WTF is this world coming to!! http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-rockdale-smoke_10apr10,0,6538885.story With all the REAL crime going on in Joliet,IL....why in the world are they wasting taxpayer funds on this sorta non-sense?!! Michelle
I kind of see both sides of this argument, but not much worse than going to a smoke-free bar in IL, and having someone next to you light up. I don't go to bars any more than before the ban, but definitely enjoy my stay much more. It is hard to tell which bars are actually enforcing the ban, and which are not.
they do it here! All our bars and clubs are NON smoking, which I love! But, they do come in from time to time and ticket those that are smoking.
I'm not a smoker, never have been, never will be......but I am sick & tired of innocent folks becoming the victims of various crimes with NO cops in sight because they have been ordered by someone higher up to engage in these stupid raids of one sort or the other. It's one thing for a cop to be on routine patrol and pop into a bar and see some violators and ticket them...it's another thing to start raiding bars all over town looking for violators of the smoking ban. If I were a cop, I'd be insulted to be ordered to do what a freakin meter maid can do.....all that specialized training to focus on smokers!!?? Perhaps in some outback, country town where crime is extremely low this would make sense...but when you have HIGH crime rates, budget cut backs,etc....why in the world do smokers become a high priority? In this instance, I have to stick up for the smokers of the world. Not saying that they should be allowed to violate the law, but rather than ticketing each and every patron who lights up, give the bar owner a STEEP fine so they have NO incentive to turn a blind eye to what goes on in their establishment. That solves the problem.....whereas ticketing each patron proly won't stop them anymore than a threat of a parking ticket stops folks from walking off without dropping the coins in the meter. Hummm...Dunno why I'm gettin so bent outta shape over this. I need to go take my meds....carry on..... :bashself: Michelle
guess it is much easier for these cops to go into a bar full of drunks and give them tickets of up to $250 then to bust an armed robber or a crackhead with a gun. I think it makes sense for them, ticketing a smoker is easy money. who wants to get in a high speed car chase or deal with a real crimial, when they can stroll into a bar and write out a ticket for the same paycheck!!! LOL its all soooo silly!!!
