I'll need to see the data before I make any decisions on cheeseburgers, thankyouverymuch.

Hrm. Under what specific authority can the parks commissioner just make up rules as he sees fit?

Eating a cheeseburger doesn't force everyone within 20 feet of you to eat one too. As soon as they invent a cigarette that bothers no one but the smoker, nonsmoking areas will be a non-issue.

Say, does anyone else see the irony in a post on a proposed smoking ban being juxtaposed with a post on how terribly disruptive a smelly stinkbomb can be? Funny, that.

@pagent:

Maybe you haven't been eating the right cheeseburgers.

Oh, but b!x* has a point:

Can a city commissioner impose arbitrary rules in his (or her, hypothetically) domain?

Would the 'no smoking' ban have to be imposed on all city parks?

The reply by DA Schrunk seems to imply that there might be a question or two about that...

* Probably not the time or place, but I've always pronounced your handle as "B not X".

FYI, for Parks at least (haven't checked the others, the answer to Brian's question is: Yes, the commissioner can impose arbitrary rules, as long as they don't conflict with City ordinances.

You could probably achieve 90% of the same effect by properly banning smoking on the MAX platform on either side of the square. The kids would have to retreat inside the walls, pushing them out of the way of the casual commuter and tourist.

I'd also be OK with banning smoking during City-sponsored events (eg, no smoking during Movie Night). But on a general basis, just to ban public smoking in a public, OUTSIDE venue is crazy.

Hey Pagent,

One of the reasons smoking was banned indoors was because smoke doesn't dissipate in an enclosed space the way it does when you're outside. If the argument is being made that smoking should be banned in public spaces—even if they're open air—simply because someone near you might get a whiff of smoke, then any kind of smell generating nuisance would also have to be banned, no?

This isn't the same argument as "oh I work in a bar and smokers are going to be the death of me." Unlike when you're indoors, it's feasible to move to another location not far from where you were previously standing and be fine. Or just turn upwind.

This shit is getting ridiculous.

Agreed--totally ridiculous.

And Strunk is the one who deserves input, not derision, here. It would be his office and the rest of the justice system having to deal with the logistics of Salty's political BS.

So the jail is overcrowded and over budget and were about to start putting people away for 30 days for smoking? That makes perfect sense!

And streetkids paying fines? HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Good one!

I have a solution. Supply POISONED CHEESEBURGERS to the P.O.S. gutterpunks. This will eliminate the problem for everyone!!!

If smoking in parks had been banned when I went to Cleveland High School it would have been chaos. We didn't have a campus. The only place to smoke was across the street in the park.

I'm not even pretending to be fair and balanced on this issue -- I hate the smell of cigarette smoke, and it can make me sick.

But your argument that you can just choose to be elsewhere out of doors is completely fallacious. Smokers cluster near the entrance to every building. They hang around bus shelters. People are puffing right up to the doorway of the MAX, and they light a fresh one as soon as they get off at their next stop. On a given day, walking slightly more than a block from my car to my office, I may have to breathe the smoke from a half-dozen cigarettes. I've evem had to roll my windows up in traffic, because folks in the cars around me were blowing smoke out their windows.

So personally speaking, that's PERSONALLY speaking, ban it everywhere. Now, as to whether there is authority to do so, whether it would be an abridgmenet of rights to do so, whether it is even ethical to do so, I leave to others to debate.

They should completely outlaw tobacco and alcohol. Then we would finnaly have a long overdue revolution. People think the cold war brought down the USSR but really they ran out of vodka and cigerettes. So the people finally revolted.

i'm a non-smoker and hate cigerettes. but i also believe its a violation of your basic rights. pioneer sq. is a big place. and i think you should be able to smoke.
(or at least no smoking at public events at the square)

they are also considering no smoking on the sidewalks.

this is a bit extreme.
they plan to ticket and fine anyone caught breaking the law.
how many homeless ppl live downtown?!
they won't pay a ticket.
the city will waste more time and money enforcing the new law then benifiting from it.

bottom line it won't work. and our politicans are throwing us finacially in the hole even deeper than portland is allready.
think about it.