Same thing has happened at the Federal level, and you're absolutely right. Who controls the leadership makes a huge difference. The US House passed a bill enacting the 9/11 commission reforms and almost every Republican voted in favor of it, like the self extinguishing cigarettes, one wonders. Where were the Republicans when they held the leadership?

And the House Dems are only getting started....

This is what I am afraid of. Sure this any many other issues are good for Oregon. But soon we will be talking about banning 11 year old kids from riding ATV's, "Distracted Drivers" with $380 fines and banning smoking in cars.

I voted and supported the Dems this last election, but this crap is really starting to pi$$ me off. I can only pray that Republicans can block this Nanny-State BS.

If you want to kill yourself, be my guest. Suitable rope is available at Home Depot for around 25 cents a foot, and suitable tree limbs are available for your temporary use at any public park.

However, when the safety of others is involved, you don't get to make the final decision. Careless smokers kill hundreds of people per year in the US. Self extinguishing cigarettes are a simple and cheap way of saving the lives of your spouse or partner or kids or grandkids when you doze off to sleep (or pass out from drinking that extra 40 ouncer) with a lit cigarette laying on the edge of your mattress.

Good Job Dems!

Keep setting up those straw-men Blue note.....I said this was a good law for Oregon, but the ones that will be coming up are Nanny-State at it's finest.

And Torrid...How many smokers smoke in their car with the windows closed? I have never seen one...you?

Shine that light full and bright!

burley was also sick.

people smoke with the windows closed all the time--like when it's really hot and the ac is on. if you open the right combination of windows, you can smoke in the front without anyone in the back even knowing.

I wonder what hazardous chemicals are added to the tobacco in cigarettes to make them self-extinguish. And what toxic substances are inhaled when these chemicals burn? Will this cause more cancer?

playing devil's advocate, what's the reason the tobacco lobby opposes this? i guess, being a former smoker myself, it might be because people don't want to smoke cigarettes that they can't leave at their table in the bar while they go to the bathroom or to order another drink, and then the come back and have to re-light it?

as if that little inconvenience is going to make someone quit smoking completely?

or maybe because it costs an extra 1/40th of a penny per cigarette to manufacture with the paper that burns out.

but, as it is, do we really expect anything more from the republicans? it's a broken record.

I'm ready for a statewide ban on smoking in public places like bars and restaurants. can the Dems get this going? lead Oregon, lead!

Oh please...statewide ban huh? When was the last time anyone was in Washington? Maybe we should learn from them. Next time you are there please notice what is happening outside the bars. All of you that live in a neighborhood with a bar are going to complain because there are a bunch of drunk people outside talking loudly at midnight on Tuesday and you have to work in the morning. You're also going to complain about the cigarrette butts that are all over the place outside. The OLCC is going to start enforcing their rules and we might see a lot of small businesses in Oregon close.

I would support a statewide ban vote. My catch is that only people that go to bars and work in bars get to vote on it. From what I can tell most of the people that want this ban wouldn't be caught dead in a dingy hole in the wall anyway but they sure want to force their own will on the people that actually enjoy those types of places. I know plenty of service industry workers and 2 bar owners. None of them want a ban and at least 1 of the bar owners is worried its going to shut his business down because of noise complaints from neighbors.

This might be a little off topic but I trust you will find it interesting. As you know, I quit smoking last October after having been a heavy smoker for 33 years. Let me share with you something interesting I observed about cigarettes.

For part of the years that I smoked I was unable to afford "tailor made" (manufactured) cigarettes. During that time I rolled my own. A hand rolled cigarette, if left in an ashtray, would extinguish itself. Manufactured cigarettes (I was mostly on Marlboro lights) do not. If you put one of them down they will burn right up to the filter without being drawn on.

Conclusion: It isn't the paper, but rather the chemical additives in manufactured cigarettes that cause them to keep burning. You know, the same chemicals that big tobacco used to manipulate nicotine levels, cause the nicotine to get into your system quicker, etc. etc.

I won't go back to smoking and I regret the fact that the tobacco companies had me addicted for so many years but I think their chemical manipulation had more to do with my addiction than tobacco and I think it may be the same with regard to the fire hazards.

Has anybody out there made the same observation?

American Spirits used to burn out if you set them in an ashtray...since they were bought out they don't do that anymore. Also, did anyone else notice Kentucky has a similar proposal up?

http://www.kentucky.com/mld/kentucky/news/politics/16697232.htm

Hello there: this bighead has to snort and cough every day when I leave the house because of cigarette smokers right outside of my apartment on the street, and at that "world famous coffee shop/ smoking area" just downstairs. Who gives all these dirty degenerates the right to expose me to cancer causing benzene and formaldehyde in the city I work in? I walk, and commute using public transportation. Smokers are everywhere, and they are a public nuisance.

Here at Blue Oregon, we should be somewhat less adversarial. We need to focus more on building a progressive agenda than hammering Republicans. We need to focus more on accomplishment and less on the conflict and the evil Republican leadership (and I do believe evil is the right word).
How about some stories about good Republicans who are doing the right thing in committee? How about highlighting creative thinking that benefits the State, rather than highlighting the successful attempts to play hardball with the Republicans. How about finding the stories that NO ONE is reporting, rather than simply putting a partisan twist on the situation. Let us hope for a legislature of accomplishment that Democrats can be proud of when election time comes. Let us not hope for a continuation of partisanship by both sides that keeps the important decisions made in caucus behind closed doors and locks out the public as well as minorities within either caucus from expressing themselves or getting votes on popular measures that might not play right with the spinmeisters and the pollsters of the leaders.
I think Democrats are playing into Republicans hands when they emulate Republican tactics in hand-to-hand partisan combat. I think people begin to classify all politicians as the same. I think people get alienated, and disengage from the democracy.
Wouldn't you like to see legislative leadership that acts on principle and fights for solutions, and tries to attract votes across the aisle for their good ideas? I would. Bring back those days of the 1970s when Oregon politics had meaning other than who wins and who loses. When the special interest groups on both sides of the aisle weren't the ones really in control. When maintaining the status quo wasn't a victory for progressives. When the strategy was around substance and not around partisan tactics. When people could tell the difference between a wave and a tide, and were focused on building tides, not riding waves.