Chicago Smoking Ban
There has been a big media push in the last couple of weeks for
the city of Chicago to ban smoking in all restaurants and bars.
I feel that passing this law or similar laws is not only a big
mistake, but is another step in government's interference with
individual rights. Such laws are not about protecting the
population as they claim, but they're actually another means of
putting control into the hands of the corporate aliens that run
our local governments.
Let's look at the proposed smoking ban. First let me tell you
that I'm not a smoker. I've quit 35 years ago and have not
touched a single cigarette since. I don't particularly like
secondhand smoke but I dislike stupid laws even more. Most of
the restaurants and bars involved are not owned by the city.
Essentially, they are privately owned places with public access.
That being the case, the restaurant or bar owner should be the
only one to say whether or not to allow smoking on his/her
premises. You, as a consumer, don't have to frequent a
restaurant if you're against its smoking policy. The restaurant
or bar owner is in a better position to make this decision than
some politician who has no idea of the conditions and clientele
of the establishment. For example, a restaurant owner can allow
smoking but use one or more ionic air purifiers to filter the
air in the smoking section. In such a case it is possible that
the air in the smoking section would be cleaner than polluted
city air outside. Under these circumstances, it would be hard to
evoke the secondhand smoke argument.
I sometimes go out with friends who smoke and sit in a
restaurant's smoking section. Most of the restaurants I've been
to have large rooms allotted for their smokers, so I hardly even
smell the secondhand smoke. I doubt very strongly that sitting
in a restaurant's smoking section for one hour every two or
three months is going to be a significant threat to my health.
In fact, it could be that small amounts of toxin from the
secondhand smoke may help improve my immune system against
cigarette pollutants. Then I could argue that a smoking ban
would be detrimental to my immune system and would actually be
increasing my chances of getting cigarette related diseases.
Ten years ago I worked for a large insurance company. They
decided not to let employees smoke in their building. This is as
it should be. It's their building and if you want to work for
them, you should either give up smoking or smoke outside. In my
opinion, this is the only way smoking issues should be resolved:
by the property owner and not the government. This was ten years
ago. By now the owners of Chicago's public places should have
already made up their minds about how to handle smoking in their
establishments.
Even if secondhand smoke is as deadly as they claim, which I
seriously doubt, it can't hurt you if you stay away from the
places that allow smoking. You're only exposed if you want to
be. So why a new law? The more laws the more federal and local
governments can exert control over our lives. The more
frustrated we become. They are conquering us one issue at a
time. Practically any law can be passed in the name of public
safety. Tomorrow they could be banning french fries because they
contain too much saturated fat that causes a significantly
elevated risk for heart attack.
The next step in the smoking battle will be to make cigarettes
illegal. They've just about went as far as they can raising
cigarette taxes. Now when they ban cigarettes, we'll see a
resurgence of street gangs shooting each other trying to gain
control of the lucrative underground cigarette racket.
If you think that Chicago politicians know what they're doing,
let me relate what happened a little over ten years ago. Because
there were some deaths due to carbon monoxide poisoning, the
politicians, in their infinite wisdom, passed a law mandating
every home to have a carbon monoxide detector by October 1st,
1994. Maybe this law was passed in a genuine effort to save
lives or it could have been the result of some deal made with
the First Alert Company. In any case, the carbon monoxide
detectors were new technology and quite error prone. Because of
threats of fines, many people complied with the law. Then a
funny thing happened. By December 20, 1994, the Chicago fire
department had logged some 8,500 calls from carbon monoxide
detector alarms, and found that 86% of them turned out to be
false alarms! Then, on December 21, 1994, Chicago experienced a
temperature inversion which led to a smog problem. All hell
broke loose: more than 1,800 calls were made to "911" within 24
hours, almost all of which turned out to be false alarms. Since
then, even though the law may still be on the books, no one
mentions it or tries to enforce it. Carbon monoxide detectors
work much better now. I don't think too many people have them
for fear of false alarms.
I have come to believe the word "politician" is synonymous with
"dumb ass". If we continue to let them try to save us from the
hazards of the world around us, all our remaining freedoms will
surely be lost.
Follow-up
On December 7th, 2005 the Chicago City Council passed an
anti-smoking ordinance. Starting on Jan 16th, 2006 smoking will
be prohibited in most public places, from Chicago Transit
Authority train platforms to condominium lobbies and hallways.
Restaurants that don't have bars must close their smoking
sections. Smokers will be required to stay at least 15 feet from
the entrance of any building where smoking is prohibited, that's
practically every public building in the city.
Smoking will still be allowed in bars and restaurants with bars
until July 1, 2008. This is to give owners a chance to filter
the air to an acceptable level. But, it is said, that there does
not exit a technology that will clean the air to the required
purity to satisfy this law. So in effect in two and a half years
all bars will also be smoke free.
For individuals who violate the law, the fine can be up to $100;
for business violators, the maximum fine can be $2,500.
Individual rights are getting to be like the Marlboro man,
slowly riding off into the sunset.