Smoking bans.

I admit, cigarettes are unhealthy. However, so are a lot of other things we embrace quite recklessly every day.  

Personally, I believe there should be smoking establishments and non-smoking establishments. Furthermore, it should be left up to the owner. It’s called freedom of choice…this country was built upon the idea…do people even remember? 

If one doesn’t want to be around smoke, one should simply stay away from smoking establishments. For instance, should a person go to a strip bar if they do not want to see tits and ass? No. So why go to a bar that offers smoking if they dislike smoke? I wonder why this is so hard for these people to grasp. This goes for whiny employees too. If you don’t like smoke, don’t work there. 

Perhaps one reason these self-righteous anti-smoking crusaders have such a problem with smoking is that deep down they want you to live within the limited mental boundaries of their restricted ideologies and overly-protective rules of overly-proper conduct in hopes that someday you might just become…just…like…them. Once that happens, these people (and everyone else) can finally be happy, right?  

If these idiots really meant anything they preached pertaining the dangers of bad habits, then alcohol would be getting banned from said establishments, too. However, that will never happen. Alcohol is too lucrative. This is also why cigarettes and tobacco will never be completely done away with, either.  

With the current tax hikes on smokes, it seems the state has found a way to take advantage of people’s addictions. Nice trick. They say it’s to encourage people to quit. Yeah, right. Time will tell how many people actually quit, as opposed to the number that they “tell” us have quit. While they take it out on smokers, there are equally if not worse issues to consider if logic is going to come into play in any of this. 

Now, I’m not an enemy of alcohol by any means but seriously, let’s bring this into focus. First of all, are cigarettes the underlying reason for 99% of social abuses and crimes including but not limited to domestic violence, assault and battery, or any other bad choices made due to inebriation’s blurry judgment? Cigarettes do not make people swerve into other cars, or drive into trees, or pass out at the wheel, or run over two innocent people walking down the street. Is booze really the lesser of two evils?

Let’s not forget the health issues brought upon us – directly or indirectly – due to alcohol consumption. Therefore, let’s ban smoking in bars and taverns because it is bad for everybody’s health. That’s like being in a McDonald’s and not being allowed a Big Mac because it is unhealthy; however, a quarter-pounder with extra cheese and a few strips of bacon on top is just fine. WTF? 

It’s obvious to me the pharmaceutical companies are also a major component behind these bans. They’d love it if all smokers quit because it would cause more people to feel anxiety, as most people generally smoke because it relieves stress. If cigarettes disappeared altogether, people would need other methods for stress management…such as prescription drugs….which ultimately lines the pockets of these companies…in which profit, not care, is the goal.

These companies lobby and hand money under-the-table to politicians that are willing to play along. I really don’t believe the intentions for these smoking bans are for the concern of anyone’s health. If these people care so much, they'd be fighting for cigarettes to be outlawed, period, especially since they are considered to bring harm unto others.

Makes me wonder. Shouldn’t these smoking opponents be more concerned with a household in which people puff away while children are present? In fact, shouldn’t that be considered a form of child abuse to them? However, there doesn’t seem to be much talk about banning people from smoking around their children, even in small confined areas such as a vehicle.

Amazingly, a police officer can bust someone for not wearing a seatbelt, but it’s ok if they have a cigarette (even with a child in the car), while waiting for the policeman to finish writing out the ticket for not being safe and buckling up. Once again, WTF? Double standards at their shiniest.

If our leaders are going to continue to take our freedoms away, they should at least get their priorities straight.


Baffled,
JMeyer