Smoke Nazis Hit Jackpot in Colorado Casinos

Another group of smokers, this time in Colorado, attempts to accommodate a group that seeks no accommodating: Smoke Nazis.

We're a little wary of tales warning of the U.S. turning into a police state. But the following story is another depressing one in the march of a free society along the road to one where personal habits are highly-regulated.

Smoke Nazis hit the jackpot in Colorado.

Time is burning up for smokers to light up in Colorado casinos. A new law that bans smoking inside the gaming halls starts New Year’s Day. “We’re expecting the first three months to see a decline a little bit,” said Scott Porter, assistant managing director of the Triple Crown Casinos.

Porter says he and other casino operators have been working with the city of Cripple Creek on marketing projects to draw customers to town, including a new community-wide ice festival planned for this coming February.

But, even if the ban doesn’t stop the smokers from gabling, the casinos say they are still expecting at least a 10 to 20 percent drop in revenue. “That’s created by the customer who normally would be playing the machine and having a cigarette having to leave the machine and go have a smoke then come back in,” explains Bronco Billy’s co-owner Marc Murphy.

So, before they take away the ashtrays, the casinos have been busy finding ways to keep smokers from feeling left out in the cold. Bronco Billy’s has added heaters beneath their awnings to help warm up the sidewalks. Slot machines at the Triple Crown Casinos; the Brass Ass, the Midnight Rose, and J.P. McGill’s, as well as at the Gold Rush and Bronco Billy’s will soon have removable signs that reserve a machine for 10 minutes while a smoker steps out for a break. “It’s a uniform sign …and it just eliminates some of the confusion,” says Murphy.

Around town, some people say the ban is a breath of fresh air. Kelly Cain of Colorado Springs says, “I love the idea of not coming here and having to sit and breathe somebody else’s smoke, and go home and have my hair smell like smoke.”

Kelly Cain could exercise her right of any American citizen: stay home or find a casino that chooses to accommodate non-smoking customers or any number of other novel ideas.

Instead, Kelly, like most of the Smoke Nazis, seems comfortable with the idea of dictating to businesses and their customers what they are and are not allowed to do in a free society.

The Bauers are a bit more accommodating.

Cripple Creek residents John and Melody Bauer say they too welcome the smoke-free laws. “We’d rather see the casinos smoke-free as long (there was) some place for the customers to smoke,” John Bauer said..

Others in the area do speak up.

However, others in town think the government should butt out of their business. “Who’s it hurting?” questioned resident Dave Ragulsky. “I don’t think it’s right.” Laura Miller agreed saying the ban will likely to send more smokers looking to friendlier casinos like Las Vegas. “You know, the saloons have been around since the 1800’s and I don’t think it’s right,” said Miller.

Imitating the forces of Prohibition, smoking foes reveal that, as far as they are concerned, there will be no accommodation.

It's either their way or the highway.

A potential legal battle is shaping up about how far the casinos can go in accommodating smoking customers. In Central City, the town government has cleared the way for casinos there to build covered smoking areas outside. But groups like Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado say the patios count as enclosed areas and thus violate the law.

Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado?

Like the original National Socialists, the Smoke Nazis exhibit a tightly-organized structure.

One only hopes they will meet the same end.

by Mondoreb
[image: RidesAPaleHorse]
Source:
* Casino Smoking Ban is Fast Approaching





Death by 1000 Papercuts Front Page.

Smoke Regulators Go After Apartments : At What Point Will They Stop?

First, they came for the restaurants, then they came for the bars and bowling alleys, now if you live in Minnesota and are a smoker, they're after your apartment and car.

The victories of health Nazis have emboldened them to tackle new challenges. Private apartments and vehicles are their next target.

More top-level strategy for a Smoke-Free MinnesotaBy Mark Brunswick and Curt Brown, Star Tribune:

Fresh from their success winning a statewide smoking ban in bars and restaurants, Minnesota's anti-smoking advocates are ready to zero in on where you live.

One anti-smoking group will kick-start a campaign this week to encourage landlords to outlaw smoking in their buildings. While the program would be purely voluntary for now, some communities might follow two California cities by considering broader ordinances that would apply to multi-unit dwellings.

Smoke-free groups are also considering pushes to restrict drivers who smoke with kids in their cars, park users who smoke and even cigarette-dangling youth-sport coaches. Still, condos and apartments appear to be the next battleground in the state's smoking wars.

It's part of a national trend aimed at snuffing out those who light up. Chicago can now fine people up to $500 for smoking within 15 feet of beaches and playgrounds. Albuquerque nixed smoking at the zoo. Davis County, Utah, has extended its ban to golf courses and cemeteries.

The answers to this increasing regulation has led to a bizarre invention: faux cigarettes. More from the New York Post:

A new smokeless, tobacco-free, reusable cigarette may soon blow rings around the city's smoking ban.

The plastic Crown Seven electronic device, invented in China and sold online for $100, looks like a sleek cigarette holder and even glows red at one end when you take a drag.

It emits a faint water vapor from its battery-powered filter. Because it's not real smoke, the manufacturers hope the device will fly under health inspectors' radar.

Instead of tobacco, the e-cigarette contains a mix of water, nicotine, artificial smoke flavor and propylene glycol, the chemical used in fog-making machines.

As the story states, it's an answer to Nanny State regulations. But is it the right answer? At what point do people yell, "Stop"? Those cheering on the increasing reach of regulators might quiet down some when the focus changes to other areas of private life.

Regulations about private behaviors keep multiplying: smoking, diet, health. And the list goes on. It's increasingly harder for regulation advocates to disguise their actions as "caring about health".

In the beginning, it was about the health of children and others affected by second-hand smoke, that great excuse to take decisions out of the hands of people affected. Some non-smokers applauded as noxious regulations, in many cases enacted by non-elected officials, took effect.

In most cases, smokers grudgingly obliged. Now the nabobs of the Nanny State have revealed that no place is free from where they will go in search of regulatory power over people's private lives.

Anyone overweight might take notice. With Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton and John Edwards, mandatory check ups are part of their plans for more government intrusion into private health care.

Those applauding the increased crackdowns on smoking in private living areas might not be cheering so loudly when they are required to jog to retain health care benefits.

It's clear that the power to regulate smoking in private business establishments didn't satisfy the anti-smoking forces; it seems it only made them hungrier for more rules. This need to regulate others leads to a craving for more stringent regulation.
It meets some of the criteria of "addiction".

Once zealots get the power to determine what is best for someone else, it's a hard habit to break.

by Mondoreb
& Little Baby Ginn



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