Banning public smoking infringes upon our rights

Idaho may soon follow the example of other states like

California and Utah and outlaw smoking practically everywhere. If

Senator Brent Hill (R-Rexburg) is able to push Senate Bill No. 1220

through the legislature this session, there won’t be many

places outside of one’s own home to enjoy a cigarette. To

many this may sound pleasant, to others an affront to their rights.

I can’t defend the merits of smoking, because every

marginally educated person knows it’s not good for you, but I

will defend the rights that I believe every proprietor of an

establishment has; to decide whom they will cater their business

to.

The bill amends the Clean Indoor Air Act to include restaurants,

as well as any bar area located therein, taxicabs, and pretty much

any other building in the city that the public may enter including

a twenty foot perimeter around entrances and exits. Sounds pretty

strict, but then this country has seen harsher. The bill does not

prohibit smoking in bars as California’s law currently

does.

I had the pleasure of speaking with Senator Hill and he brought

out some interesting points to justify his proposal. He pointed out

that it has always been the American way that with every right

comes a responsibility. If a business owner opens his doors to the

public he has a responsibility to ensure the safety of his patrons

and employees. The Senator expressed disdain about arguments

opposing public smoking: “too many people are making it a

preference issue, it is a health issue,” Hill said. He likens

his push for a smoking ban to the Americans with Disabilities Act,

saying, “Thousands of Idahoans suffer from respiratory

issues, they should be allowed to enjoy these public

places.”

While I am sympathetic to the concerns of those with various

illnesses and afflictions, I have a difficult time concluding that

such a measure is needed to protect their rights. As many smokers

already know, the number of places that allow smoking is already

dwindling. Non-smokers have far more dining choices than those who

choose to smoke as it is. Rarely do any up-scale restaurants allow

for it. Only a handful of more moderately priced restaurants,

places like sports bars and truck stops have responded to the

demands of the smoking population. And rightly so, they listen to

their customers the same way a smart legislator listens to

constituents. A free market will make the decision and

restaurateurs will respond.

Take a trip to Merritt’s on State Street, a local icon

since my mother was a child. They have a tiny non-smoking area for

those who care to brave the haze of smoke that hangs over the

place. This is a side of humanity which some obviously know nothing

about. It’s where the cowboy with Skoal in his pocket might

have breakfast and a smoke. It’s where independent,

self-determining people choose their poison.

No one is being forced to inhale second-hand smoke. All

government buildings already prohibit smoking. We all have the

freedom to choose where we eat or work. Cigarette smoke can be very

annoying, but most of the time that is what public is:

annoying!

I realize there are serious health risks associated with

smoking. Second-hand smoke has been cited as the third leading

cause of preventable death in the country. But how much second-hand

smoke are we talking about here? These are cases of people who

either live with a smoker or are otherwise placed in close

proximity to smoke on a regular basis. I have a very difficult time

believing that my life is being jeopardized more by inhaling

tobacco smoke twice a month at a restaurant than it is from all of

the processed food, household chemicals, and car exhaust that I

ingest on a daily basis.

In my Idaho, private property was the bedrock idea we were

brought up with. We’re on our own hook, and we live and let

live. It’s un-American to tell people what they should do

with their personal lives. Boise used to be a carefree cowboy town,

but now looks more like Salt Lake City.

As the icon of American freedom, Mark Twain, said through his

character Huck Finn: “Pretty soon I wanted to smoke, and

asked the widow to let me. But she wouldn’t. She said it was

a mean practice and wasn’t clean, and I must try not to do it

any more. That is just the way with some people. They get down on a

thing when they don’t know nothing about it. Here she was

a-bothering about Moses, which was no kin to her, and no use to

anybody, being gone, you see, yet finding a power of fault with me

for doing a thing that had some good in it. And she took snuff,

too; of course that was all right, because she done it

herself.”

Esther Tolson
Columnist
The Arbiter

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2. I’m not sad to see smoking go
3. Students speak out about smoking ban
4. Boise State’s smoking policy is dripping with hypocrisy
5. Smoking ban compliance relies on respect, cooperation