BCT Editorial – 6/4/07

This page was last updated on June 18, 2007.

Snuffed out; Editorial; Beaver County Times; June 4, 2007.

This is at least the 17^th anti-smoking editorial since March 2005, and the fifth since May 3^rd. There have been so many the Times is recycling editorial titles. The previous 16 editorials were “Momentum,” “Banned in Beaver,” “Get used to it,” “Trendy #1,” “Trendy #2,” “Straggling behind,” “Salutes & Boots,” “Smoked out #1,” “Smoked out #2,” “Smoked out #3,” “Smoke free,” “Survey says smoking ban popular,” “Inertia,” “Doing harm,” “Smokey state,” and “Quit stalling.” The comments in those critiques apply to this editorial as well.

Maybe it’s just me, but if I were writing an editorial to convince readers to agree with my position, I wouldn’t use “Trendy” as the title. To me, it conveys messages of smoke (no pun intended) blowing in the wind and/or being a slave to fashionable positions.

Rather repeat myself and do another point-by-point critique, I’ll stick with a few comments.

At least the Times is making progress and is finally conceding it’s calling for a smoking ban “in private and public spaces.” Previously, editorials tended to lump private property into “public places.”

If we take a leap of faith and assume the figures cited in the editorial are correct, the editorial itself provides evidence there’s no reason to ban smoking on private property beyond the fact it’s just plain wrong.

As the editorial correctly notes, people recognize unhealthy activity and an increasing number choose to ban smoking in their homes. I’ve done so for more than 30 years, so welcome to the party. In any case, if people are wise enough to ban smoking in their own homes, why can’t they be trusted to make the “right” decision when it comes to dining out, choosing a place of employment, et cetera? Surely a person who chooses to ban smoking in his home is wise enough to choose a healthy place to eat, work, et cetera. We don’t need a nanny government telling us how to live our lives.