Pro Smokers Rights

Pro Smokers Rights

In recent years our country has been involved in a war on tobacco. This war was started to bring down the tobacco industry. Despite our nations best efforts the tobacco industry is doing just fine. The only thing that has occurred as a result of this war is it has passed the cost of smoking on to the consumer. Our nation is not looking to only regulate smoking it is looking to get rid of it completely. Anti smoking groups are determined to take away the rights of smokers little by little. Smoking is still a legal act; it is not an illegal drug. Anti groups continually publish articles claiming thousands of yearly deaths caused by second hand smoke. The fact of the matter is that they have no legitimate evidence that these deaths were caused by second hand smoke. Anti groups like to focus on the many carcinogens and other chemical that are found in cigarettes. It is interesting to point out that coffee contains over 1000 chemicals, 19 of which are carcinogens. According to this argument we should be working on banning coffee. OSHA has established Permissible Exposure Levels for all measurable chemicals. OSHA, to prove that second hand smoke is below the Permissible Exposure Levels, has done many studies that support our stance. Second hand smoke is so diluted that it has no measurable effect on non-smokers.

The New York Nightlife Association, the facilitating organization representing New York City bars and clubs, paid for a study to determine the effects, if any, of the smoking ban. The study revealed there was a loss of 2,000 jobs in the bars and clubs due to the ban. In addition, there was a loss of 2,650 jobs of those companies supplying the bars and clubs.

Many businesses in the Rochester area, one year after the smoking ban, claim they are still feeling the economic loss. The hardest hit areas include neighborhood rural bars, veterans bars, and other social clubs and off-track betting and bingo halls. Many of the American Legions have had a large decline in memberships because they are unable to smoke there anymore.

The anti-smoking campaign takes rights away from business owners. Restaurants are not owned by the public they are owned by individuals. This does not give the public the right to tell an owner what can be allowed inside their establishment.