Up in smoke

Yet another province is going to ban smoking in all restaurants and bars. This is insane. No one is doubting second hand smoke is bad for your health (although there is much debate over whether it actually causes cancer), but this does not mean non-smokers need government protection from those evil smokers. I am willing to allow bans on smoking in places where minors are allowed, but in bars or smoking sections of restaurants that do not allow minors, there should be absolutely no restriction. Allowing smoking in bars does not restrict anyone's freedom whatsoever. I hear the argument about wanting the freedom to go to a bar without others smoking; however, this is not freedom. Freedom does not mean the right to force people to do certain actions just because you do not agree with them. If a bar owner wants to allow someone to smoke in their bar and a customer wants to light up, you have the freedom to stay away from their transaction.

This is not some radical libertarian idea that will never happen, it is in practice in many places. Take my hometown Lethbridge, Alberta. The law is that any building open to the public cannot have smoking unless minors are not allowed in. If a restaurant wants to allow smoking, it has to either be on a patio or in a completely separate room. I have been carded in a smoking section before even without ordering alcohol, so private companies do enforce this. Denny's even, after midnight, becomes smoking only so no minors are allowed in. This law allows for no innocent child to be hurt, the only people exposed to smoke are adults that agree to it. Bars are allowed to go smoke free if they choose to, but they obviously do not because people want to smoke in bars.

Politically, it is a very easy position to take to be for smoking bans. Minority of Canadians smoke, and if you pin them as the bad guys trying to hurt the majority, it is easy to see how there could be support for this restriction of freedom. I was always taught in school that democracy is supposed to be majority rule, but with respect for minorities. My teacher should have added the statement 'unless the minority can be used as a political tool to buy more votes' to that definition. Health ministers are free to speak about how bad smoking is for people, but let us make our own choice whether to go to the bars with smoke! If you want smoke free bars, take the initiative to call up your local establishments' management staff and tell them you will not go back until smoke is not allowed. Then follow through with this and don't go if you do not want second hand smoke.