" I don't think there should be exemptions. What would be the point?!
Smokers can just go outside, as most places do not allow smoking anyway. But please, if you go outside to smoke, go further away from the doors. Nothing worse than walking into a place of entertainment/business and walking through that cloud of smoke before entering. "

" Well here goes some more of our freedom, It does'nt make sense. our so called leaders are worried about secondhand smoke yet they want to fill the state with coal plants! get a grip! "

" Over 80% of Iowans do not smoke, and HF2212 enables roughly 99% of Iowa workers to earn a living in a smokefree enviornment. Too many legislatures are hearing from the minority, and not the majority of Iowans who want more smokefree places. It is about health, it is about making Iowa a healthier place to work and live, and it is the right thing to do. Please contact your legislature and tell them to vote yes on HF2212. Follow this link and contact your legislature to make a difference and make Iowa a better place: http://www.legis.state.ia.us/aspx/Legislators/LegislatorInfo.aspx
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" I, for one of many, am getting sick and tired of hearing the doomsday people continue to harp on the "second hand" smoke causing so many problems. I challenge any one of you to name or show me one person that has been affected by second hand smoke. If you don't like smoke in a bar, LEAVE. There are plenty of places that do not allow smoking that will accomodate you. That would be a solution but, no, you want to go into the smoke allowed places so you can complain about the smoke. If you work in a smoking establishment and you don't like it, why did you take the job? So you can complain. By the way, I do not smoke but I also think my right to not smoke does not take prcedent over any one's right to do so. I can always find a smoke free area to sit, stand, read, eat, or any other thing I wish to do. "

" Diana Reeve, the wife of Superman Christopher Reeve, might be one of the more famous individuals who was a non-smoker and died of lung cancer.

Here is some information from the National Cancer Institute:

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. National Toxicology Program (NTP), the U.S. Surgeon General, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) have classified secondhand smoke as a known human carcinogen (cancer-causing agent).

Inhaling secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in nonsmoking adults. Approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths occur each year among adult nonsmokers in the United States as a result of exposure to secondhand smoke. The Surgeon General estimates that living with a smoker increases a nonsmoker’s chances of developing lung cancer by 20 to 30 percent.

Some research suggests that secondhand smoke may increase the risk of breast cancer, nasal sinus cavity cancer, and nasopharyngeal cancer in adults, and leukemia, lymphoma, and brain tumors in children.
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" Thank you very much motormaker. I am a smoker, and it is nice to read that someone else is getting tired of this. The next thing, we will be told where to sit, stand, what to read or eat, etc. This is the land of the free last time I checked. We can't smoke inside where I work, and we are over 20 feet away from the door Blue Star. Stay out if you don't want to go in! "

" I am against taking ANY rights away from us. That being said, this type of legislation would not be necessary if smokers in general were more courteous to those around them. Don't sit in your filthy cloud and then blow it my direction in a confined area. For goodness sake, if you want to smell nasty all day long and you are ok with that, keep the stench to yourself. This legislation is NOT banning smoking, it is preventing people from smoking around the majority of us that do not smoke and/or have just as much a right to be somewhere as the smokers. It is not ok to releave yourself in public either...so as the quote goes: "Don't smoke on me and I won't pee on you!" "

" Chuck, what you aren't seeing is that this screams of hypocrisy. You want to protect workers from the evil second hand smoke..........but not ALL workers. Casino workers can just get the black lung and die. They mean nothing. I think their estimates of casino loses if they ban smoking there are greatly exaggerated. I mean, you can't go gamble and refrain from smoking, and when the need arises, go outside to get some puffs, and go back in? It's so hypocritical to exempt casinos. I'm against this ban. The market is already dictating a market for smoke-free bars and I think 90% of restaurants are already smoke-free. "

" still standin- You say it's the land of the free in one sentence, and the next your telling me not to go into places where people are smoking right outside the door. Just because you like to smell like an ashtray, doesn't mean I want to too.

And thank you a6g- that was well said! "

" I still do not understand the argument that bars/restaurants will lose business because of this. So smokers are no longer going to go out to bars/restaurants to eat, drink and socialize? They would lose business if it was a city by city, but if everyone is on the same playing field I doubt it will have much of an effect. Look, it's your right to smoke, it's my right not to. Any business place that profits from the public is now a public place. No one is saying you can't smoke, just not in a PUBLIC place. If ALL employers are required to have a safe working environment (handrails, ventilation, emergency exits, etc) how is this protection of the worker any different? I didn't hear anyone complain when businesses were forced to get rid of asbestos. Second hand smoke is dangerous, it has no place in the workplace. If you don't like the fact that you can't smoke in a bar, don't go! That's been the smokers argument all along, but I doubt you want to hear it when it gets turned around. "

" These people kill me about the second hand smoke, yes it can be bad for you if your exposed to it all the time like if you lived with someone but I would bet allot that walking by someone smoking or spending a couple hours in say a bar were there is smoke the chances are extremly slim that it will have a effect on your health, hey guess what car exhaust is bad for you, so better ban them to and by god dont go outside one might drive by and effect your health, and by the way I dont smoke but people have to get a grip ! "

" Way to go motormaker!! "