health if you are subject to prolonged exposure. And even then, one day of sunbathing wont give you cancer.

Smoking =/= Sunbathing.

 

[Galatia]

The main argument of the Sarasota officials is about *the burden they (the smokers) place on taxpayers who pay for government workers' health insurance*. The addictive factor is therefore irrelevant in this case.

As for your argument about sun damage: One day of sunbathing wont give you cancer but the same is true about one day of smoking. In fact, there are millions of smokers that don't have cancer and millions of non-smokers that suffer from it.

Smoking is stupid, but so is the *burden on taxpayers* argument. MacDonald's can kill you faster than smoking (to name another random example) but nobody is thinking of not hiring BigMac lovers.

 

[Amantis]

Yes, but smoking affects the people around them. Sunbathing doesn't unless if you turn into a lobster and your boyfriend hates you for it (not that it's happened).

- Amantis

 

[Tipsy]

Yes, but smoking affects the people around them. Sunbathing doesn't unless if you turn into a lobster and your boyfriend hates you for it (not that it's happened).

- Amantis

How does it hurt the people you work with if you don't smoke around them? If the concern was directly harming them, this can be dealt with by stopping smoking in public buildings, putting specific smoking rooms in, etc - it in no way means that these people shouldn't be hired. The sun bathing example is no different from the smoking in terms of it can raise their healthcare costs, the reason that city is giving for not hiring smokers.

 

[Laharl]

Actually, smokers pay obscene amounts of taxes per carton of cigarettes which easily outweighs the expenses.

 

[AZN_FLEA]

wow thats one smart thing youve said.

this is utterly stupid. this is just ignorant. this is colossally ****ed up. banning smokers from workplace? might as well ban women from work as well. idiots. smoking is stupid but this is just as stupid. how ppl live is not of your concern thanks

 

[Trojan]

The only way I could see workers being banned from smoking is if the people that are smoking become sick and use the health plan to cover their illnesses being too expensive, which is kinda retarded since we can spend about 6 trillion dollars on nuclear missiles but we can't spare a few billion for health care.
Killing > Curing Cancer.