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| "Nice butt." |
While scanning the headlines this morning, I noticed a story about how New York City is proposing a new ban on smoking in public parks and beaches. This would expand NYC's Smoke-Free Air Act of 2002, which banned smoking in public buildings. The park/beach smoking ban has been proposed to keep folks from littering up the beaches with cigarette butts, as well as to allow citizens to breathe a little easier when enjoying time outdoors.
The ban is being met with opposition from smokers-rights groups such as C.L.A.S.H.---Citizens Lobbying Against Smoker Harassment. (For me, the name brings to mind images of a smoker walking past a construction site and enduring whistles and catcalls: "Heeeey, Smokey! Whoooo! Smoky! Look at the butt on that one! I'll light you up, baby! Whoooo!")
All kidding aside, I fail to understand why my reluctance in taking part in a slow double suicide is deemed harassment. If you are determined to smoke, shoot heroin or jump off of a cliff, this is a free country. Which also means that I'm not forced to breathe your smoke, shoot up with you, or do a tandem somersault to my death. God bless America, indeed!
My home city of Houston has been slow to act on the issue of secondhand smoke. My wife and I could not endure spending time at any of our city's bars or clubs before the city enacted its own smoking ban in September of 2007. On the nights we would venture out, the smoke was horrendous. We'd have a few drinks and then come home, strip off our clothes and shower so we wouldn't go to bed smelling like we'd been fighting a 4-alarm fire.
I've repeatedly heard the argument from smokers that it's not fair that they can't enjoy a smoke with their beer or drink. And I do feel for people who aren't allowed to partake in an activity that makes them happy. What I don't understand is smokers' total refusal to acknowledge that their pursuit of happiness does affect other people. Others have no choice but to breathe in a smoker's secondhand "happiness." According to the CDC, as of 2010, approximately 21% of American adults smoke. In public places with no smoking bans, if 1 out of 5 people light up, 4 out of 5 must leave or simply endure. Where's the freedom there? I'd call that bronchial harassment!
Ah, but I'm off topic, aren't I? The issue at hand is smoking in parks and beaches. Outdoor places where smoke disperses quickly. Supposedly.
Every weekend, we take our dogs for walks at the Houston Arboretum. The Arboretum is a nature preserve in the heart of the city--155 acres of trees, butterflies, water, wild animals and fresh air (all scarce commodities in a city as large as Houston). Every couple of weeks as I am walking the trails, lost in nature, I will end up behind a smoker who is... making themselves happy... as they walk the trails. As I typically don't ever actually see the smoker, I can tell you that their smoke does not disperse, but remains for quite some time after they've moved on. I can also tell you that the smell of burning tobacco and chemicals in the midst of nature does not make everyone happy. Neither does the sight of cigarette butts on the nature trails. I've never understood the odd juxtaposition of smoking while being out in the fresh, clean, mostly-nonpolluted park air...but that's a whole other topic....
This is on a system of trails where you keep moving. If you hit smoke, you'll eventually pass through it. I can't imagine how frustrating it would be to be sitting in a park or on a beach and have someone light up next to you. It's always the non-smoker who is going to have to move elsewhere in order to pursue their happiness. If you ask the smoker to move, you're a *gasp!* harasser. ("Heeeeey, Smokey! Whooooo, hooooo!" *lewd gestures*)
(Read the ABC News story here: NYC Considers Smoking Ban in Outdoor Public Places: Good Idea or Going Too Far?)
