Should Northampton, Florence ban smoking downtown? 

“There’s an unhealthy bias towards smokers,” says Stephen Corridean, a recording artist in Hadley. “To me, I don’t think (the ban) is necessary. I think they should have designated smoking areas. I think they should have smoking buses and smoking lounges. Of course they want to come under the facade that they care about your health, but I think it’s more (about) having control over somebody. That’s my opinion on it — they don’t care about my health.” STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

“We are houseless folks,” says Pamela Matlock, sitting with Beau Nichols, at Pulaski Park. (Adrian Zayas is in the background.) “I panhandle, I fly signs … We’re of the same opinion that (attorney) Dana Goldblatt was: It’s pointed mainly at us. I’d be willing to bet money that if this ban goes into effect that no officer will stop a tourist walking down the street smoking a cigarette, but he certainly will walk up to me while I’m panhandling, smoking a cigarette, and tell me, ‘Well, you can’t do that. You have to stop.’ They already do … and we’ve been threatened with tickets. How am I going to afford a ticket? I’m a firm believer in if a crime is only punishable by a fine, it’s really only illegal for poor people. Only people like us are going to suffer from that … it’s a matter of fairness. Shop employees stand outside their own shops and smoke cigarettes regularly. I speak with them as they’re standing outside for their cigarette break. I’m not doing anything that anybody else isn’t doing.” STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

“I smoked for 10 years,” says Steven McQuade of Westfield, where his family owns a cupcake shop. “I quit like five or six years ago, and honestly, even I was so weirded out by trying to smoke in public. So I’m all for either a total ban or at least having designated areas and stuff, you know? We own a business in Westfield, and all the time you’ll have people smoke outside, and it filters in — you can smell it. I smoked for long enough to know that it’s not good for you. It smells awful, and it’s not good for you.” STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

“In a closed place, I’m all for it. Don’t bother me with your poison and your toxic nonsense. Go outside, do what you have to do,” says Joe Bernard, a lawyer who lives in Belchertown. As for smoking in the street, he adds, “No, no — you don’t want to legislate public health. If you want to kill yourself, have at it. Just don’t bother me with it.” STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

“Of course I would be biased, because I’m a daily smoker, but basically what I really think is there should be areas,” says Reggie Holly, of Springfield, a former Marine who works at Soldier On. “We should go back to smoking and non-smoking areas. For instance, in a place like this, you know how they have bus stops with enclosed places? That’s where the smokers should go — and that way the air can be fresh around other people … to make sure you guys don’t get anything done to you when it comes to secondhand smoke, I understand that. But I personally like smoking. I just enjoy it. And I understand the risks of smoking, you know, I’m not ignorant to that. I don’t think it should be completely banned. I personally don’t want to give up money for doing something I enjoy. When I smoke, I make sure I’m away from people, just out of pure courtesy.” STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

“It seems kind of Big Brother-ish and mean to me, although I hate cigarette smoke,” says Peg Louraine, pictured on Main Street with her husband, Lew Louraine. “As ex-smokers, we’re probably more sensitive to it, and I’m a cancer survivor, so…” Lew Louraine points to a nearby smoker. “I can smell it now, somebody’s smoking over there,” he says. “Yeah,” she says, “somebody has his cigarettes right there and doesn’t realize, I think, how far the smoke goes, and the secondhand smoke danger — it’s an addiction, and it’s pitiable, and it’s awful.” On whether a designated smoking area would help: “No, how could it? All it does is concentrate it in that area … To me, it’s a really, really difficult choice because, in a perfect world, I would never have to smell cigarettes again. But people are capable of making those choices for themselves. Making them for them, I’m not so sure about.” STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS

A sign at the entrance of Pulaski Park in Northampton stating it is a smoke-free area. STAFF PHOTO/CAROL LOLLIS