by Craig A. Butler
Daily Lobo Columnist
On Monday, City Councilor Michael Cadigan introduced a vast new anti-smoking proposal for the city of Albuquerque.
It would completely ban smoking in restaurants and bars, in addition to a number of other specific bans. Cadigan, with support from several local groups, seeks to protect innocent non-smokers from the health risks associated with secondhand smoke.
Similar bans in other cities have shown that it is still possible for businesses to get by under such smoking bans. Restaurants can add an outdoor patio for smokers and bar patrons can always take a smoke break outside. Although a smoking ban might not do much to harm the economy, is it really necessary?
Smoking in restaurants has long been confined to specific "smoking sections." Provided that area is well-ventilated, as the law demands, very little secondhand smoke ever drifts into the non-smoking parts of the restaurant. The smokers are doing no harm to anyone but themselves and people who choose to sit with them.
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In bars, there is no such distinction, but no one seems to mind. Has there been an overwhelming public outcry against smoking in bars? People who spend a lot of time in bars go there to poison themselves anyway. Smoke is just a part of the atmosphere, and no one is obliged to spend time in a bar they feel is too smoky.
But Cadigan's ban gets even more ridiculous. It forbids bowling alleys from having smoking concourses. It would require hotels and motels to make 75 percent of their rooms non-smoking. What if 50 percent of the motel's business is smokers? Should the motel managers be restricted by law from providing rooms with features their customers want?
Perhaps the most illustrative ban in the proposal is that it would forbid actors from smoking on stage as part of a theater production. If the bill is really designed to reduce secondhand smoke from reaching non-smokers, how is this going to help? The amount of smoke one actor or even a troop of them produces on stage isn't going to significantly affect the audience, unless it's a very, very small theater.
What this proposal is really after is establishing the next big step in the elimination of smoking by legal means. Cadigan and those who agree with him do not believe that individuals should have the right to choose how much tobacco smoke they are exposed to. Instead, it is the government's role to protect people from themselves.
In the minds of these control freaks, people who smoke or who are exposed to it obviously don't understand the risks. Anyone who isn't scared away by the statistics should end up having a talk with the police and pay a hefty fine for their evil ways. Seeing an actor on stage light up a cigarette might prompt impressionable adults to take up smoking.
There is an attitude growing quickly across the country that every problem can be solved with new laws. This is nothing new - it has been with us for decades. Rather than fading away, however, this trend is growing stronger. Legislative bodies seem to think that unless they are constantly enlarging the list of punishable offenses, they are not doing their jobs.
If there is a decline in personal responsibility among Americans, perhaps it is because of this perception that it is the government's job to take care of everyone. "If something is bad for you, the government will make it illegal, so there's no need to worry."
This is not to downplay the health effects of smoking in any way. There is a lot of legitimate research showing how smoking and inhaling secondhand smoke is dangerous. The only question is whether that danger is one that you can decide for yourself, or whether it is Councilor Cadigan's place to decide for you.
There is still a month or so before the final vote on this proposal, plenty of time to let your feelings be known to the city council. Apparently there is support for it there, so without public intervention this ban is likely to pass.
If you enjoy being able to relax in a bar or restaurant while inhaling toxic fumes, speak up!
