Daily Iowan

Issue date: 3/6/08 Section: Opinions

There's been a lot of talk about the proposed statewide smoking ban in Iowa, and I think it's time for me to weigh in. Not only do I hate the smell of smoke and despise the stale cigarette odor that clings to my body, I was also born with asthma. My fragile lungs are precisely what the legislators and antismoking lobbyists say they are trying to protect. So, I want to send a message to the all-exalted protectors of public health.

Thanks but no thanks.

Give me liberty or give me death. I would much rather breathe in hazardous sidestream smoke than surrender my freedom to choose. Perhaps the legislators and lobbyists in this great state are unfamiliar with the Declaration of Independence or the Constitution. They're more than welcome to borrow my pocket-sized copy. If they do, they'll see that we have certain unalienable rights, such as Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. In case the connection is unclear, allow me to elaborate and apply these principles.

The pursuit of happiness: If it makes you happy to shorten your precious life by inhaling carcinogens and blackening your lungs, it is your right as an American to do so.

Liberty: defined as the right to choose without constraints or force.

Life: As in - get one! And stop trying to control other peoples' behavior.

The Constitution ensures that we have property rights and freedom of speech. Smoking is not against the law. Private businesses are not required to allow smoking, nor should they be required to ban it. If business owners want to allow this legal behavior on their premises; they have a constitutional right to do so. I would have more respect for our lawmakers if they banned cigarettes. I may still disagree, but at least they would be more consistent in their so-called commitment to public health.

Cigarettes come with warnings, and if the state wants business owners to slap a surgeon general's warning on the front door to educate patrons about risks of lung cancer, emphysema, and premature birth, that's fine. But this game they're playing in the name of public health is ridiculous. Last year, the state added $1 tax on every pack of cigarettes purchased in Iowa. Now the Iowans who can still afford to smoke will be banished to private areas. To say that it's legal for adults to smoke but not allow them to do it anywhere is not only asinine, it's cowardly. Why not just outlaw cigarettes altogether? Is the tobacco lobby more influential than the anti-smoking petitioners?

Continued...

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