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January 09, 2007
Bangor's New Ban
Well, my humble little hometown has made the national news. The City Council has made it a crime to smoke in your car if there are children present.
BANGOR - The Bangor City Council approved a measure Monday that prohibits people from smoking in vehicles when children are present.Nice to see Councilor Blanchette take such a measured, scientific approach to the issue.When the law goes into effect next week, Bangor will become the first municipality in Maine to have such a law. Similar statewide measures have been adopted in Arkansas and Louisiana and are under consideration in several other states.
People who smoke with children present in the confined space of a car or truck might as well be deliberately trying to kill those children, said City Councilor Patricia Blanchette, who is a smoker.
Does the new law limit freedom? Sure it does, and people who are more libertarian than I will throw fits. However, I do not believe the practice of one's individual freedom should infringe upon the freedom or well-being of another, especially if that someone cannot get themselves out of the situation and is vulnerable to the harmful effects of secondhand smoke.
That having been said, this law is going to run into some trouble, because it's an example of the government once again playing both sides of an issue. On the one hand, the state loves taxes from the sale of tobacco, which remains a legal product. On the other, they make it almost impossible to use the product and pass laws against it every chance they get. Eventually, this cycle of demonization and dependency is going to end with a loss of the tax income states like Maine have come to take for granted.
In the coming days, I'm sure the Bangor City Council is going to be praised for its courage. Pah. While I'm glad to see them use public policy in a somewhat appropriate manner, they have hardly shown courage. If they want to show true courage, they'd ban the sale and use of tobacco in the city. Either the stuff is harmful or it isn't - the city should stop this game.
This is not a conservative/liberal issue. Abraham Lincoln said it well when he stated that "the legitimate object of government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done, but cannot do at all, or cannot do so well, for themselves, in their separate and individual capacities." This doesn't mean we should use "the children" as a cynical means to get whatever public policy we desire through the legislature, but when appropriate, government should do what it can to ensure that unnecessary or preventable harm does not befall its citizens.
Also, the health care system is strained enough without having to take care of the health issues that come with exposure to secondhand smoke. Since most health care is financed with various cost-shifting measures, you and I are paying for it somehow.
UPDATE - I am sympathetic to the libertarian argument, and I believe this ban will be unsuccessful and almost impossible to enforce. In fact, there will likely be challenges to it because an argument can be made that since one's car is personal property, people have the right to do what they wish while in their vehicle.
There is also a good argument regarding parental rights - when will the city decide enough is enough regarding what we can do around our kids?
Still, I guess I'm tired of seeing health care costs skyrocket while nothing is done to either provide incentives for good living or punitive measures for bad. Why should I have to pay the same health care premiums as someone who abuses their body with what I believe are noxious substances? I'm a hypochondriac, but I rarely utilize the health care system because I'm overall a healthy person. Which, of course, means that what I pay in premiums is going to fund the sickness caused by those who engage in unsafe or harmful behavior.
While they should be free to engage in such behavior and put anything into their body they wish, why should they do it, in effect, on someone else's dime? Why shouldn't there be additional costs for additional 'bad behavior?'
And that's why parents who smoke around their kids bug me. They're not only harming themselves, they're creating a whole new generation of health problems and the costs associated with treating them.
Posted by slublog at January 9, 2007 11:31 AM
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