Editor,
I am hopeful that the Albuquerque City Council will impose a ban on smoking in all public places and not leave any loopholes.
Many people, myself included, are allergic to smoke and many current "no smoking" areas still contain enough second-hand smoke to force us to leave in the middle of a transaction or meal. In many restaurants the non-smoking section is not as attractive as the smoking section so non-smokers are treated as second-class citizens. We would go to other restaurants but the practice is pervasive within the industry. This is an equal protection issue; it still holds that separate is inherently unequal.
There isn't one smoker who is allergic to clean air. This isn't a 50-50 equation; non-smokers aren't polluting the air with an alternate poison. Clean air infringes on the rights of none. If we follow the logic of smokers, we would be allowed to remove the catalytic converters from our cars because we like the increased performance and gas mileage. Few would suggest that we be allowed to pollute the public air with our cars the way smokers are allowed to pollute it with cigarette smoke.
Smokers do have the right to pollute the air in their own homes and cars. Non-smokers can choose not to go to those places.
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Ted Gaudette
UNM student
