Campy's Editorial Page
Smoking ban chokes rights
Article featured in the June 27th edition of The Cincinnati Enquirer
By: Matthew McGowan
As an employee of a
downtown Cincinnati restaurant, I have followed with great interest the debate
over the proposed clean indoor air law currently being explored by Cincinnati
City Council which would ban smoking in most indoor public places, including
bars and restaurants.
Many people seem to believe this is a public heath issue, but
I disagree. No one is forcing anyone to dine in a smoke filled room, and there
are many restaurants whose owners have already voluntarily banned smoking.
People who wish to dine completely smoke free could support these businesses and
encourage, rather than force, others to follow in their footsteps.
It seems to me, however, that we are debating the wrong
questions; in this case, whether second-hand smoke is good or bad. Most people
would agree it's bad, even if there is differing opinion as to what extent. But
what is a more important, if not largely overlooked question is: who decides
which legal and consensual activities should be allowed on privately owned
property, the property owner or the government?
For good or ill, smoking is perfectly legal for adults over
the age of eighteen. Now, many of us consider smoking to be a nasty habit, and
rightfully so, but the thought of government trying to regulate that habit
should be considered downright frightening. If politically unpopular, yet
otherwise legal activities such as smoking can be outlawed, what could be next?
We can easily walk away from a smoke filled bar or restaurant; can we so easily
walk away from our civil liberties?
Whether the public favors a smoking ban is irrelevant, and
whatever economic impact such a ban may or may not have is equally irrelevant.
What is relevant is whether government has a right to interfere in the operation
of a private business when no illegal activity is, or has been, taking place.
It has been said that of all tyrannies, a tyranny exercised
for the good of its victim may be the most oppressive, because those who torment
us for our own good do so with the approval of their own conscience, and thus
will torment us without end. Though the proposed smoking ban doesn’t seem to
strike as much fear into the hearts of Cincinnatians as, say, the PATRIOT Act,
it should worry them even more, because it represents the first small step down
a very real slippery slope that we, as Americans, don’t really want to travel.
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