BUMPED: No Smoking In Henry Parks
“If the government can ban smoking in restaurants and public buildings, why shouldn’t smoking be banned in public parks?”
The government gonna save us all. I can understand prohibitions against indoor smoking. I have not smoked inside my own house for 18 years. But outside, open air environments is another thing.
It is true that smokers are forever reminded that other people do not like it. Out of respect for that "other person's space" smokers tend to congregate in separated areas away from the kids, tennis players, etc.
This ordinance falls in line with prohibiting smoking on city streets, in your car, etc. It is wrong.
The next time a truck moves through McDonough Square belching noxious fumes from its deisel engine, will that driver be fined for air pollution? Just think of the squirrels in the square. Think of all the people walking to and fro. We just cannot have it!
[UPDATE] Bumped per reader request.
[BUMPED again by Jason] I hope you like the picture I added. I lifted it from Bureaucrash.
Comments
I don't agree with government smoking bans on private property (restaurants, cars, businesses, etc.), but why shouldn't they be able to ban smoking on government-owned property? If you want smoking in parks, then get a consortium together and buy a private park and let people smoke there.
Posted by: Rusty | December 19, 2006 08:28 AM
All the focus is on smoking now, but what about when the government gets smoking taken care of? Will they go after fat people next? Fat kills too. Already they're banning transfats. Are we all so stupid that the government doesn't trust us to have any kind of choices?
Posted by: beth | December 19, 2006 08:54 AM
I don't agree with government smoking bans on private property [...] but why shouldn't they be able to ban smoking on government-owned property?
I agree. I also think another distinction besides public vs. private property is that that the private smoking ban was decided at the state level, while this would be a local decision. That makes it a little easier to justify if, of course, a majority of the community supported the ban, rather than it just being an edict from well-meaning city officials.
Also, the whole discussion over the statewide smoking ban a couple of years ago just reaked of metro Atlanta pretentiousness. Just about all of the arguments (health of the workers, that it would be