just go ahead and put me in jail

[de7xwcc]

and i thought the USA sucked

TORONTO (Reuters) - A Canadian truck driver has been fined for smoking in his vehicle because it is considered his workplace, a police spokeswoman said on Friday.

A police officer saw the 48-year-old trucker driving on a highway in southwestern Ontario with a cigarette in his mouth on Wednesday, and gave him a C$305 ($290) ticket.

The Smoke-Free Ontario Act, adopted in 2006, prohibits smoking in an enclosed workplace or enclosed public area, and that extends to work vehicles, said Constable Shawna Coulter of the Ontario Provincial Police in Essex County.

"We enforce the legislation and this truck driver was in violation of that," she said.

 

[barelypure]

So if you have an office in your home some nosy body could turn you in for smoking in your own home. Can anyone defend this insanity or will everyone admit the the namby pamby State has gone too far in trying to regulate behavior?

 

[SST55]

APC, American power conversion, the uniteruptable power supply people have a strict no smoking policy. There is no smoking anywhere on their property and that includes in your car. You will be barred from entering the parking lot on your way in to work if a Barney Fife sees you smoking as you enter, same at the end of a shift if you light up before hitting the street. Last I knew it was a warning for the first offense, second offense was a loss of a work shift, third offense is termination.
As a company vehicle is a company workplace I can see where the same rules of no smoking could apply.
Yes, lock me up too.

 

[WNY24Fan]

That's ridiculous. I also find it ridiculous that hospitals say for the health of their patients, employees, and visitors, there is no smoking inside or outside anywhere on their property, including "walkways" in front of the hospital. I find it rather ridiculous that I can breathe all those fumes in the ramp garage, but I'm not supposed to smoke in my car? Screw them, they can arrest me, too. My friend's 3 kids all work at one of the hospitals and she said they've gotten really bad w/employees. There's no way they can risk being caught smoking in their cars or anywhere else.

I totally understsand no smoking in the hospital, but it's taking it way too far when we have to either walk a mile or hide somewhere to have a smoke outside. I've been up there quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, and I went in my car and to hell w/them. It's bad enough you're waiting hours and hours in the ED, but they want you to be in that stressful situation and not allow you to go outside for a smoke. Too bad for them.

 

[Bucky Badger]

I totally understsand no smoking in the hospital, but it's taking it way too far when we have to either walk a mile or hide somewhere to have a smoke outside. I've been up there quite a bit in the last couple of weeks, and I went in my car and to hell w/them. It's bad enough you're waiting hours and hours in the ED, but they want you to be in that stressful situation and not allow you to go outside for a smoke. Too bad for them.

This isn't directed at you but smokers in general....I CAN'T stand walking past the 6-10 people that smoke outside doors that I have to get into.
What makes smokers special that they think it's ok for me to breath something I don't want to. If I wanted to breath in smoke, I'd move to California.
I feel bad for smokers that are addicted to smoking but it was their choice to start in the first place.

 

[WNY24Fan]

This isn't directed at you but smokers in general....I CAN'T stand walking past the 6-10 people that smoke outside doors that I have to get into.
What makes smokers special that they think it's ok for me to breath something I don't want to. If I wanted to breath in smoke, I'd move to California.
I feel bad for smokers that are addicted to smoking but it was their choice to start in the first place.

I totally understand how you feel about that, Buck. Because I was a non-smoker for a long time (I quit for 11 yrs & slowly got hooked again..grrr) I really try to be as careful as possible to stand away from people so they don't have to breathe the smoke. What really bugs me is the no smoking in my car. You're not going to smell it unless you decide to climb in w/me and well if you did that and I didn't know who you were, I might use that cig. in another way ...... LOL

It is a terrible addiction and I never thought I would smoke again after quitting for so long. I'm an idiot. Seriously.

 

[SST55]

If theres a quit smoking remedy out there I've tried it at least once. As I told my GP I enjoy smoking, not every butt but hidden somewhere in a carton there's that one cigarette that just makes life worthwhile

8am last Monday, while waiting for the rescue I had what I hope to have been my last one. But I've said that before.

Also, a pack, pack and a half each day and at 8 bucks a pack, $74.00 a carton it's cutting into my beer fund!

Hmm at $74 a carton each week x 52 weeks =$3848 a year. Hey wit that kinda money I could buy me some of that Obama care! Whatcha think bp?

 

[Benevolent One]

This isn't directed at you but smokers in general....I CAN'T stand walking past the 6-10 people that smoke outside doors that I have to get into.
What makes smokers special that they think it's ok for me to breath something I don't want to. If I wanted to breath in smoke, I'd move to California.
I feel bad for smokers that are addicted to smoking but it was their choice to start in the first place.

I'm with you Bucky. Smokers gripe all they can about their right to smoke. But what about the rest of us and our rights to not smell like a freaking ashtray? Not being able to smoke in your personal vehicle seems a bit much, but if it is a vehicle that others have to ride in, I can see that completely. Smokers don't realize how disgusting that smell is. Trust me, I smoked for 6 years and I thought non-smokers were whining babies. A few weeks after I quit smoking, my sense of smell came back and I was shocked and apalled at how disgusting all of my stuff was.

 

[buckaroo]

Okay, as an ex-smoker, I've got plenty to say on this issue...well maybe not the issue of the thread, but about smoking in general. Let me first say that I last smoked in November of '95. Since then, the only thing I've puffed on has been a cigar now and then when my BIL comes for Christmas and he gives me one of those expensive ones. Tastes terrible, but I enjoy it with him and a few beers. Okay, having said all that, when I quit, I was putting away 2 1/2 to 3 packs of smokes a day, and that was when they were about $2.00 a pack. I quit cold turkey but always kept a pack of smokes handy in case I wanted one. If I was clean for a full year, that pack hit the trash and that was it. Now that was on the side of a smoker. I could never smell tobacco on other people, their clothes or in their homes because I was very used to that smell and it didn't register. When I quit, it was a different story. Not only could I smell the burnt tobacco, I found evidence of it throughout my home. I even had to clean out the inside of my computer it was so dirty. But I am not an anti-smoker person. Very few of the people I work with, run with, or around smoke and many of them are ex-smokers such as myself. Thirty years ago, it was just the opposite. I am bothered now and then when in closed areas that is rather smoky, but those are few and far between. Now and then someone at the races sit close to us and if we are down wind and they light up, it gets to us, but I tolerate it. Here's the thing, smoking is probably the most hated activity in this country but the government makes so much money from the product and won't even think about outlawing it. Where would that income come from? Its damned if you do and damned if you don't.

 

[SST55]

Here's the thing, smoking is probably the most hated activity in this country but the government makes so much money from the product and won't even think about outlawing it. Where would that income come from? Its damned if you do and damned if you don't.

Right you are and everytime they raise the taxes on cigarettes to increase revenue to the state within months it's right back where it was or less because the increased cost actually forces people to either cut back or quit altogether.
On second thought maybe outlawing them wouldn't be such a bad idea afterall.

 

[barelypure]

If theres a quit smoking remedy out there I've tried it at least once. As I told my GP I enjoy smoking, not every butt but hidden somewhere in a carton there's that one cigarette that just makes life worthwhile

8am last Monday, while waiting for the rescue I had what I hope to have been my last one. But I've said that before.

Also, a pack, pack and a half each day and at 8 bucks a pack, $74.00 a carton it's cutting into my beer fund!

Hmm at $74 a carton each week x 52 weeks =$3848 a year. Hey wit that kinda money I could buy me some of that Obama care! Whatcha think bp?

I think you're paying too much. Cartons are about half that in NC. Oh, wait, no I didn't mean to say that they are twice what you pay...

Me, I've never smoked cigarettes. No taste. My preference is a pipe that I only smoke at home or on long trips. I have a nice cigar humidor and I occasionally light one of them up. Maybe 100 cigars in a year. I don't smoke at work, ever. And I was one of the leading forces to get the smokers moved from the entrances. They bought several gazebos for the smokers to go to outside.
Also, I like to buy generic long leaf tobacco and flavor my own rather than buying flavored tobacco. That way I have more control over the taste.

The funny thing about cigarettes is they contain almost no tobacco. The leaf is stripped and used for other purposes, cigars and pipes. Cigarette tobacco is made mostly from the stems and stalks. It is ground up and a paper is made. The water by-product is collected and is added back to the paper. That is how they are able to change the tar and nicotine content of the tobacco. Open a cigarette and look how uniform all the pieces are. That is impossible if you are using real leaf.
If you could get cured tobacco from a farmer to make your own cigarettes they very well could be more healthful. 1 pound of tobacco will make ~3 cartons. You can buy manual or electric cigarette rollers and tubes, regular or menthol, in the various lengths. So if you are going to smoke cigarettes then that is what I would do. Oh, and you can freeze tobacco. Run it thru a processor to chop it up finely, bag it and toss it in the freezer. You'd be amazed at how much better it tastes and how cheap it is. Except tobacco farmers can't legally sell their tobacco except to the warehouses.

And don't get me started on milk regulations.

 

[wilson89]

I can see smoking cigaretes will be illegal anywhere about 10 years from now. Its already happening slowly cant smoke in resturants now you cant smoke in bars so its obvious thats where its headed. I personaly never smoked because i always got bad memorys from when i was younger and my dad took us on vacation I would sit in the back and he would flick the ash's out his window and it would always fly into the back seat and hit me in the face.

 

[Gato_Solo]

Right you are and everytime they raise the taxes on cigarettes to increase revenue to the state within months it's right back where it was or less because the increased cost actually forces people to either cut back or quit altogether.
On second thought maybe outlawing them wouldn't be such a bad idea afterall.

Sure. Worked with alcohol during prohibition, didn't it?

This is coming from an ex-smoker. I quit 2 months ago after the cost jumped to $4.29 a pack. AFAIK, smoking is legal. If you want to light one up go ahead. Your life, your choice. We can argue about the harm of second-hand smoke...which has not been proven, just alleged...but what it boils down to is this. As long as nobody around is offended, then STFU. If someone IS offended, then put it out...private property rules apply, of course. If you're in a bar and smoking is allowed, then find a place that is non-smoking. If none exists, you have the right to open your own place and apply the no-smoking rule.

 

[Bucky Badger]

I personaly never smoked because i always got bad memorys from when i was younger and my dad took us on vacation I would sit in the back and he would flick the ash's out his window and it would always fly into the back seat and hit me in the face.

damn, thats cruel

 

[Benevolent One]

I can see smoking cigaretes will be illegal anywhere about 10 years from now. Its already happening slowly cant smoke in resturants now you cant smoke in bars so its obvious thats where its headed. I personaly never smoked because i always got bad memorys from when i was younger and my dad took us on vacation I would sit in the back and he would flick the ash's out his window and it would always fly into the back seat and hit me in the face.

That kind of sucks. My dad chewed tobacco and regularly spit it out the window. I remember one trip we took when I was a kid. We went from Akron, Ohio to Tallahassee, Fla to visit my mom's sister and their family. My one sister sat behind him virtually the whole way down and was pretty much drenched in his tobacco spit. It was one of the nastiest things I've seen. He also smoked cigars occasionally, but not very often. I do remember really liking to smell of his cigars on that trip. maybe that's because he wasn't chewing and spitting when he was smoking a cigar.