Smoking
May 16th, 2007 |Governor Paw Paw is expected to sign a statewide smoking ban into law today. This law will ban smoking in public places.
As expected the bar and hospitality industry is against the ban due to the fear that it will be bad for business. As opposed to a county wide smoking ban (such as the ban in Hennepin County) that may encourage smokers to take their business a short drive to another county, I am not sure how many smokers are going to take a drive over to Wisconsin in order to light up. Besides, how long is it going to be before Wisconsin puts into effect their own ban.
My question is, if we all agree that smoking is unhealthy enough to be outright banned in public places, why is it still legal to manufacture and sell cigarettes at all? Tobacco is one of the most addictive and toxic substances legally sold. Instead of just banning its use, why not ban its production all together?
