The Rise of the Smoking Ban

A developing issue in America aside to global warming and the downfall of the economy is that of the recent smoking band which is basically taking over our country. In a recent article written in the New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/27/us/27belmont.html?_r=1&hp, a Belmont, CA women, who smokes on an average 2 packs of cigarettes/ day was banned from smoking in the comfort of her own home. It is said that this area in California is the home to the strictest anti smoking ban. The Belmont women however does currently live in an apartment building where they have also outlawed smoking. There are two sides to every story, that is, advantages and disadvantages. On one had, smoking leads to lung cancer and lung cancer leads to death, whether first or second hand. On the other, America is a free society, and no one should have the power to tell another individual how to live. Whether 15 years old or 75 years, we as a society know what smoking does to a human body, we know that it does not fall under the category of good health, but whose concern is it anyway, other the individual committed the act. Banning smoking in public restaurants, especially family restaurants seems very reasonable, but banning smoking at bars, where people go expected to come home smelling like smoke seems a little strict. Yes second hand smoke kills, but so does alcohol and if you are going to a bar, more than likely your participating in drinking.

In conclusion, the awareness of what smoking does to an individual is clear, but what ever happened to living in a free society? We are old enough to know what is right and wrong and what is good and what is bad. Bad decisions are made every day, but that is just a choice an individual makes.