This week, Calgary City Council voted to outlaw smoking in all public places effective January 1, 2007. Before your cheer out loud, let's look at the situation before this vote:
-Smoking was prohibited in all establishments where anyone under 18 was permitted.
-Smoking in all other places would have been banned January 1, 2008.
Some disclosure from me: I am a non-smoker, not a bar or other establishment owner, and I believe the smoking is very unhealthy.
All of that being said, if people want to smoke and kill themselves, that should be their right. I am a strong opponent of regulating the activities of consenting adults.
Looking at this specific situation, proponents of the bans say that second-hand smoke is killing people. Again, it's entirely a personal choice. If I don't want to inhale the smoke, I have every right to go somewhere else. Same for employees. In our current labour market in Calgary, there are plenty of jobs out there with nobody to fill them.
It is not the job of the state to protect people from themselves. People need to take responsibility for their own actions, not expect the government, at whatever level, to take care of thinking for them.
Remember, every law that regulates your behaviour, even if it doesn't impact you directly, makes you just a little bit less free. How many more chips until the whole rock collapses?
Friday, July 28, 2006
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1 comment:
Jane, you can enforce the smoking ban yourself. If you see a place where people are smoking, simply don't go there...if enough people make that decision, then businesses that permit smoking will fail.
Simply put, businesses are there to server customers. If customers demand specific behaviour, they'll get it. Not laws required.
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