Smoking Bans & Windmills

Well, I'm quite disappointed with myself. I spent the last few months writing, speaking, and acting passionately to help stop the Smoking-Ban in New Hope, PA. In fact, I have been fighting these Bans since before 2000 when they tried to pass one in Princeton, NJ. I have spent thousands of dollars and hours fighting Smoking-Bans on the local and state level, to no avail. Sure, the New Hope Ban is not the worst one that I have seen: it is limited to eating and drinking establishments, for now. But, in my mind, that does not justify the erosion of business owner, customer, and individual rights. I have always felt compelled to fight these restrictive laws. Ironically, Smoking-Bans have never adversely impacted my business, but I contest them on principle.

On this occasion, I prepared no less than 3 different speeches. One of them kept me up till 5am a week ago: they were beautiful, I swear. Yet tonight, when I arrived at the New Hope Borough Council public hearing, there was no wind left in my sails. None of the effected parties were there to voice their discontent; yet they have been complaining and lamenting in private for months. The Borough Council President made a point to say that the only letter in disagreement with the proposed ban came from an "unaffected" party (that is me). Based on the lack of turnout, he must not be kidding. I guess bar and restaurant owners are too busy, apathetic, or resigned to the "feel-good" momentum of these Smoking-Bans.

I quickly, and off the top of my head, delivered the most monotone and dispassionate speech imaginable. Something about liberty, blah, blah, blah, personal choice, blah, blah. It was brutal. I just wanted to leave there and go back to work. I'm sorry. What did I expect? I expected more business owners, customers, and people with opinions as well as support from trade organizations and maybe a libertarian or two. There was no such support. But as usual the "clean air" people and attorneys were there: illustrating the effectiveness of being a well funded health crusading organization.

I must give credit to our local ice cream vendor who has never smoked, yet delivered an eloquent and intelligent argument against all of the so-called "health statistics". He clearly understood the consequences of legislating health and restricting freedoms. I knew there was a reason I love ice cream!

I was miserable all day, but couldn't quite figure out why. Subconsciously, I dreaded going to this meeting. I guess in my heart I know it is like jousting windmills. An uphill, thankless, fruitless endeavor. I feel like there is a moral imperative to fight these restrictive laws: no different than protecting an old lady from a mugger or calling 911 after you see an accident happen. Am I angry? I keep asking myself. Maybe. I'm angry at all of the individuals, companies, and organizations with the resources to fight these things that have chosen not to. It is easy to be short-sighted, stay out of the fray, and simply concern yourself with your profit and loss statement. Or maybe I'm angry at myself for not focusing on my profit and loss enough; and jousting windmills because it seems like the right thing to do.

Tomorrow I will go back to work, focus on my customers, sponsors, students, and leave all of this angst behind me. I will not be angry tomorrow, I will go back to being passionate. I will focus on my little part of the world and try to make that bit better. Fortunately for me, being a Tobacconist is a THANKFUL job.

Smoking Ban, Politics, & Lies

Things are really heating up on the New Hope, PA Smoking Ban front. In the last week, several articles have been published with varying opinions and positions. As the local Tobacconist in the area, I have accidentally become the voice of the Smoking population. Whenever a reporter needs a "pro-smoker" perspective they call me. I am used to it, but often it seems like the local Tobacconist is the only voice of dissent on the Smoking Bans. In reality, many "non-smokers" are against these bans and many other citizens have just "given up" and accepted that 'this is the way the world/country/state is going'. I have plenty of postings that relate to this issue, so please feel free to read those if you want commentary on the who, what, and why of Smoking Bans and our apparent apathy. Ultimately, much of the Environmental Tobacco Smoke (ETS) hysteria is fear driven feel-good politics and legislation. It is a sad reflection of the world we live in. But today I simply want to outline the un-truths, spin, and potential lies that have emerged in the recent past, with regard to the New Hope Smoking Ban. It is a microcosm of what has happened around the country and the way the public has been manipulated by fear and nonsense.

Here are a few links to our local newspapers in NJ & PA and the articles that were published:

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/137-03182007-1316168.html

http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/219-03222007-1318335.html

http://pacpub.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18101827&BRD=1091&PAG=461&dept_id=425410&rfi=6

There are some other articles and when I reference them I will quote the article with absolute accuracy. I tried to link them, but they have been archived and are not available to the general public.

As I have said before, comprehensive Smoking Bans are feel-good laws intended to make politicians look good and get re-elected. Obviously, I do not think people should be subjected to ETS in enclosed spaces where they do not have a choice to be. So, with that said.... here are some quotes from Richard Hirschfield, President of the New Hope Borough Council.

- "We got two or three responses about it, all of which were positive" (meaning the Smoking Ban Proposal)
In the next line in the article, the reporter, Riley Yates writes "Well, not all of them." And then he proceeds to talk about and quote directly from the letter I wrote Mr. Hirschfield.

- "Its a dirty habit"
What can I say about someone making such disparaging and moral judgements? I must let this statement stand for what it is.

- "I can empathize." "But they don't have the right to smoke in other people's living room so to speak"
PRIVATE BUSINESSES ARE NOT OTHER PEOPLE'S LIVING ROOMS!!! "so to speak" : This is a disgusting example of political, emotional, biased, and distorting language. Unless of course the legislation is going to extend into people's living rooms, which it is not, just yet.

- "Mr. Hirschfield said officials have received complaints about smoking in public places such as restaurants, although he could not say how many."
How Convenient that you cannot say how many. Yet I don't doubt that some very self-involved people feel it is their right to never be exposed to any kind of ETS or odor-annoyance. So rather than patronize establishments that cater to them, they would rather force businesses and their politicians to enact ridiculous rules and laws.

- "He also noted some establishments in town voluntarily went nonsmoking, but were persuaded to revert to smoking by pressure from fellow businesses. He declined to name the businesses, not wanting to add more pressure to what they're already experiencing."
This might be true: I have heard of the marauding bands of smokers going around and strong arming reputable businesses into allowing smoking. Obviously, I jest. This is one of the more absurd, ridiculous, and artificially contrived statements I have ever read. I patronize nonsmoking restaurants when the food is good. I know they exist and I have never heard of this kind of "pressure" being exerted on any establishment to allow smoking!!! Businesses cater to their customers, plain and simple.

- "If we can't depend on the state to protect us, we have to protect ourselves"
How about protecting yourself by not going into smoking environments: that is your prerogative. I wonder what our founding fathers would have thought about Mr. Hirschfield's revolutionary fascism. Or perhaps we are protecting your chances of re-election.

Anyway.... I could go on forever, but I have real work to do. I will be at the New Hope Borough Council meeting to address the issue on May 9; will you? Maybe we can have them add a no-trans-fats measure to this bill.