I have two areas of concern with the ban on public smoking, one practical and one philosophical.
The practical concern is that I don’t see this ban doing anything to stop smoking, which is the supposed motivation behind the ban in the first place. It will move the habit indoors, admittedly, but all of the talk about that causing people to stop is hot air – people will just continue their habits in a new location.
More to the point, if the concern is that smoking is bad for your health and bad for the health of others, it seems counterproductive to take the habit from a place with the best ventilation available (that is, outside in the open air) and put it in some room or building where your smoke is far more likely to waft over to other people.
There is also a phenomenon called “third hand smoke.” After you have stopped smoking, the smoke residue still clings to things, including clothes, furniture, tables and lighting fixtures. The problem of third-hand smoke could be exacerbated if a new policy forces smokers to move inside.
While the specific regulations have yet to be passed into law or policy, the concern about more smoking indoors applies just as much to homes and vehicles as it does bars and restaurants.
Now, as to my philosophical concern.
We should be allowed to make our own decisions, even if they are bad decisions that harm our health. I am a smoker, and I am under no illusion that it isn’t bad for my health.
I’m also a ravenous red-meat eater and someone who doesn’t regularly exercise. I recognize that this isn’t good for me, but much like going to the gym or eating a well-balanced meal, it should be a personal choice. It seems absolutely ludicrous to try and force good health on someone.
My concern extends to the fact that people are also running to government to try and solve this issue. Instead of addressing what causes people to smoke (which may or may not have socioeconomic implications) or leading by example by not smoking, people want government officials to mandate what they should do.
I don’t necessarily mind my friends coming around and asking me to change my behavior. If a friend asks me to go to the gym or stop smoking, then I will consider their request because I care about them, and they care about me.
Government is an institution – it can’t care about you. When we talk about a government restriction on activity, we get into the realm of productivity, economic results, money saved and lost over medical bills, enforcement and fines. That’s not caring, no matter how the people supporting the ban want to spin it – that’s control.
People who only have the freedom to make good choices, really have no freedom at all. People have to be able to make mistakes, to be wrong and to experience the consequences, good or bad, of their lifestyle decisions to really experience life.
Let me decide to smoke and develop lung cancer. Let me choose to eat copious amounts of red meat and develop heart problems. Let me decide to lounge around on a couch all day and get fat. It’s the American way.