I'll be fascinated to read Juliette Tworsey's account of last week's public debate that considered a comprehensive smoking ban in New Orleans.
Musician, ex-smoker and vaper (heated tobacco rather than e-cigarettes), she's been on our radar for a while (see Introducing … Firebug, 2010).
Now living in New Orleans (via Chicago and Los Angeles), Juliette is perfectly placed to comment on a proposal that has divided opinion in what Joe Jackson describes as a "free and fun city".
Urging people to sign a petition against further legislation, Joe wrote:
The antismoking Nazis are making a big push for a total smoking ban in New Orleans. It would apply not only to bars and clubs (there's already a ban in restaurants) but to outside areas too.
As you would expect in such a free and fun city, there's a lot of opposition, but every little bit helps, and politicians do take notice of petitions, if only 'behind the scenes'. So please sign and pass it on!
Sadly it seems the "antismoking Nazis" have the support of some vapers because on Thursday, on the Friends of Forest Facebook page, Juliette commented:
Last night at a town hall meeting in the New Orleans City Council chambers I witnessed vapers throwing smokers (and tobacco users like me) under the bus, only to witness the anti-everything crowd throw us all under the bus. It was very frustrating.
I should add that Juliette is firmly on the side of unity when it comes to smokers and vapers, as indeed am I, and the last thing she would want to do is take sides.
Unfortunately her appeal to "Anyone who may be interested in coming to New Orleans for a holiday that would like to be able to smoke or vape anywhere within the city while here please sign this petition" appears to have fallen on deaf ears within the vaping community whose attitude (publicly at least) is best summed up by this article:
Caught up in the smoking ban, the New Orleans 'vaping' community wants to clear the air (www.nola.com)
PS. Frank Davis wrote a nice piece about Juliette on his blog in 2010 - see Jred at Riff’s Bar.
Since then she's given up smoking but not her support for smokers or smokers' rights.
She'll probably kill me for saying so, but if only there were more ex-smokers and vapers like Juliette Tworsey …
Update: My last post on vaping advocates was not universally popular it seems!
Simon Clark is getting on my tits: http://t.co/ZRI4UIYGLi
— The Random Vaper (@TheRandomVaper) January 12, 2015