Post #26923 by woofmutt on Sun, Mar 16, 2003 11:16 PM

As a pipe and cigar smoker I have to chime in and say that I agree with everyone except Trader Woody. Smokers have their cars and homes and the whole of the great outdoors to smoke smoke smoke that cigarette. I think one's "basic right to be yourself" ends at the tip of your nose and fingers. Like a lot of people in West Seattle I enjoying spinning a long length of heavy chain in a big circle over my head...It's what we do. But if my chain makes contact with the back of someone else's head I think my basic right to be a chain spinner has gone down the crapper. Washington state recently ignored a bill proposed by some elected rep to ban smoking in restaurants and bars. I'd love to have seen it go through and now feel compelled to see if we can get the ball rolling again. In the case of smoking in public places I'd like to see such "creeping health-nazisim" become a full on assault.

I don't get how smoking a pipe of some "strong, aromatic tobacco blend" in an establishment that bans smoking would jive with a belief in personal freedom. The proprietor of such an establishment has the personal freedom to ban smoking in his/her joint. And anyway, most people seem to enjoy the scent of pipe tobacco. Still, Dunhill's "Morning Pipe" has a sort of general smokiness to it that some might not find so inviting. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it.