The fallout from anti-smoking laws

While everyone knows that smoking is bad for your health, the degree to which it can affect non-smokers is hard to measure. I know that there are many people who are allergic to smoke and are definitely affected. However, I really question how we can determine the degree of affectation to the general public. Is the effect as harmful as living in smog filled cities or working in polluted air in a factory or being exposed to the chemicals released in the air from spraying crops or even our lawns? What about a person who has the flu but insists on going out in public and ends us passing the flu onto someone else. Should this person be prevented for going out among the public or be fined? A bad boss can give you high blood pressure which can kill you. Do you stay on the job or go find another job? Do you go into a smoke filled bar to talk with your friends or do you stay away because it may be unhealthy. It's an individual choice in everything we do. Who makes these decision - the government or you? Where do you draw the line?

If smoking is legal, then it should be legal everywhere. If not, then make smoking illegal. But that isn't going to happen. The government would lose too much tax revenue.

The issue becomes at what point does the government's drive to provide for a cleaner and healthier environment become too intrusive. As a former smoker I remember how much I enjoyed smoking and how hard it was for me to quit. I also remember when people used to congregate much more often, not just with neighbors or family, but in public places as well. Many a family dinner would end up with tobacco smoke hovering above the dining room table. Bars were so full of smoke that you could hardly see from one end to the other.

A business should be able to decide for itself whether it wants to allow smoking or not. Those who allow smoking will be avoided by those who don't like being around smoke. The business will have to judge for itself if its smoking policy is economically feasible. Isn't that the American way?

Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps by banning smoking in bars and restaurants, people who don't like being around smoke will start frequenting these establishments again. I have heard reports that business has actually increased in some cities that banned smoking although I cannot verify the accuracy of those reports.

While I encourage the government to promote anti-smoking campaigns to prevent young people from starting to smoke, it should not be passing laws that remove individual choice and reduces social interaction. We are already leading isolated lives ensconced in our cozy living rooms watching television or surfing the internet.

Local officials should work with small bar and restaurant owners to enable smokers to continue to frequent local bars and restaurants whether it be by having an outdoor garden that allows smoking or by some other means. I also encourage those people who avoided bars and restaurants because of the smoke, to patronize these establishments again. I hope the reports that indicate anti-smoking laws actually increase patronage of bars and restaurants is true. If not, a lot of small bars and restaurants in towns like Minonk are going to have a hard time staying in business and social life in our communities will shut down even more.

Feedback comments

dave I agree with the restrant part of the ban everyone should be able to enjoy a nice meal smoke free and smokers can go outside or wate an hour to smoke but going into a tavern / bar is a choice if you don't like the envirement don't patronize the place then the owners will have to make choices concerning ther best interest.

I am a smoker, but I am very much in favor of the smoking ban in food establishments. When my family goes out to eat, we sit in the non-smoking section. I think that smoking should be banned in these kinds of family friendly environments. As for the bars and taverns, that should be left for the business owner to decide.

Dave, My husband and I do smoke but also have respect for people who don't in bars or other places,we sit on smoking side,and also been to places with no smoking and we have respected that..But i want to know what Happen to the land of the free and our freedom...

As one of those allergic to cigarette smoke, I am very grateful to establishments banning smoking. One or two smokers in a large area I generally won't have a bad reaction to, but a concentrated smoking area will leave me coughing for days. It can also be upsetting to be seated in a restaurant and then have a smoker seated by you after you've arrived and relaxed.

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