Smoking Bans
It seems that the current trend here in Minnesota, and other parts of the US, is that smoking in public is no longer acceptable behavior. St. Paul just passed legislation that bans smoking in all public places including bars and restaurants.
I am an ex-smoker, as the only thing that I smoke now is the occasional cigar, and cigar’s have been socially unacceptable for some time, so it doesn’t really affect me.
It seems that people are very divided on this issue. Non-smokers seem to think this is a great thing, and smokers think it’s the end of the world. As with most things, the reality is probably somewhere in between. The bar owners fear that this will be the end of the line, and that business will drop off so sharply that they will no be able to remain in business.
To me there are several issues here. First, I believe that the business owners should be able to decide for themselves if they want smoking or not. It seems to me that the majority of bars permit smoking and people want it that way. I know they want it that way because people continue to go to bars and spend money there. If they did not want smoking, they would go to a bar that does not permit smoking. I know several people who don’t regularly smoke who do smoke when they are at the bar drinking. I am not fortunate enough to be able to do that as I’m sure that if I smoke one, my habit will kick in again and I would become a smoker.
Second, I don’t like any new laws that the government imposes that dictate what is right for me to do as a person. In Minnesota, we have repeatedly struck down legislation that would require helmets for motorcycle riders. That is a choice that people should be making for themselves. On the other hand, weather I wear a helmet when I am riding or not will not have an effect on someone else’s health. It’s a decision that will affect me.
Lastly, the smoking will not stop. And it seems that the government won’t stop pounding on smokers until there are no more. People won’t smoke in the bar, they will step outside and smoke in the doorway so that we all have to walk through the cloud to get into the place. This too is part of the law, as they are no supposed to stand right outside the door. This will cause the police to stop and move the people away from the entrance. Personally, I think there are things that are far more important for the police to do than move people away from a door if they are smoking. How would you feel if a member of your family is harmed by someone and the police weren’t there to help because they were moving smokers away from the door of a bar?
It’s good to see that all the other important problems that we have today are so under control that we can now bother with such petty things as this.
If you want to stop smoking, make it illegal. We can all remember how well that worked with alcohol.
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We discuss this topic in depth on our blog. As our name indicates, our view on this is pretty clear. I welcome you to drop in and browse around a bit.
We may like the freedom of not wearing seat belts or helmets, but the wearing of both is proven to save lives. The way that people who do not wear seatbelts or
helmets affect others is in the added cost to society when society has to care for the paraplegic motorcyclist or driver or passenger who chose moments of freedom
over safe practices. Years of medical bills paid for by the taxpayer ENTITLE society to be against the incursion of such avoidable costs.