Let our elected officials know how you feel about smoking
I'm not for sure if I want to write about this topic or not, because it's such a hot button these days in Greene County. Too many times people get the wrong idea and run with it, no matter what is written.
Too many people try to read between the lines.
The topic? Smoking.
Should people be allowed to smoke in public places, including restaurants, department stores, antique shops, and any other place of business in Greene County?
I'm not a smoker. Never have been, and hopefully never will be.
My mom and dad both smoked (my mom quit after her stroke, and she has since passed, and my dad quit after his heart attack and currently doesn't smoke). I have friends who smoke. I have co-workers who smoke. I know lots of people who smoke.
A former co-worker's mom would go for chemo, and then go straight outside the hospital to have a smoke. My friend had a hard time accepting that, and I fully understand.
There's a warning right there on the package screaming that it's bad for your health. So why purposely do something that's bad for your health, and bad for others who happen to be around?
The debate, at least to me, seems pretty cut and dry.
If we're going to throw a mother in jail for using meth or any other drug while she's pregnant, then why not throw a parent in jail if they smoke around their children? If they're caught in a car smoking with children inside (and it doesn't matter if a window is rolled down), then take 'em to jail.
But if our lawmakers aren't willing to get tough, then let the smokers smoke. It's not against the law.
Smokers will say it's their "right" to smoke. It's also their "right" to kill themselves. But if they choose to kill themselves in a public place, and hurt others at the same time, then that's wrong.
There are warnings on most all foods telling us the amount of fat grams and calories, but there are lots of over-weight people in the U.S. Some recent statistics that were released earlier this week state that 40 percent of all U.S. girls (under 18) are overweight, and 30 percent of the boys are the same.
Where's the movement to get Twinkies (that golden sponge cake with creamy filling!) taken off the shelves? What about soft drinks?
There are lots of things that have the potential to kill us, but we shouldn't take others with us in the process. That's taking personal choice out of the equation.
If someone wants to smoke, then let them smoke. But I don't have to be in the same restaurant, department store, or any other place of business with them.
The people who will make the final decision about canning the smoke-free movement in Greene County or will make it a reality are our elected officials.
Let them know how you feel. Demand a public debate, and make it a healthy debate.
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Thanks for commenting. You're right, it is a freedoms issue. But our lawmakers take some freedoms from us from time to time, and we must live with it ... or we can go somewhere else. I would hope there never comes a day when government becomes TOO BIG.
What would happen if a drunk (who got drunk at that business) got up at a restaurant, and somehow killed someone sitting nearby? That may seem way out there, but it could happen.
I don't have the answer to this smoking vs. smoke-free issue. As I stated in my blog, I'm not a smoker. But I would like to see something done, one way or another.
That's why I said it's up to our local elected officials to make the decision, and we must push for action.
Thanks again Ken for reading!
Chris