It isn’t widely noted, but in 2011, New York City also banned smoking in all parks and beaches. The incidence of lung cancer has fallen substantially, too. The adult smoking rate in New York City fell to 12 percent in 2019, from 22 percent in 2002 - faster than the national decline. Plus, Bloomberg’s bluenose approach has saved lives. Now that weed is legal, New Yorkers can expect these 8 things to happen But hundreds of thousands of bartenders, waiters and nonsmoking patrons have been happy to breathe clean air while they work, eat and drink - and not to have to wash their hair and clothes of cigarette stink after a night out. They predicted doom for the nightlife industry when he pushed through a ban on smoking in all indoor accommodations in 2003. People sneered at former Mayor Mike Bloomberg’s “nanny-state” impulses, as when he tried to ban the sale of large sugary drinks. Whether it was ultimately a good idea or not, the passage of the Volstead Act did, in fact, drive down consumption of alcohol to about 70 percent of pre-Prohibition levels. Banning booze was a huge failure, right? Actually, no. It’s common for sophisticated people to observe that prohibition never works - just look at, well, Prohibition.
Some New Yorkers may recall a time not too long ago when even the sale of “bongs” and other pot paraphernalia was essentially banned in the Big Apple. Yet judging by the dank smell on every block, park bench and subway car, any restrictions on pot have gone up in smoke. Technically, minors aren’t permitted to have access to the herb, and you’re not allowed to smoke up anywhere cigarettes are banned. The NYPD has instructed officers to ignore the possession, “burning” and even the open sale of up to three ounces of weed. It’s reefer madness all across Gotham, following the state Legislature’s legalization of marijuana. New York employers can’t test workers for weed, Albany saysĭogs on the grass: ASPCA poison hotline in the weeds with calls of pups on pot IRS could collect pot firm tax if they used big banks: Janet Yellen City communities should have the right to say no to legal pot before Dec.