Everybody Knows That Smokin' Ain't Allowed In School

Posted by Seth Kramer on Thursday, March 22nd 2007 at 12:34am


Before I get into this one there are Hawai'i pictures here.

Have you noticed how much harder it is to smoke in America? As of today 22 states, Washington DC, and Puerto Rico have passed bans on smoking in bars, restaurants, or all workplaces, and the state of Tennessee is set to become the first major tobacco-growing state to pass a similar law later this year or next.

I don't usually come out in favor of known carcinogens. There was that one time back in 1999 when this blog endorsed benzene as inhaled from gasoline fumes, however we published a retraction and I wish you people would let it go.

Anyway cigarettes are no different; I'm not in favor of them. There are few days I was more proud than when my stepdad quit smoking, and there are few things I that would please me more than for my father to quit as well.

Here's where I go all John Kerry nuanced on your ass...

However, I don't think it should be banned. Let me tell a little story. I used to live across the street from a little greasy spoon. Every Sunday morning I'd get up at 7:30, when they opened, and eat there. The place was always filled with smoke. I'd eat my breakfast with friends and return home to scrub the smell of smoke out of my skin, hair, and clothes.

So what's the point? I had a choice. It doesn't take but 2 seconds to figure out if a restaurant or bar is hickory-smoked, or not. In the end, the camaraderie of my friends was more valuable to me than smelling bad temporarily. And anyone who makes the argument that one couldn't reasonably expect to find smoke in a bar is daft.



Here's another story. A small family-owned Italian restaurant decides, independent of government regulation, to go smoke-free. Guess which Italian restaurant I frequented more often? Ding-ding-ding. Incidentally, last I heard that restaurant has seen a 15% increase in business from being able to fill all those unused "smoking section" seats.

The government is certainly responsible to provide a public health response, but that's usually for unforeseeable issues. For instance, it may not be immediately clear to me that the meat I bought at the supermarket might have been prepared in a filthy factory. That's why the USDA inspects such facilities. It should be fairly obvious to me that putting my hand in my blender and turning it on isn't safe, and notice we don't have a law about it. It's not because congress, or the state legislature is in the pocket of Big Blenders, it's because they don't think I'm a total dumbass. Smoking is bad for you. Putting your hand in the blender is not wise. These are things we don't need the government telling us.

My other concern is when do we draw the line? Ice cream's not good for me. Admittedly it's certainly better for me than smoking, but if I'm downing a quart a day then we have a problem. At what point do we say, maybe the people--the same group we allow to decide the fate of our nation, state, etc--are capable of making wise decisions about their lives, or when they fail to do so, are prepared to live with the consequences.

Then again, most of these bans are ballot referenda which pass by wide margins. So maybe I should take my own advice, and just trust that the people know what they're doing. That reminds me that we should discuss ballot initiatives another day.

Either way I leave you with this Truth video:



I'm spinning Motley Crue - Smokin' In The Boys Room