Because so many people I usually see eye-to-eye with urged me to vote in favor of the whole-shebang-comprehensive-smoking-ban-package, I want to explain the thinking that preceded my Aug. 21 vote to EXEMPT BARS from the ban. (FYI, Councilwoman Gautsche was the lone vote against exempting bars).
First and foremost, it’s pretty easy to avoid smoke filled rooms in Goshen. I haven’t stepped foot in a smoky room in years… even though I regularly visit local bars and restaurants (state law requires restaurants to be smoke-free). I do sometimes encounter a small cloud of smoke entering or exiting a bar or restaurant. Also, smokers often congregate in my neighborhood on the sidewalk at the hospital’s property line (the hospital is a smoke-free campus), so I catch a whiff now and then while I’m out walking. But all-in-all, I live a smoke free life.
(Confession: my husband and I did actually share a cigar in our backyard the other night as we discussed the smoking ban. Seriously, even as non-smokers, all the talk of banning smoke made us a little rebellious.)
Like many who were born in the 1960s (and earlier), I dabbled with smoking in my younger days. But medical science about the dangers of smoking grew alongside my generation, so I watched the culture change from one in which it was rude NOT to have an ashtray in a home for visitors — to our current culture in which it’s rude to smoke anywhere a non-smoker is forced to breathe in the smoke.
Surgeon General C. Everett Koop’s 1986 report on the serious health effects of second-hand smoke moved society towards restrictions in public places and in almost all places of employment. Social pressure combined with legislative action has ushered second-hand smoke out of everyday life. Most smoking these days happens in areas where people — adult people — enter knowingly and willingly.
So now what?
I’ve had a handful of animated debates recently about where the line falls between a government that regulates in order to protect one person from another (which I see as completely legitimate), and a government that regulates to rescue people from themselves (even when they don’t want rescuing — which I tend to view as overreaching). As part of the legislative body of Goshen, I take this question seriously. And I’ll add that I believe reasonable people can produce slightly different answers.
On Aug. 21, with a full house in City Council chambers, I asked if anyone in the meeting was a non-smoker who is currently trapped in a job in Goshen where they’re exposed to second-hand smoke. Not one person raised a hand. Of course, that’s not evidence that it’s not happening, but it gave me pause. I’m not especially enthusiastic about legislating “at” people rather than “with” them. Hearing from even ONE person in Goshen in such a circumstance MIGHT convince me to change my vote on exempting bars. So if you are that elusive non-smoker breathing smoke on the job — or you know that person — please give me a holler (comment here, or on facebook; or email or call me at juliaking@goshencity.com or 215-6006)*.
The more I’ve reflected since the meeting, the more I like the idea of a “grandfather clause” (the problematic origins of that particular term is a topic for another day). Anyway, a grandfather clause would allow the handful of smoking bars in Goshen to continue to exist, but restrict any future smoking bars. This addresses the concerns owners of smoking bars expressed about possible financial loss from a ban; and it keeps to a minimum the number of employees exposed to second-hand smoke by disallowing new smoking bars.
I’m not sure where most of my Council colleagues will come down on such an amendment, but I will likely propose it at the next meeting.
Finally, these are tricky, sticky matters. My reasoning won’t be appreciated by everyone who reads this. All I can tell you is that I’ve listened to input from a range of people; I’ve read materials sent to me and Googled for additional information. I’ve thought long and hard; and while I’m always open to push-back… this is where I fall for now.
*P.S. For real, please contact me.
