Outdoor smoking ban in Milan?

smokingbandits Posted on by

We began planning our European trip months ahead. As always, I tried to make sure our destinations were as smoker-friendly as possible. Thirteen of the sixteen German Länder provide for indoor smoking bars, as do many of the Swiss cantons. The occurrence of these Raucherkneipen unfortunately thin out considerably as one travels south of the Alps, but this is compensated for by weather that is more conducive to outdoor socializing.  We’d decided on two nights in Milan as it was halfway between Konstanz and Sanremo and also home to our friend Francesco. By January, we’d already booked the hotel and … Continue reading →

Mailand: Rauchverbot im Freien?

smokingbandits Posted on by

Unseren Europa-Trip hatten wir schon Monate im Voraus zu planen begonnen. Wie immer hatte ich versucht, unsere Ziele so raucherfreundlich wie möglich auszusuchen. 13 der 16 deutschen Bundesländer sehen Raucherkneipen in Innenräumen vor, ebenso wie viele der Schweizer Kantone. Das Vorkommen dieser Raucherkneipen nimmt leider deutlich ab, je weiter man südlich der Alpen reist, aber das wird durch das Wetter kompensiert, das dem geselligen Beisammensein im Freien förderlich ist. Wir hatten uns für zwei Übernachtungen in Mailand entschieden, da es auf halbem Wege zwischen Konstanz und Sanremo liegt und zudem Heimat unserer Freundes Francesco ist. Im Januar hatten wir bereits … Continue reading →

Smoking guns and slippery slopes

smokingbandits Posted on by

In my previous effort, I made comparisons between smokers and the LGBTQ+ community to make the case for us to have our own establishments in which to socialize. Now I’m going to make a comparison with what is commonly termed “the gun culture.” As almost everyone is aware, gun violence is at an all-time high in the United States.  There are mass shooting events on the average of one per day and it’s no longer news that pre-empts everything else that someone has opened fire in a school, house of worship, movie theater, shopping mall, etc., for no discernable reason. … Continue reading →

Rauchende Colts und verbannte Raucher

smokingbandits Posted on by

In einem früheren Beitrag habe ich Vergleiche zwischen Rauchern und der LGBTQ+-Gemeinschaft angestellt, um dafür zu plädieren, dass wir unsere eigenen Einrichtungen haben sollten, in denen wir uns treffen können. Jetzt werde ich einen Vergleich mit dem anstellen, was in den USA gemeinhin als „Waffenkultur“ gilt. Wie fast jedem bewusst, ist die Waffengewalt in den Vereinigten Staaten so massiv wie nie zuvor. Es gibt durchschnittlich jeden Tag einen Amoklauf, und es ist keine Nachricht mehr, die alles andere in den Hintergrund stellt, wenn jemand in einer Schule, einem Gotteshaus, einem Kino, einem Einkaufszentrum usw. ohne erkennbaren Grund das Feuer eröffnet. … Continue reading →

Frank the Thinker

smokingbandits Posted on by

Frank Davis, the blogger, the fighter, the polemist was, first and foremost, a thinker, a philosopher whose ideas have shaped the world. The infamous Tobacco Control (TC) industry, greedy for money and power, might have hoped to bludgeon that world into total submission, but it so happened that one man suddenly became a moral leader and the global symbol of resistance to TC, and look now – its evil empire is still far from victory. How did he do it, that man? He did it by becoming a thinker, formulating ideas in a way that galvanized us all. Let me … Continue reading →

Frank, der Denker

smokingbandits Posted on by

Frank Davis, der Blogger, der Kämpfer, der Polemiker, war in erster Linie ein Denker, ein Philosoph, dessen Ideen die Welt geformt haben.  Die infame Tabakkontroll(TK)-Industrie in all ihrer Gier nach Geld und Macht hätte durchaus hoffen gedurft, diese Welt in die totale Unterwerfung zu knüppeln, doch geschah es, dass sich ein Mann zu moralischer Führerschaft aufschwang und zu einem Symbol globalen Widerstands gegen die TK wurde – und siehe: Ihr Reich des Bösen ist immer noch weit vom Sieg entfernt. Wie hat er das getan, dieser Mann? Er tat es, indem er zum Denker wurde, indem er Ideen formulierte, auf … Continue reading →

Frank Davis is dead

smokingbandits Posted on by

The English blogger and virtual host of the Smokydrinkybar Frank Davis has unexpectedly passed away. Frank has been tirelessly filling his blog with new information, assessments and opinions since 2009, most recently a few days before his passing. The reason for Frank’s journalistic activities was the statutory smoking ban in Great Britain, which is of course embedded in tobacco control in general and linked to other elements of the health dictatorship. In his second blog post Frank aptly stated: “The smoking ban is not just about smoking. It’s about freedom and democracy and accountability. It’s about science and risk and … Continue reading →

“We’re gonna take it”

smokingbandits Posted on by

New York State just legalized possession and regulated sale of cannabis, joining at least 14 others where it’s completely legal. Most US states have at very least decriminalized marijuana; others have legalized medical marijuana. The Drug Enforcement Agency of the Federal government continues to consider it a “Schedule 1” substance, ranked with heroin as among the most dangerous. The details have yet to be worked out, but I am not optimistic.  Someone once posted “A Sentence for each State in the Union”. The sentence was supposed to encapsulate the character of the state it was about. My personal favorite was … Continue reading →

Was wir hinnehmen

smokingbandits Posted on by

Der Bundesstaat New York hat gerade den Besitz und geregelten Verkauf von Cannabis legalisiert, und sich damit unter mindestens 14 andere Staaten eingereiht, in denen das völlig legal ist. Die meisten US-Bundesstaaten haben zumindest Marihuana entkriminalisiert; andere haben medizinisches Marihuana legalisiert. Die Drogenvollzugsbehörde (DEA) der Bundesregierung stuft es allerdings weiterhin als Substanz der „Kategorie 1” ein, also in die Kategorie der gefährlichsten Drogen wie z.B. Heroin. Derweil die Details noch ausgearbeitet werden müssen, bin ich nicht wirklich optimistisch. Irgendjemand hat mal „Ein Satz für jeden Staat der Union” gepostet. Der betreffende Satz sollte dabei den Charakter des jeweiligen Bundesstaates abbilden. … Continue reading →

Smoking on U.S. university campuses

smokingbandits Posted on by

I was extremely fortunate to be a college student in the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. It was the heyday of freewheeling student life in the United States. After the campus protests and unrest of the 1960’s, students were allowed a great deal of freedom and autonomy once things settled down. Things differed from campus to campus, but when I arrived at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1978, it was quite the swinging place. The legal drinking age was 18 and there were frequent parties, especially on Thursday evening, as many campus residents lived close … Continue reading →