Defending the Truth

Too bad your "great physical shape" can't stand smoke from 50 feet away. I take it you don't live in Los Angeles. I think your "choking fits" are an indication of a real problem that you should seek help for. Of course, you could wait for congress to pass laws that protect you from your weaknesses. Beware of that toliet paper you use too, it could be one-ply and not adequate for the job at hand.

I see you're one of those people that prefers ad hominem tactics to actually replying to the logic, huh? This should be fun

Sometimes PN can be insulting in his posts,JZ; but underneath this one he does point out something valid. I live in Illinois also; so I am familiar with the statewide ban on indoor public smoking here. The only restriction against outdoor smoking is that it cannot be with 15 feet of the entrance to any building.
I'm not trying to be rude here, but being outside and 50 feet away from that smoker should not have caused you to go into a coughing fit. PN is right; you should get a thorough checkup to find out if there might be something you may not know about that might be going on with you.
I understand your thoughts on smoking. Many people share your views. But perhaps you can explain to me just why Illinois first put an extra tax on cigarettes to raise revenue for the state; and then passed this ban. Seems like somebody's not thinking clearly in Springfield!

First of all, I'm going to point out that I never said 50 feet away. PN either mistakenly or deliberately mis-quoted me. As for me, I did have asthma as a child but after intense weight-lifting in my middle-school and high-school years the problem left me. I've never been much of a long-distance runner, I'm a sprinter, but I can run a mile or two.

I also have a very acute sense of smell and can often accurately tell what's being cooked before walking in the door of a 2-story house when the kitchen's on the other side of the house.

As for the tax and the ban, I suppose it's one more way of trying to minimize smoking since it indirectly causes so many deaths, without actually preventing people from having a freedom so long as it's only endangering themselves.

My mistake. But the reason for the 15 foot restriction is that the smoke from a cigarette will have dissipated into nothing more than what you already breathe in on a daily basis; indoors or out.
I'm not saying that everyone has (or should have) my view on smoking. My father has been a smoker for over 50 years. He has learned to deal with the smoking ban in regards to other people, but as long as he is outside he is breaking no law (as long as he is not near an entranceTo any building). Simply put; nothing less than a total ban will ever stop smoking. Until that happens, we will all have to deal with compromising with one another.

True, and I'm not advocating for a complete smoking ban, although I might like to see it happen. I do think it should be kept out of public places and this law does a pretty good job of that. I was just explaining my reasoning for why I oppose smoking. So long as people aren't endangering others and it's in the privacy of their own homes or away from entrances I don't yet see why I should oppose it.

I view public smoking along the same lines as DUI.

You might be able to drive home just fine 99 times, but any one of those times you COULD hurt someone.

The same with second hand smoke. You might not be hurting anyone who breathes in your smoke, but you COULD.

Which is why my older sister and I had separate rooms when we were at Disneyland last week. She smokes, so she was in a smoking room while I was in a non-smoking room.