Perhaps my emotions are a touch raw to comment on this topic, but two weeks ago my mother was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer of "unknown primary origin" in her abdomen. Although the "unknown primary origin" complicates things, my mother's prognosis is poor.
My mother's primary risk factor was her status as a 45-year smoker.
So for intense personal reasons I've been giving tobacco some thought. It is addictive, expensive, and has no social or medical benefits. If tobacco was a new drug, it would be strictly prohibited, and John Ashcroft would be circling ominously around those states contemplating a relaxation of their tobacco laws.
The burden of proof is, IMHO, on those who think that tobacco use ought to be permitted. Tobacco use causes deadly illness, and it is expensive, addictive, and has no social or personal benefits. Tobacco is more analogous to addictive hard drugs than it is to alcohol: e.g., used in moderation alcohol can be beneficial for health.
The arguments for permitting use of an addictive and deadly substance in any public place are fairly weak. Permitting such behavior in public signals that tobacco use is socially acceptable. Obviously there are many people who would use tobacco anyway, regardless of a ban in public places, but there are also many for whom such a ban would deter smoking -- my mom, for example, as law-abiding and church-going a person as can be found, very likely would have responded to the "official" message than smoking was bad.
The virtue of a complete ban on tobacco use in bars and restaurants is that all of these businesses would face the same economic impacts. There may be some who would go to St. Paul instead of Minneapolis because of the smoking ban, but I have hard time imagining a truly large economic impact.
And any decline in business would be offset by those who would start going downtown because of the smoking ban -- me, for example: Lynn and I are non-smokers and the smell of smoke on our clothes is by far the biggest reason we don't spend much time in the entertainment district.
My mom is 64 years old and otherwise in good health. What is 15-20 years of life worth? What is being able to watch your grandchildren grow up worth?
A lot more than the economic costs of a transition to a smoke-free entertainment district, IMHO.
Greg Abbott Linden Hills 13th Ward
REMINDERS:
1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait.
For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________
Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
