Gary Hoover wrote: > The hue and cry comes from the fear of those who are addicted > and/or those who make a living in great part by making their > establishments hospitable to a particular polluting addiction > -- and this is understandable. Even so, it is at best uninformed > or flawed thinking to call a ban "government intrusion" when we > expect governmnet to protect us from bad food-handling practices > or a variety of workplace hazards.
I believe that an ordinance prohibiting cigarette smoking from business establishments in the city is indeed government intrusion. I hope and expect my government to protect me from hazards that are not obvious or clearly identified: bad meat, tornados, criminals, riptides, etc. I do not want my government to protect me from hazards that I might *choose* to partake of: mountain climbing, motorcycle riding, tornado chasing, drug use, etc. Rather than a ban, the City should require businesses, that want to allow individuals to smoke in their establishments, to insure that employees and non-smokers are not affected by secondhand smoke. If the City did there would be no need for a "ban." > A ban seems like a better, cleaner policy to me. Any steps toward > addressing this difficult, dear little form of violence would > be positive. A ban seems to be a better and cleaner policy to you because they are not intruding on *your* pursuit of happiness. I'm sure that government could always find something to protect you from; bicycle riding for instance. Bicycling riding in city traffic is extremely dangerous. How can the City in good conscience allow individuals to propel their bodies along downtown streets at speeds of up to 25 miles an hour without any of the protections and safety devices required for automobiles? Do you know how many children are seriously hurt or killing in bicycle accidents each year!? My God, it's horrendous! Ban Bicycles! > We got into these messes larley by naive and ignorant > accident. We can only get out of them with wise, informed > intention. I guess that is often how addiction works. That's not true at all. How many heroin users are na�ve and ignorant of the downsides of drug addiction? People take risks, many of us enjoy taking risks. We don't need governments to protect us from ourselves, we have religion for that. I just don't want your *religious* convictions protecting me, thank you very much. Michael Atherton Prospect Park 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
