Smoking

[jetsguy]

I know this is toolish but I have an issue with it. In NYC you cannot smoke in buildings and you are technically supposed to go away from the entrance by a specified distance. I think it is 20 feet. However, no one follows the law and everytime I need to leave work I have to walk through a cloud of smoke. Besides all of the harm from secondhand smoke, it is just gross to have to smell.

Since I am a law guy, I looked into some legislation and the regulations for office buildings. The building management is supposed to strictly enforce any smoking violations. They obviously do not.

I sound like a huge nit but I work in different areas of health law and read articles about the effects of smoking (and secondhand smoke) daily. Why do I have to suffer so that people can cause harm to themselves? Do I have any recourse?


Cliff Notes: Smokers outside my building piss me off. What can I do?

Feel free to make fun of me as well.

[GoodCallYouWin]

"Why do I have to suffer so that people can cause harm to themselves?"

Your idea of suffering is 2 seconds of second hand smoke?

[Klompy]

Smoking laws are out of control in places like NYC. You shouldn't do anything but maybe hold your breath for the 2 seconds it takes to walk out of the "cloud" of smoke on your way out.

[capone0]

Kick them in the face?

[kerowo]

The research on second hand smoke isn't very good, but the govment was convinced it had to do something to protect us, maybe you should start calling the cops on these scofflaws.

[mbillie1]

Dude, you are the biggest tool ever. Shut the hell up and deal with it.

[luckyjimm]

It's nits like you who did away with smoking rooms! You created the problem of people being forced to smoke outside, now deal with it!

The firm I worked for moved offices last year to a new build which had a large paved outdoor garden on the 6th floor on the roof leading out from the restaurant. It was the perfect place to smoke - out of the way of the public and clients, and easy to put out ashtrays so not much problem to clean. This was a firm that paid people to wipe the inside of elevators each hour, so the costs would have been minor. Within a week of us moving into the building, smokers realised it was the best place to smoke. Within two weeks, signs appeared banning it. The result was that rather than using the pleasant roof terrace, smokers now have to go outside and stand in the desolate area at front of the building, in full view of arriving clients. It also takes more time to go downstairs and out of the building than to smoke on the terrace. I guess it's an example of trying to engineer smokers out of existence.

[jetsguy]

For any other lawyers/law students, I wanted to include this link from a recent court decision involving an aspect of this type of litigation. The decision is Schwab v. Phillip Morris from 9/25/06.

http://www.nyed.uscourts.gov/Decisio.../doi_2006.html

[FilthyLarry]

listen closely.....


life is not fair

[niss]

As small an inconvenience as you may perceive it to be for us to have to walk through your stinky cloud of tar and nicotine for 2 seconds, it's even less of an inconvenience for you to to move far enough away from the door so we don't have to.