Thursday 9 September 2010

Fear And Loathing In Orlando

If you enjoy tobacco, here's some holiday travel advice ... don't bother with Florida this, or any other, year.

An erudite Orlando cigar store owner explains recently installed policies in Orange County, including the criminalisation of tobacco products (lit or chewed) on state owned outdoor properties - which includes parks and pavements - and a four cigar per year limit on state employees in their private lives, at pain of a $650 deduction of salary.

Needless to say, there is no valid health reasoning behind any of it.


God bless the 'Land of the Free', eh?

H/T SCB


11 comments:

Dick the Prick said...

A 4 cigar limit per year?!?

I'm usually not one to go in for rabid, hyperbolic fury that so often seems legitimate currency in the bloggysphere but i'd like to see some guy try and restrict me; I genuinely would.

Truly livid, disgusted, offended and repulsed.

One of chums brought me back 40 Cohibas, some Romeo & Juliettas and a few Churchills back from Cuba before last Chrimbo and have got 5 left and my best bud is just about to drop his 2nd sprog in a mo.

4 cigars! Call themselves civilized; go burn a fucking Qu'ran, losers.

Longrider said...

and a four cigar per year limit on state employees in their private lives, at pain of a $650 deduction of salary.

How could they police or enforce this? Cameras in the home? Following people about to observe their purchasing habits? I mean, anyone faced with this would simply lie about their smoking habits and then carry on regardless. I would. If I smoked.

Sue said...

Florida tourism will suffer badly. I certainly would not visit now.

SadButMadLad said...

So only four cigars a year. Doesn't say how big the cigars can be. http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar/CA_Features/CA_Feature_Basic_Template/0,2344,3242,00.html

Anonymous said...

No surprise the yanks are picking on their citizens, they dont seem to be having much luck with the Taliban apart from a brisk trade in bodybags. What kind of total schmucks visit Florida anyway.
Roll on the next oil spill or
grade 5+ windy session.

Pissed off with Yankee cowards.

Anonymous said...

Impressed with the guy on the video until the 'ban the ciggie smokers but not we cigar smokers' bit.

Serve Orlando right if all the smokers decamped and the economy collapsed...

Jay

jredheadgirl said...

Did this actually pass?

Dick Puddlecote said...

Dick: "Truly livid, disgusted, offended and repulsed."

I feel like that most days

Longrider: Cotinine swabs is the usual method. Other US companies who have banned smokers from employment (mostly in health or public sector) are already using this method.

Jay: I thought that at first, but watching it a second time, I think he was using that to point out that the latest can't possibly be attibuted to health grounds.

jredheadgirl said...

Here's an interesting link:

http://cigarreader.com/2010/05/31/smoking-ban-illegal-florida-to-find-out/

Dick Puddlecote said...

JRredheadgirl: Not sure, but before posting I searched everywhere and couldn't find anything to say any of it had been abandoned.

The guy in the vid gives dates when some of these measures came in.

Longrider said...

Longrider: Cotinine swabs is the usual method. Other US companies who have banned smokers from employment (mostly in health or public sector) are already using this method.

And no one finds this a fucking outrageous intrusion?

I work in an industry that has a regime of random drugs and alcohol testing. We do so because people working in a safety critical environment cannot have mind altering substances in their system while at work. I accept this, reluctantly, because there is a reasonable justification. But tobacco in a non-safety critical environment? Fucking outrageous is the only comment I can find to describe it.

I don't smoke but when asked these days, I refuse to answer the question as it's no one's business but mine.