March 02, 2004
Tuesday

I applaud Hunter's dedication to frequenting smoke-free establishments. However, an ordinance to protect innocent citizens from offensive and deadly secondhand smoke is far overdue. Smoking is a destroyer of health, not just a nuisance. Laws are adopted constantly to fit our evolving understanding of the world. Society takes cues from our legal structure.

Hunter remarked, Do we really need more darn laws? This typical attitude towards positive progress presents a vacuous argument. The number of laws is as arbitrary as saying there are too many notes in a piece of music. The number of notes is irrelevant; the finished product is the key - editing is the difficult part. Editing the governing laws of a people that progress and evolve is constant.

The dangers of this secondhand smoke problem are evident and now require action. The democratic republic works for the people by the people and has a duty to promote the general welfare of its citizens.

Businesses such as restaurants are not health experts and are not allowed to make-up the rules as they go along hiding under the rights of business banner. Laws such as standards for food preparation, sanitation guidelines, and hand washing represent laws that we are thankful for. Secondhand smoke clearly damages the health of those exposed and should placed under the same legal scrutiny as hand washing or food preparation standards. The only difference is that this will save many more lives than hand washing. Letting everyone do whatever they want sounds like a wonderful experiment in Utopian theory, but will ultimately prove disastrous as health issues are left uncontrolled.

Put down your hammer and your carrot, let's just use common sense and basic human decency.


Joseph Branco
Ketchikan, AK - USA

Related Viewpoint:

Smoking Ban? Wrong Approach by Hunter Davis - Ketchikan, AK - USA

 

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