Posted by
perseveringjayhawker on Saturday, November 04, 2006 1:16:12 PM
To smoke or not to smoke. That is not the question. The question is should the government tell citizens when and where they can smoke, thereby telling business owners how to operate their establishments?
There is no such thing as an inalienable right to be in a private place of business that meets all your personal preferences and needs. It may be good business to accommodate these needs, but it is not the customer’s right. Some, may have severe food allergies and need a restaurant to completely eliminate certain items from a recipe. Do these people have a right to eat food that will not kill them? Yes. But not necessarily at someone else’s private business.
People tend to only focus on the “health” aspects of a citywide smoking ban. In this light, how could a law banning harmful cigarette smoke in public places be a bad thing? A ban appears to be a simple and logical solution. It is not. We should prefer second hand smoke over second hand socialism.
Unfortunately, that is not the case for many Americans anymore. This can be seen in the increasing number of “public health issues” that are being taken on by our nanny state and, incredibly, given approval by citizens, from obesity to alcohol, and seat belt laws. Overeating when you go out is, in reality, more of a risk to your health then being exposed to some second hand smoke for a few minutes during a meal. Should the government ban large food portions at restaurants? After all, obesity is being defined as a public health concern.
People complain that being exposed to another’s smoke is not a choice they are making, it is being forced upon them; this is not true. The choice lies in where one chooses to do business. The great thing about a free market is that if enough people make their preferences known via the almighty dollar, many restaurants may decide on their own to become a smoke free establishment.
While breathing someone else’s cigarette smoke may indeed not be the healthiest thing, and may even have serious health implications for some, passing laws to impose one’s preferences on others is not a justifiable solution in a free society. When you place responsibility for yourself in the hands of the government, giving it the power to enforce what you perceive as the greater good, rather than taking personal responsibility for yourself, you have set the precedent that others can and will force their ideas of the “greater good” upon you. One day the greater good may not be so great.
As long as smoking cigarettes is legal, this decision does not belong to the government, but to private property owners. We may not have a right to have all other people cater to our every preference while in public, but there is such a thing as personal property rights and personal responsibility. At least there used to be.