This past week, Q-line asked:
There is a movement afoot to expand Santa Monica’s already strict smoking laws. The new rules would restrict smoking on patios and balconies of multi-unit residences. Would you support such a rule, or do you think it goes too far?
Here are your responses:
“Yes, I would certainly support any and all expansions of the no-smoking laws and that would very definitely include all the marijuana puffers. What a damn farce that is. The tenant occupancy has changed pretty much for the worse in the last several years and so has the increase in smokers. It’s beyond annoying. It’s very definitely sickening in more ways than one.”
“A government that governs the least is the best. If we followed this age-old adage then our city would get an F minus. The Nazis, also now called Santa Monicans for Renters’ Rights, have taken away one private property right after another. Believe it or not, rent control will even investigate how many rolls of toilet paper you have when looking at rental exemptions. They have their heads firmly stuck up their behinds. Smoking is just another non-issue. One SUV spews more toxic poison in one minute than all the smokers in town do in a month. If a whining tenant wanted to not live around smokers, they could have selected a smoke-free apartment building. A landlord has always had the option to include a no-smoking clause in their rent contracts. Condo associations also have the option to elect no-smoking rules. And what about the poor cancer patient with a doctor’s recommendation to smoke pot? Dear City Council, please just leave people alone.”
“Expanding the rights of one group while restricting the legal rights of another is against the basic principals of a free society. If the city wishes to continue to protect citizens from secondhand smoke in personal spaces they should seek another avenue or another solution. Perhaps, smoking or non smoking buildings. Or moving smokers to the upper floors and non-smokers to lower floors. Taking rights from one group is never the solution.”
