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Mayor wants to ban smokeless tobacco at Fenway, other sports venues
By adamg on Wed, 08/05/2015 - 12:36pm
Mayor Walsh today vowed to ban the sale of chewing tobacco and other tobacco products at professional and amateur sports venues in Boston.
Joined by former Sox ace Curt Schilling - who blames his mouth cancer on an addiction to chaw - Walsh said he plans to file a proposed ordinance with the city council next week.
"Our baseball parks are places for creating healthy futures, and this ordinance is about doing the right thing as a community for our young people," Walsh said in a statement.
"I am in support of banning any kind of tobacco at Fenway Park or in any public location," Schilling said. "I have seen cancer take the lives of people very important to me like my father, a lifelong smoker, and I have endured the insufferable agony of radiation to the head/neck. If this law stops just one child from starting, it's worth the price. Because that child could be yours, or mine."
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Comments
Big Brothers knows what's best for you
Seems to be the justification for government usurping even the smallest of personal freedoms these days.
Our baseball parks are places
...and the only way to that is to remove all distraction from drinking as many $9 bud lights and eating as many $12 sausages before the 7th inning.
Also interesting how noted Republican Curt Schilling is asking the government to step in an deny Americans their freedom. Funny how they all hate government until they need them to step in and do their bidding.
Does beer cause cancer?
I realize it comes with its own set of issues, but moderate consumption of the stuff is unlikely to lead you to chemotherapy, right?
If it's the Red Sox's job to
If it's the Red Sox's job to prevent us from cancer (and not from liver cirrhosis, or drunk driving)...then they ought to ban charbroiled food and enforce a strict sunblock policy.
Yeah! Where are the sunblock dispensers?
I've not gone to Fenway in a while, but I hope management is at least as thoughtful as the Boston City Council in providing free sunblock for fans. Of course, this mostly benefits fans of visiting teams who are more likely to stick around to the end of the game.
Amazing, it's almost like we
Amazing, it's almost like we live in a world that isn't black and white on every issue.
Should listen to Schilling on WEEI from this morning
Like him or hate him, he's an articulate guy. And he made the case for this very strongly (and emotionally) given his dip-induced cancer. I'll take his word on this one.
I hope they ban electronic
I hope they ban electronic cigarettes too.
Is it illegal on the T yet?
Don't ride often enough to have seen it recently but I recall few months ago seeing some clowns smoking the e-cigs on the green line.
Nazis Marxist control freaks
Nothing worse than people in 'recovery'. Tobacco is legal, yes? Smoking I understand because it can bother others. But that doesn't explain why the Nazi Marxist control freaks want to ban ecigarettes and vapes everywhere, too.
I think you need to look up the definition of "control"
So's driving a golf cart. Mind if I do it in your living room?
You're so ignorant you make my hair hurt.
So, smoke bothers you
but spitting doesn't? Because that's what people who chew tobacco do - they spit.
How about paying more in insurance and health costs? Because that's the end result when we condone even "harmless" tobacco products such as e-cigs.
slippery slope
If this is our criteria, then soda, candy, burgers, and skiing are on the chopping block next.
ecigarettes are not a 'tobacco' product!
There is ZERO tobacco in ecigarettes. You inhale - exhale a WATER vapor, not burning tobacco smoke. The vapor contains flavoring and a dose of nicotine. Nicotine is not what causes cancer, and it has many beneficial uses, including calming people, an effective pain killer, and a stimulant, like caffeine. People smoke cigarettes for the effects of nicotine. ecigarettes almost completely remove the danger caused by smoking tobacco. Why would any sane person have an issue with this?
Replace the tar with the
Replace the tar with the constant threat of pneumonia, sounds good yeah.
You shouldn't be putting anything into your lungs besides air. Glycerine and other chemicals are still in ecigarette junk.
Nazi Marxists?
Are you just trying to get rid of all your Scrabble tiles?
Schilling is a conservative of convenience
Not that I don't support this effort (I'm pretty agnostic because, frankly, unlike cigarettes smokeless tobacco has no impact on non-users), but I find it funny that Curt Schilling is a Huge Conservative Star who, when it suits him, has no problem taking a state's millions or demanding government bans on personal conduct.
It's just... inconsistent. And he's a jerk who deserves to be called out on it, seeing as he openly campaigns for conservative jerks who actually want to run our lives with the same level of hypocrisy (gov't out of our lives, except when it comes to The Gays or women's right to choose or things that make us feel icky, etc).
Aw Curt...
You're such a good little Republican. Anything and everything is fine until it effects YOU, then the world must take notice! We MUST put a stop to this public health nuisance. And former drunk turned Captain No-Fun Mahty Walsh is right behind you. What. A pair. Of assholes...
How would one enforce such a law? You gonna write a ticket everytime you see someone spitting in a cup? Jesus, just let 'em get cancer....who cares?
Michael Douglas has another opinion
on the source of oral/throat cancer - munching on someone with HPV. Oh, and ban foods with nitrates like hot dogs and bacon.
Right on time, it's MarKKK
...and his unhealthy obsession with other people's sexual practices. Please take your meds.
I'm all for personal freedom
If you need to chew on a piece of garbage that gives you cancer so you can feel like an MLB player or a NASCAR driver, knock yourself out.
Just don't leave your dip cups lying around.
About that "personal freedom" thing
Given that we cannot apparently make any effort to keep smokers from throwing their butts everydamnwhere they want to, I can certainly see banning smokeless tobacco purely on the grounds that it's apparently ok to discard of your tobacco by-products at will and that no one will make an effort to curb this noxious practice.
Time to institute a deposit
Time to institute a deposit on cigarette butts.
And meanwhile....
.....Pot is becoming legal! YEAH!
I don't like this one
If MLB wants to ban players and coaches from using the stuff, that would be great, since they are role models for the youth and tobacco is bad for you. If Fenway wants to ban the use because of the mess it makes, fine. I don't think the government should be banning it, unless use overall is banned (not advocating or opposing, just providing a scenario.)
It's a substance that is legal to use. There are no second hand issues, except for making a filthy mess. I'm going libertarian on this one.
+1 to Waiquiot
Well said.
Government's got enough to do. Stay out of this.
Gee, will Mahty also
be personally be bringing people who suffer from chew addiction to rehab? You know, the way his aides say he had done for so many other addicts?
Our Mayor is on top of the problems we face in the City!
After they ban chew lets make sure the bubblegum they are chewing is sugarless and the sunflower seeds are discarded properly and the guy in the dugout picking his nose washes his hands after........Write up an ordinance, pronto.
It only took one comment
I clicked on the comments here just to see how many comments it would take until the phrase "big brother" or "nanny state" appeared.
First comment's the winner.