Hey, there! Log in / Register
Boston gets blunt with new tobacco bans
By adamg on Thu, 12/11/2008 - 8:04pm
The Boston Public Health Commission today approved a ban on cigar bars, hookah joints and the sale of blunt wraps, "a tobacco leaf often marketed to youths and known to be used as drug paraphernalia."
Banned immediately: Smoking anywhere in a hotel or B&B, restaurant patios and loading docks.
Banned in 60 days: Tobacco sales in pharmacies and on college campuses.
Existing cigar and hookah bars have 10 years to plan their demises.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Well that's fraking
Well that's fraking ridiculous.
I'm a progressive and even I'd like to tell them where to stick a cigar.
Who elected them?
I'm curious on how they can enforce these "bans" they love so much.
If I have a store and sell blunts, they can't lock me up, but can they fine me?
If I smoke on a loading dock, what are they going to do to me?
Why single out pharmacies? Did the convenience store lobby have a hand in this? Why is selling in a CVS worse than selling in a Store24?
If you can't get drugs in a drugstore ...
it doesn't make any sense!
Well...
...it does kind of make sense that places that exist for the purpose of selling health-improvement products shouldn't be allowed to sell cigarettes.
But then they should also ban drug stores from selling dieting shit. I mean, the OTC stimulants and the "meal-replacement" bars aren't so acutely harmful that they should be outright banned, but OTC weight loss stuff is not healthy, and consumers definitely make associations based on where they're seeing products.
The legal speed capsules sold at CVS next to the carpal tunnel braces surely seem healthier to your average consumer than the (identical) sketchy pills sitting on the counter with the phony aphrodisiacs at the convenience store.
http://1smootshort.blogspot.com
ahh blunt tubes
I always wondered how they got away with those in the first place. Its not like the Little Peach offered a matching selection of tobaccos to stuff into your "green apple blunt wrap". They may has well have been selling bongs.
As an ex-smoker the other bans are going a little too far. The loading dock thing is just mean, more punishment than public health. Not everybody gets a long enough break to walk to whatever would be the appropriate site to smoke.
don't forget the tiny roses-in-tubes!
Its not like the Little Peach offered a matching selection of tobaccos to stuff into your "green apple blunt wrap". They may has well have been selling bongs.
The ex-White Hen on Mass. Ave by Davis Square, during the time when it was the "Bread-N-Butter Konvenience" mart, sold glass pipes, ceramic dugouts and one-hitters in a pretty little display case on the counter. You know, for those impulse buys when a stick of beef jerky or pack of gum simply won't do.
The 7-11 in Kenmore square,
The 7-11 in Kenmore square, next to the BU owned Hotel Commonwealth, across the street from BU dorms....can they sell tobacco?
How about the 7-11 on the corner of park street and buswell street, surrounded 100% by Bu residences, can they sell tobacco?
What defines a college campus?
Also, the ruling says nothing about cigar bars:
"Under the regulations, no new smoking bars, such as hookah bars that cater to young people, will be
allowed to open."
I smell a "young person" distinction lawsuit. Can a hookah bar with a 22+ rule say they dont cater to the youth?
Are bar patios included in this ban?
And what about supermarkets that contain drug stores?
Some Shaw's and Star Markets contain Osco pharmacies. Some Stop & Shop stores also have pharmacies. Under the new law, would these supermarkets be allowed to sell cigarettes?
I'm a big fan of the current ban on smoking in bars and restaurants, but this new regulation goes too far. And if it is to be adopted, it should be done by the City Council, not an unelected committee.
Don't protect people from themselves
Here's some quotes I picked up from the Herald:
I have never smoked, nor will I ever smoke. Please let people make their own choices, don't tell them what they can and cannot do when it comes to their own well-being. When one's actions affect another's, that's when legislation is a possible action. But, when it comes to banning the sale of a product in selective sites, it makes no sense.
Also, why ban sales in these specific stores?? No logic at all. This is like the law that allowed liquor stores within 10 miles of a state border to sell booze on Sunday - stupid. What about the guy that was 11 miles away?
As A Smoker
As a smoker (not proud of that, but I am one) I'm glad to see that it's not only smokers who think this is ridiculous. Wow. No smoking on loading docks? That's just plain bizarre.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Doubly Bizarre
Having endured walking through a smoker haze to get into a hospital that I worked at because the smokers hung out under the eaves by the door - and EVEN IN SIDE THE REVOLVING DOOR, I really don't get the loading dock thing.
You see, loading docks have to deal with vehicle exhaust. That means that they should NOT be anywhere near air handler intakes, and they sometimes have their own air systems to blow smoke from docking vehicles out of the building.
If there is one place you want smokers to smoke, it is ... the loading dock!
I think they should shut down Staples while they are at it ... the place is chock full of stuff that can be used as roach clips and other marajuana paraphenalia. Let's see the city council ban the sale of paperclips to under 21. Right.
Hemostats
I hear Mass Gen is full of hemostats... they should definitely have those taken away.
SHHHH!
Those are for medicinal use only!
I wasn't even in favor of the smoking ban in restaurants
As much as I love going into a bar/restaurant now without dealing with smoke, I wasn't in favor of it. That's just me, though.
addictive, hello...
Please let people make their own choices, don't tell them what they can and cannot do when it comes to their own well-being.
Um...because it's a product specifically manipulated to be addictive?
I suppose you'd fight for the right for people to sell toys with lead in them? After all, parents can choose whether or not to let their kids suck on lead or not?
And there's a yellow flag on the field
*fweet!*
Strawman argument from the defense, five-yard penalty, still first down.
and they take it up at the ADDICTIVE SUBSTANCE line...
n/t
Play Under Review
The offense is challenging this last assertion by Brett on the grounds that you can't make a comparison between the two substances. One is meant only for use by consenting adults who have reached the age of majority, while the other is a hazard for little children who have no idea what they may be putting into their mouths.
While the referee is reviewing the instant replay, here's a word from one of our sponsors.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
and the ruling is????
n/t
People know what they're getting into
I stand by what I said, Brett. People know exactly what they're getting into when they smoke (right Suldog?? ;-) ). You could say the same thing about booze, too. Let adults make their own dumb decisions. There's a whole world of bad things out there, and some people are going to make bad decisions - it's their life.
I couldn't care less about what such people do to themselves.
Unfortunately, however, their actions and behaviour(s) can and do affect others adversely.
People do absolutely stupid things and not only wreck their own lives, but often enough, they take others with them, in the process.
As an ex-smoker I realize
As an ex-smoker I realize that somewhere down the line I may end up dealing with a smoking-related illness and its affects on my health. Guess I'll take my lumps then for my misspent youth.
But I find it amusing that there's so much hand-wringing about this issue when both the federal and state governments are themselves addicted to the extra revenue that cigarette taxes bring in. What's gonna happen when they put two and two together and realize they're working to rid themselves of a source of income?
well, for starters, we can stop spending billions on care...
...as # of smokers decreases, it'll free up resources to deal with other patients.
And yes, I'm aware that reportedly a study found that non-smokers cost more because they live longer...
If You Have Nothing Better To Do...
I'll plug one of my past writings on the subject :-)
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com/2007/01/cutting-into-coughers.html
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
Bluntwraps
Did they ban Dutch Masters and Phillies too because real smokers know that blunt wraps are garbage to begin with.
This will just force kids to learn how to roll a proper blunt and not be lazy.
And really, if they're going to ban blunt wraps why not rolling papers, pipes (corn cob, metal glass), grinders, digital scales, razor blades, etc.. etc..
The funny part is its still perfectly legal to sell bongs, check out Sugar Daddies, the Hempest, Buried Treasures, etc.
I hope Kang's Korner doesn't have to change their (amazing) selection of wraps and papers.
Victory Gardens
The ones over in the Fens? What would Mennino do if somebody decided to start growing a traditional and native crop there? By that I mean tobacco, which was a pretty important cash crop around here at one time.
If a, erm, cigar aficionado decided to experiment with the old broad leaf crop for his or her own enjoyment, what would happen?
Tobacco
I've heard that growing tobacco is not easy, which is why you don't see even die hard nicotine addicts growing their own, even if packs are $10 each.
On the other hand there's this plant which has the nickname "weed" which grows like, well...a weed.
Actually, it's relatively
Actually, it's relatively easy to grow tobacco, and I've seen it in more than a couple gardens here in MA. It's a member of the same family as tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants and bella donna, and has the same general requirements as those plants (sunny, well drained, rich soil with slight acidicy. rotate bed every year to avoid insect/virus pests).
Although I don't think it's easy to get hold of the commercial varieties the big companies use, there are loads of other tobacco species and varieities, many of which have very attractive flowers. (btw, given what a pita it is to cure leaf for smoking, word is the main reason you'd ever want to grow it yourself is for the ornament - ymmv). Tobacco seed is available from many specialty vendors - a quick google will probably bring up a bunch.
Alright, no more Eurotrash
Alright, no more Eurotrash smoking on every restaurant patio on Newbury street!
Is Menino this venal?
Does tobacco ban make sense or is Menino getting back at CVS?
David Ertischek posits the ban could be Menino's way to exact vengeance on the chain for getting permission to open those Minute Clinics, which he opposed.
Earlier bong comment
It's illegal to sell bongs in Mass the same way it's illegal to scalp tickets, as in as long as no one complains, the cops have better things to do with their time. Also, as long as the store selling the bong tells all who enter that if they mention the word weed or admit that that is what the bong is being used for, then they cannot be served. I owned a smoke shop in NH that I bought from the previous owner who went to Federal prison for letting his customers talk shit about what they were buying and because he was supplying the baggies every crack and smack dealer in the Merrimack Valley used.