quittin' smoking

[Chris Rapier]

I will note that I'm not and never have been a libertarian. I mostly
think that these people are tools. However, I also don't believe that
the government should regulate every aspect of our lives. A proper
balance between the two has to be made.

On 3/14/06, Jeremy David <epistemology at gmail.com> wrote:

> If you want to smoke in a private place then please have at it. I have
> no desire whatsoever to use the power of the state to stop you.
>
> But, public places are different.

The problem is where we draw the line between private and public.
Where is public space and where is private space and in which location
do certain laws apply or not apply? Its not all that clear cut to be
honest. A sidewalk is public, can people smoke there? What about in
the middle of a field or out on a dock? What about a car? Obviously
the space inside of it it private but someone can just open a window
and all the smoke is suddenly in the public space. Do we legislate
that you can only smoke in a car if the window is rolled up? What
about a business that makes its money from tobacco - like a hooka bar,
or cigar bar, or some other such place? Do we make excpetions for them
or do we say that even though people go to these places to smoke that
doesn't matter as it is public space? What about 'private' clubs which
require memberships? We all know that the 'membership' is a pointless
end run around the law.

I know some of these sound ridiculous but each of the above questions
has come up as an issue in various localities.

> Smoking puts one at risk. And while it's up to a
> smoker to decide for him or herself if that risk is worth it for him
> or herself, it's bad civic practice to put other people at that same
> risk in a public place.

Life is risky and again, its my view that if the non-smoker doesn't
want to be exposed to smoke then they don't have to enter that place.
If they want to they have to decide what level of risk they are
willing to endure. This is actually one of the few cases in which I
think market forces are the correct answer. I also think that people
*should* quit smoking. I'd love it if more people quit. I think it
would be good for the health of society as a whole. I don't agree with
forcing them into it though (not that a ban would force anyone to
actually quit).

> If you have a private racetrack, you can drive as fast as you want.
> Likewise if you have a private room, you can smoke all you want. But I
> don't think you should be allowed to smoke in public any more than you
> should be allowed to drag race down Forbes Ave.

So you think smoking on the street is as dangerous to other people as
driving 120 down forbes avenue? Maybe I'm wrong to think this but I
don't believe that these risks are equivilant.