Can Can going smoke-free
Can Can announced they’re phasing out smoking. April 1st will bring a smoke-free policy inside the restaurant. However, outside will remain a smoker’s paradise.
More restaurants to follow?
Via RTD
Photo by: Cameron Nordholm
Can Can announced they’re phasing out smoking. April 1st will bring a smoke-free policy inside the restaurant. However, outside will remain a smoker’s paradise.
More restaurants to follow?
Via RTD
Photo by: Cameron Nordholm
What! A business owner making a decision without being to do it by the guvmint.
Please someone let Governor Kaine know
Thank you Can Can, for proving that a smoke free environment doesn’t have to be government mandated.
I wish you success in your new policy.
Great, one less reason to go there!
i’d never been there before but maybe now i will. congrats on CanCan on taking a healthy initiative.
congrats to CanCan. not on.
If more restaurants and bars had the cojones to do this, Richmond could avoid the fate of NYC where I live now. As a social smoker, I love smoke-free bars but hate that they are mandated.
BTW: Was there ever a reason to go there, Lisa :)
Best News ever. I stopped going to the otherwise favorite restaurant because the (smoking permitted) bar area was so poorly separated from the dining tables. I had more than one meal ruined.
Smokers had no compunction about standing near the entrance with cigarettes dangling, under the pretense that they were at the bar, or just leaving, or greeting friends who would join them at the bar. Obnoxious, and nothing a person could do but get themselves and their food covered in sticky nasty smelling chemical smoke.
If I can go without the anxiety of wondering whether it will be a lucky meal or a smokey meal, I’ll be happy to return to the CanCan.
Wonderful news- wish the new policy had been in effect a week ago when my boyfriend and I stopped in for a drink at the bar…. beautiful place, great service…. we could have done without the dude who literally blew smoke directly into my hair. His smoking behavior was so inconsiderate we discussed hoping the ban would indeed pass.
Spraying a can of bug spray on unwilling persons in a restaurant would be considered assault. Exposing people to cigarette smoke is tantamount to the same thing.
I welcome the government’s intrusion into safe food handling practices in restaurants. I’d welcome the same intrusion with regards to air quality in restaurants as well.
i still can’t afford to regularly drink a beer there but I like the approach. What kept me away from it in the past for me wasn’t the smoke from the bar but the noise. That place is a party! good food though.
Great, one MORE reason to go there!
@z, no one forced you to eat in a private eating establisment that allowed smoking, your analogy is elementary, you must work for some level of govt.
Welcoming government intrusion over virtually anything suggests that one may not have the sense to know what one is giving up. I think we should all be cautious rather than sit idly by whilst our freedoms, no matter how small, are taken from us under the guise or our “protection”. What about free will and personal responsibility?
I don’t think asking for a provision to provide clean air is equal to handing over rights to the government. Smokers can go outside if they must smoke.
I was born with a fully functioning set of lungs, smokers were not born with a cig between their fingers. Sorry but if your habit harms me – you’re infringing on my rights.
@libby-what dont you understand about a restaurant being privately owned? you must have been magna cum laude in public school. If non-smokers want fresh air they can go outside and get some too, you dolt! I guess you dont breathe any polluted air from cars, you poor baby having your rights infringed. You dont have a right to tell someone what to do with thier private property, if you dont like it go somewhere else to eat, preferably in russia. What your socialist loving IQ dosent understand is you dont have a Right to tell people what to do with their private property. Your a liberals dream-someone so dumb they have no idea what is going on and are easily manipulated, all liberals are an embarasment to America.
Wonderful! I hope more restaurants follow. I’ve never quite understood why any restaurant that prides itself on its food would want the first smell upon entry to be cigarette smoke.
Liberty: You’re right. It’s private property and no one has the right to tell them what to do. Hopefully, no property owner will allow someone to come in and urinate on your foot while you are dining. Unless, of course, that is acceptable to you.
@Liberty. I concede, as your points are not only logical but grammatically correct.
Liberty, I reckon you just got pwned.
@libby-i have no patience for socialists. you remind me of liberals who say “i dont mind paying higher taxes” but then do a tom daschele/tim geitner. or who think they can tell other people what to do with thier private property but of course dont want anyone telling them what to do with their private property. Richmond has too many hypocritical liberals, so does the whole country for that matter, they make me wretch
Liberty, stop being such a drama queen.
@Liberty – It’s rather presumptuous of you to assume anything regarding my political beliefs. And your inability to keep the debate on point means this will be my last response to your insulting and ill conceived arguments.
But just to burst your prejudicial bubble that all those for smoking bans are whacked out Liberals – I come from a family of staunch Republicans – and my view of smoking legislation comes from the personal experience of watching my grandfather slowly die of emphysema and my grandmother (a non smoker yet married to him for over 50 years) die of lung cancer. THAT makes me wretch.
@libby- loss of freedom is the issue, i dont care what your politics are, liberals are fools that look to the govt. to solve their problems whether demicans or republicrats. Its the ultimate rudeness to FORCE someone to follow your rules on their private property. The issue is much larger than you can comprehend. fOR EXAMPLE- People get really sick being obese so do you think the govt. should force private restaurants to restrict the amount of food they serve to fat people? Automobile exhaust is full of cancer causing toxins, do you drive a car? i prejudicially assume you do, so youre driving may be causing people to get sick from the poison spewing from your tailpipe. wake-up
i was reading in my history book that millions of people died at the hands of socialists govts. to bad no one stood up for freedom when those govts. did the slow creep of taking the lives of individuals that didnt bow down to the almighty govt. but hey thats just being dramatic
@Liberty, I could not agree with you more
each of us choose what we put in our bodies, we choose who we cultivate relationships with, we choose what estabilshments we go into, what we order off of the menu and whether or not we chase it with a glass of water, a cocktail or a six pack and a round of shots…I do not buy any arguement in favor of giving over that responsibility to the government
Liberty & Fiona: I assume you’re both against the war on drugs and for doctor assisted suicide?
Personally, I don’t like the idea of a smoking ban ideologically, but realistically, the government interferes in our lives in so many more egregious ways, that I can’t bring myself to care about a smoking ban that will really make my life more pleasant.
Once we get rid of the WOD and the myriad of other real limits on our freedoms, then we can talk about smoking in restaurants.
@Bryan
i actually do feel people should be able to poison themselves in any way they see fit (RE WOD) and that anyone would be against doctor assisted suicide invoked by any individual still of proper mental capacity is a mystery to me
@Bryan- youre right bryan the govt. does interfere with our lives, its sometimes called the slow creep of govt. where our individual freedoms can become erodeded. One of the broadest characteristics of socialism is govt. control of private property. Brian you say “you quit caring” but ya cant give up on freedom. Whats a WOD? I am very surprised to see how people think telling other citizens what to do with their private property is OK. Because everyone knows they dont want anyone telling them what to do with their own property. few whacked out people will say its ok because they are such egalitarian liberals but i dont believe them. Just like when liberals say “oh I would glady pay more taxes” then the reality is they are complete liars and tax cheats just trying to appear to be good and caring to trick naieve people politically.
Whats a WOD?
As for assisted suicide and the drug war, I believe each person owns his or her own body and should be free to do what they choose as long as they dont infringe on another individual.
If WOD does not mean War on Drugs in the context of these posts, I may have to recant my previous post.
@Liberty
Yes, WOD = War On Drugs.
“Brian you say “you quit caring” but ya cant give up on freedom.”
Sure I can, in this instance. Fighting this is just not worth the effort. It will make Virginia a more pleasant place to live.
IF we can get the government out of our lives otherwise, I will be right with you trying to get this law repealed.
Until then, I’m not going to fight people who want to make it nicer for me to go to a restaurant.
There are plenty of laws that can be put on or taken off the books to simply make things “nicer.” Does the whole Freedom of Speech thing always make things nicer? Certianly not, but it’s not going anywhere – and who wants it to?
But that’s not the point. The point is – is it right? Does it jive with the liberties that you, as an individual, are guaranteed? Sure, there is no “right to smoke” written into the founding documents, but when the government begins laying down bans on what people may do with their own bodies, in businesses run by private citizens (READ: not said government/tax-payers), then perhaps the government might be overstepping its bounds.
The majority has spoken. That’s the way democracy works. True, this law isn’t going to HURT anyone, physically. I’m not going join any protest rallies with signs of my blackened lungs, saying how I want them back. I’m not going to dump ashtrays on myself, lamenting about how I miss the aroma. Though I may bring a few non-smokers with me in the freezing cold if I want to cut the occasional butt next winter. Fair’s fair.
I’m just worried about this opening a window. I consider myself a liberal on many issues, but living in New York City showed me that the government can have too tight a grip on things.
@brian, when you lose freedom you wont be going out to restaurants, youll be going to get in line for thin soup and a chunk of bread.
perhaps that is a possible bright spot in the current dismal economy, development and sales of an eau de perfume for those “lamenting” the aroma of stale cigarette smoke in public establishments, brilliant!
Ah – the American entrepreneur. But how can you do your research? You can’t smoke inside to see if it’s an authentic reproduction of the scent of Philip Morris cigs in an RVA bar. I won’t buy it if it’s not local.
@Brian -at a stop sign,someone in a car in front of me was smoking, and when i drove thru it, i smelled smoke!!!!!!!
Dear god this is a long thread. I’d love to be able to go to a bar with my friends and not have my clothes smell like stanky-ass smoke. I’m also glad for free speech and government regulation because without it we wouldn’t have people speaking up against the automakers and tobacco companies. Without these we wouldn’t have seatbelts and a knowledge that smoking kills you. @Liberty is just a fearmongerer.
power plaNTS ARE big polluters too(just fearmongering, i love it), the point is @Richmondy there is alot of pollution out there, everywhere, so why pick on cigarettes, the answer is blowing in the wind, its political and expands govts. power over the individual. If youre not making the decisions in your life regarding your private property, over your person, what are you?
fearmongers huh, wow…just because folks don’t step up to drink the kool-aid, does not kame them a fearmonger
@Liberty and Fiona should get jobs and lives and stop the obsessive, increasingly ridiculous replies to anyone who has a difference of opinion on this subject. Recent polls all indicate that the majority of Virginia’s citizens support a smoking ban. Recent articles in JAMA and other highly respected medical journals cite studies that prove that even third-hand smoke (smoke particles that sit on surfaces) are extremely dangerous, especially to children and folks with compromised systems. I applaud any law that protects the air I breathe, and frankly, have yet to meet anyone who is opposed to this one. The only comment I’ve heard is that people wish it had not been watered down by the legislature. Fiona and Liberty are just blowing smoke.
thank you Jean, for missing our point entirely
I have to say that I’m not too keen on this ban either- I don’t smoke, and think its pretty clear that smoking is bad for you, but I can’t see why the decision about this sort of thing can’t be left to business owners. If it hurts business- then ban the smoke…as a private commercial decision- if it dosn’t, then don’t. Last time I checked, nobody was making me enter smoke filled establishments at gunpoint or anything, and I’ve never felt that my choices suffered because some places allowed it. I always thought being an American was about free choices and free will- the whole individuality thing. If there’s not a requirement for citizens to congregate in a given location (ie force), then why does the Government need to crack down on a legal behavior? Having bans in place where people are forced to go in person by law (government offices- courts, ect) are totally acceptable to me, but not where it’s purely a open choice to enter the environment by choosing to patronize the estabishment.
on another note- Just because a majority of people think somethings great doesn’t make it right or somehow immune to critique. It concerns me that some posters seem to feel that the discussion ends when the law hammer falls with the “will” of the “people” – that sort of attitude is more destructive than any law towards our personal freedom and way of life. I don’t personally have a little affirmation circle to pat me on the head for my ideas all the time- its about evenly divided with the folks I know as to this issue. I guess its good that blogs like this exist so some people can open their eyes a little and see that there are those who don’t march along with them.
@CMD – Yes you have the right to avoid establishments where smoking is allowed, just as smokers are allowed to avoid smoke free establishments or take five and smoke outside. However the waitstaff and employees of those establishments do not have the ability to avoid the smoke, they are exposed to it for far longer periods of time than patrons and I believe it is the work place safety issue that has driven much of this legislation forward.
@ Fiona – I do hope the irony of your koolaid statement is not lost on you. I hear big tobacco makes huge batches of the stuff.
I really resent the idea that anyone behind this legislation is uninformed or lazily handing over their rights – some of us see it as a reclamation of clean air space.
And yes, Liberty measures have been taken in the past to clean up emissions from industry. So please do not re address the exhaust from the fictional car I drive.
back to the original post (that many of us long since left in the dust), i commend Can Can for making a decision that should be theirs to make as a business owner without the intervention of legislation now headed our way
lots of folks agree with this legislation, I do not
though i do not smoke and never have, the watering holes and eating establishments I frequent are about 50/50 smoking v/s non, i decide where I want to go depending if I care that I smell like an ashtray at the end of the evening. It should be personal choice on the part of the proprietor and the customer, in my opinion ,and I understand that this puts me in with the minority of folks. I am ok with that. I do not think that majority approval makes something right, just means it’s popular.
if only the bar flies at Can Can would stop standing three deep at the bar with their elbows in the faces of the double booth-goers, life would be grande indeed, however, I don’t need anyone to legislate that
;o }
Hey Fiona I’m sure all these people that are for private business being FORCED to do things with their private property would want to be told what to do with their private property, cause their just good egalitarian liberals.(sorry so complicated libby) Not like us mean people that want people to do what they want with their private property, we are terrible. Freedom is slavery like Orwell said