Smoking Wars

Tuesday night, the Goshen City Council passed an ordinance banning smoking in most public places. While I don't advocate smoking (who does, really?), I feel that adults should get to make their own decisions. I also find the hysteria over second-hand smoke to be pretty much overstated, scientifically unsound, and well, not really the point. I sent the following to The Truth, whose editorial page has consistently supported these rules, including a possible state-wide law.

In the movie "Basic Instinct," Sharon Stone asks, after lighting up in a police station, "What are you going to do? Arrest me for smoking?" It was laughable then. But not today.

In an ill-advised, scientifically weak, and some would say, unconstitutional move, the Goshen City Council has cast its vote for a smoking ban that restricts the rights of citizens to do what they wish on their own property. And not insignificantly, they have done virtually nothing to protect the health of the community. Good work, folks.

In 1975, the New England Journal of Medicine determined that even in those smoke-filled days, a non-smoker would have to sit in a bar for 240 hours straight in order to get the effect of ONE cigarette. If someone is sitting in a bar that long, my guess is he's got bigger issues than a little second-hand smoke. Today, with far fewer smokers around, the risks have to be significantly lower.

The second-hand smoke health argument is rife with misinformation, much of it based on a 1993 EPA report that was summarily thrown out of court because it was such bad research. Even the most recent surgeon general's report isn't as convincing as proponents report. (Yes, I've actually read it.)

If the Goshen City Council, Elkhart County or the State of Indiana want to do something about smoking, perhaps they should make it completely illegal. Instead, they have been cowed and confused into passing rules that force business owners to act as policemen in conflict with their own property rights. Proponents argue that business owners won't actually experience a loss of revenue if smoking is banned. Really? Maybe. But I've got news for the hand-wringers: it's nobody's business but the business owner's to make these determinations. In short, they should butt out.

Ron Troyer of the Elkhart City Council has commended the Goshen Council for being "leaders in this field." I have news for Mr. Troyer: it's a very old field. It's called overreaching, dictatorial government hiding behind so-called "public interest." It's called blatant disregard for rights. Mr. Troyer would do well to rethink his position.

As should The Truth. It mystifies me why this paper, which depends for its very existence on constitutional guarantees of liberty, is so consistently in favor of regulating the rights of others.