Post-Gazette Editorial – 10/1/06

This page was last updated on October 1, 2006.

Healthy bet / Forget the casinos -- pass the county smoking ban; Editorial; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; October 1, 2006.

This is the PG’s second anti-smoking editorial in six days. I guess the PG is tired of letter the Beaver County Times carry the water on this issue.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“In a cynical calculation, the state Senate last week devalued the lives of casino workers and patrons. Allegheny County Chief Executive Dan Onorato must not validate that depraved logic by vetoing an ordinance that would ban smoking in Allegheny County workplaces.”

[RWC] It took only two sentences to get into name-calling. If you believe in private property rights and the ability of individuals to make their own choices, you are depraved.

“On Monday, Philadelphia began enforcing 2-week-old legislation barring smoking in city workplaces -- including casinos. On Tuesday, Allegheny County Council approved a similar ban. On Wednesday, the state Senate voted to override the provisions in the Philadelphia and Allegheny County measures that barred smoking in slots parlors. The measure was slipped into an otherwise good bill intended to repair flaws in the state’s casino law.

“The Senate decided the lives of casino workers are not worth the same protection from carcinogenic cigarette smoke as those of other workers in Philadelphia and Allegheny County. The senators’ assessment comes just months after the U.S. surgeon general reported that no level of exposure to secondhand smoke is safe and the toxic fumes annually kill 50,000 involuntarily exposed.”

[RWC] “[T]he toxic fumes annually kill 50,000 involuntarily exposed?” Is the PG telling us 50,000 people are either being forced to inhale secondhand smoke or that they don’t know people are smoking around them?

“The senators exempted casinos from the smoking bans for fear that nicotine-addicted gamblers would drive to parlors in West Virginia or Atlantic City rather than suffer clean air in Philadelphia and Allegheny County casinos. If that happened, they said, it would mean smaller profits for Pennsylvania parlors and fewer dollars for the state to hand out as property tax breaks.

“Whether smokeless casinos lose money is a matter of contention, however. California, New York and Delaware all ban smoking in their casinos. California and New York forbade it even though smoking is permitted at casinos on the states’ Indian reservations and in casinos of adjacent states, Nevada and New Jersey.”

[RWC] What is it with the “Well, they do it” mentality? Who cares what any other state does? If these states were cutting spending, how much do you want to bet the PG would not jump on the bandwagon?

“State House members should solve this problem by excising the smoking provision from the casino repair bill.

“Any who are on the fence should consider this: A study of casino workers in Reno, Nev., showed they are exposed to four times more secondhand smoke than any other worker. Some casino workers are suing, and one group has already won a $2.6 million settlement.

“More important, it is immoral to contend that profits trump workers’ health.”

[RWC] Who is forcing anyone to work for a business that allows smoking?

“The only thing dirtier than the cigarette smoke in this situation is the politics.

“For that reason, Mr. Onorato must establish himself as a clean-cut political leader by signing Allegheny County’s anti-smoking ordinance and protecting as many workers as he can, whether that includes those in casinos or not.”

[RWC] Why does Mr. Onorato need to protect any employees? Can’t they protect themselves by choosing their workplace? The idea that we as individuals can’t take care of ourselves is a key tenet of liberalism.

In case you haven’t noticed, just as Beaver County Times anti-smoking editorials, PG anti-smoking editorials tend to ignore the issues of individual choice and private property rights. As I’ve written before, no one forces a nonsmoker to patronize or work for a business that allows smoking.

Why doesn’t the PG just admit it wants a complete smoking ban regardless of location? Why don’t they just push to make smoking tobacco illegal?