Up in Smoke
It seems a little odd to carry on with the rant I've been conceptualizing for today--Colorado's new smoking ban--in light of the fact that just 12 hours ago I learned my Aunt Alice has lung cancer. But alas, I'm going to.
Today is Friday, 1 July 2006 and Colorado will be smoke-free in less than one day. And I'm against it.
I was a social smoker a lot of my adult life. I guess I still am, but maybe just about 3 or 4 times a year now. It just doesn't hold the appeal to me that it used to. Technically, I'm a nonsmoker, but I'm not one of those nonsmokers. Granted, I don't want my house or office smelling like it but as an adult capable of making adult decisions, there is no reason why, if I should chose to, I cannot have a cigarette in a bar or restaurant.
Cigarettes are still legal, no?
Yes, I know the harm they do. I know the harm second-hand smoke does. But at the end of the day, they are still a legal product and therefore I believe this problem is being attacked from the wrong direction.
Don't want people to smoke? Make cigarettes illegal--don't make the act of engaging in a legally-purchases product illegal. It's like putting a band-aid on a serious gash. Yeah, I know why we don't do that. Heaven forbid we upset the tobacco lobby. All of our friends in Washington have loads of friends there. If we upset them we might not get their money or positions on their boards of directors when we leave public office.
But we're approaching this wrong. We're a society of rational-thinking people with free will, right? (Oddly, isn't that one of the things we pride ourselves on as a collective people? You know, it's one of those things that makes us different from them....)
Nigel has a perfect solution to this problem and one I whole-heartedly agree with. And it's really quite simple. Bars and restaurant owners that want to allow smoking in their establishments have to get licensed, just like restauarant owners do in the UK to serve alcohol. Don't want people smoking in your place? Fine, don't get licensed. Then, when patrons are decided where to go for a meal or a drink (or employees for a job), they know right from the start whether you're licensed or not. Everyone can make their own choices. What a novel concept, eh?
Colorado's law is just short of a disaster and the association of bar and restaurant owners are outraged--rightly so. There are at least 10 exceptions to the law, including (are you ready) your own home or car. Wow, you can still do what you want in/on your own property? Get out. But he one that has everyone up in arms is: "the retail floor plan of casinos." Guess which lobby has a lot of influence in Colorado? Either do it across the board so it's fair to all businesses, or don't.
I will say this though. After years of a piecemeal approach to this--where city after city was going smoke-free--at least it was taken up at the State level. It makes absolutely no sense to me that Denver would ban smoking (they didn't, actually; it failed at City Council last year) yet you could literally cross the street and smoke in Aurora. So, I'll give them an A for consistency.
Yet, my original issue remains. As long as cigarettes remain legal, adults should be able to chose for themselves if they engage or not. As an adult myself, if I didn't want to be in an establishment that allowed smoking, I simply wouldn't go (and I'd probably let the owner know that they've lost my business as a result.) Come on, we're all grown-ups here.
I'm sure there will be plenty of people who disagree with me. The reason I don't smoke routinely are concerns for my health. I do understand the health risks but my bottomline is that we're approaching this all wrong.
Oh, and for the record, Aunt Alice never smoked a single cigarette in her life, nor did she live with smokers. Turns out as many as 30% of all lung cancer cases in women are in women who never smoked, for whatever that's worth.
So, we're off to the great state of Kansas for the long weekend to visit Alice and the rest of the family. This trip was planned before she got sick and now we're really glad we're going. So please, be safe this weekend, don't set your cantelopes too close to the firecrackers (they'll explode; I saw it on TV), and if you're in Colorado, for God's sake, put that thing out.
posted by Kay at
3:42 AM
10 Comments:
I'm a nonsmoker. Never touched a cigarette in my life. Secondhand smoke gives me awful migraine headaches, even from very little exposure. I have to actively avoid places where I know I'll be exposed to any kind of cigarette smoke.
And yet I agree with you 100%. To make it illegal to use a legal product in locations where the entire population *expects* you to be using such product (bars, etc) is just ridiculous.
Hey Government, go do something more worthwhile.
Like ban flag burning!
Just joking. :D
Isn't it odd . . . I hate cigarette smoke, would never burn a flag, would never get on a motorcycle without a helmet, would never get in a car without a seatbelt, and I doubt I'd ever have an abortion.
Yet when legislation goes up for a vote to try to control or limit any of these activities, I feel like I'm being personally suffocated by my own government.
I think I might be turning into a Libertarian.
I have to say, I disagree. The guy next to me in the bar drinking the licensed beer doesn't give me cancer. Nor does he burn cancer fumes all night into the face of the woman behind the bar just trying to make a living.
Yeah, I could avoid those "licensed" bars but I really do feel that I should be able to go into any public place and not bathe in toxic smoke.
I respect your position, Becca, but have to stand by my assertion that we have to go to the root of the problem then. Cigarettes are a legal item. Make them illegal and the problem is solved. I would imagine making cigarettes contraband *would* work better than the original attempts at prohibition. It would create a black market, of course, but there already is one and it would solve the public smoking problem once and for all.
I don't think they should be illegal. But inflicting on others who didn't choose them should be. That's what this law does.
I do wish you weren't allowed to smoke in a house with kids as well. I mean, you're not allowed to serve alcohol to children in your home, why should you be able to feed them carbon monoxide?
Why would you not make them illegal?
I'm generally not a fan of "prohibition" but we know cigarettes can cause cancer, so why not eliminate the bulk of the problem?
I'm not sure what the law is in all states, but Becca's alcohol analogy reminded me of this:
I live right on the WI/IL border, and at bars in Wisconsin, as long as you are with your parents, there is no legal drinking age. Even if you are 10 years old, your mother can buy you shots at a bar in Wisconsin.
http://www.dor.state.wi.us/faqs/ise/atundrg.html#undrg2
I have a friend who lost almost his entire clientele because of the smoking law. His livelihood. I think bar owners should be able to choose whether or not to have smoking. Prospective employees could choose not to work there if they were so inclined. I would then choose whether or not to frequent a bar (maybe) based on the smoking.
Nobody is going to make tobacco illegal; not in my lifetime.
I used to work in a state psychiatric facility where the patients were under lock and key. They were allowed outside for an hour a day. Many, maybe most, of the patients smoked in my particular unit. The only enjoyment they got out of life was smoking. I'm not kidding. I think it's just awful that adults had this taken away from them.
(I'm an ex heavy smoker.)
Oh, I don't think they should be illegal because I don't think anything should be illegal that doesn't hurt anyone but yourself. I'm a libertarian and really believe that.
Think about all the things we do that cause cancer or have high risks. We'd live in a police state if we couldn't do any of them. If you're an adult you should be able to make your own choices. What should they ban next? Motorcycles? Cheeseburgers?
If you've been warned ad nauseum that cigarettes can kill you and you still smoke them, have at it. Just don't blow your smoke in my face, because I want to live.
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