Quote:
Originally Posted by JLeighs
At the end of the day, what we have (in my state anyway) is a law that says all non-smokers may go to whatever establishment they please and not have to catch a single whiff of tobacco, and all smokers can freeze their arses off (in the winter) outside should they want to indulge, or they can just stay home. It seems a bit lopsided to me, but then again, I never bought into all the second-hand smoke propoganda and hysteria. While I'm not suggesting that second-hand smoke is good for you, I think its harmful effects have been seriously and deliberately overstated to further an agenda. It worked.
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Well-established studies prove that second-hand smoke isn't propaganda. But the issue isn't even on health grounds. The issue is this:
- If I light up in a bar, it's my right, but I infringe on the right of the guy sitting next to me - let's call him George - not to smell it, and not to leave the bar with his clothes reeking of stale smoke. I'm not even talking about health risks to George here.
- If George forces me to stub my cigar, he infringes on my right to enjoy it.
You might say, fine: let George patronize non-smoking bars, and you go to smoking places. Trouble is, it doesn't work that way because economics dictate that all bar allow smoking: those that don't lose smoking patrons more than they gain non-smoking ones. So the overwhelming majority of bar owners let the law decide for them.
So, in the end, you're left with George and me, who have equally valid but perfectly incompatible rights, and according to the law of the land the bar is in, one of us is going to freeze his balls outside while the other sits inside, nice and warm. Both of us demand that our rights be upheld: who is the legislator going to rule in favor of?
Well, George of course. Our rights are equally valid, but when I exercise mine next to George, I increase George's health risks, however minutely. When George exercises his next to me, he doesn't increase mine. Since smoking is a pastime and isn't essential to life, isn't the choice obvious?
Smoking bans in public places aren't an issue of rights, it's not even about public health, it's just plain and simple logic. I'm not saying that I agree with all of them - California-style witch hunts are pretty stupid for instance - but the logic behind them is sound.