Smoking Laws in NY and NJ

[Beemnseven]

Originally Posted by Mattyk72

Just because I own some land it doesn't mean I can set up shop and do whatever I want with it.

Right. You cannot interfere with the rights of someone else. Apart from that, it's a free country -- at least, that's what it's supposedto be.

Originally Posted by TheMalcomConnection

Well, the government decides a lot of things you can do on business property, so why should smoking not be one of them?

The short answer to your question is, why give the government one more reason to intrude into the lives of private property owners?

Now, here’s the long answer. As an example to your point Malcom, let’s use the Department of Health argument -- What's the difference between the government instituting food safety standards and doing the same with smoking?

The difference is that you can protect yourself from second hand smoke (if you're a non-smoker) and first-hand smoke (if you are a smoker): you can leave the restaurant, or you can quit. However, the same is not true of food-borne illnesses. In the latter case, the government is adhering to its legitimate purpose of protecting the rights of life, liberty and property of individuals through force or fraud. Since no one can protect themselves from the hazards of food-borne illnesses, short of not eating out, the government has the responsibility to guard against a threat that an individual otherwise cannot guard him or herself against.

Bottom line, government has the power and the obligation to protect your rights from others. It doesn’t have the power, nor the resources to protect you from yourself.