T.Mike Curry Weblog

Saturday March 03, 2007

Smoking Ban Consequences

Previously businesses which allowed smoking provided ashtrays, clean up, and proper disposal of all those cigarette butts left over from smokers. But not anymore. Now they're being dumped in the streets because inside ashtrays are forbidden and smokers must be 20 feet away from buildings. Now those butts are flowing into sewers, and washing into streams, ponds, and lakes. Now they're killing Daphnia.

Various Columbia officials and Health Department people have recently been quoted. They don't have funds for public ashtrays, plus it would send mixed messages about smoking. They hope businesses will step up and provide their own outdoor ashtrays and clean up. It's starting to be noted that it's the businesses' responsibility to clean the butts from their sidewalks and the people's responsibility not to litter in the first place. And apparently some consider littering even worse than smoking, which can only make one wonder what new ordinances and stronger fines will be imposed next.

Apparently they're not really having this problem so bad yet in Columbia because it's still cold out. However when it warms up and more people are outside... well, perhaps there will be new street sweeper positions open up with the City of Columbia in the Spring.

Before the smoking ban, businesses which allowed smoking voluntarily took on the extra effort to clean all their ashtrays and dispose of the butts. It appears now they will all be dumped in the street where they will blow around and get evenly distributed everywhere, so that all businesses can share the added time, effort, and expense of cleaning up the cigarette butts and wrappers.

The air may be cleaner inside the establishments, but now there are smokers standing 20 feet outside through whom patrons must thread their way to get inside, inhaling second-hand smoke as they walk along the way. Afterward they have to thread their way back out again, inhaling more second-hand smoke. Before the ban, all the smokers got to sit and be warm over in their section of the establishment. The non-smokers could walk from their cars, along the sidewalk, and into the non-smoking section without inhaling second-hand smoke and not having to unstick menthol filters from the bottoms of their shoes.

Maybe these all sound like little things; minor annoyances and small reasons to be concerned. Remember however that it is the little things that add up. An ordinance here, a restriction there, bit by bit creating more government control in areas of our lives which simply don't need the arm and hand of government going around holding on to to us and guiding us in the right way to live our lives.

Daphnia by the way, is a fresh water crustacean "often called a water flea", according to the online article As the Smoke Clears in the Columbia Missourian (February 25th, 2007).

( Mar 03 2007, 12:14:38 AM CST ) Permalink Comments [1]