IF anyone thinks that the forces of political correctness seeking to idiot-proof America are ever going to be satisfied, they only need to look at California. Power quest fuels new prohibitionists
California, which already had banned cigarette smoking in public buildings and restaurants, now has banned smoking in bars. Don't think it will stop there. The health Nazis behind the smoking ban actually are interested in power, not protecting health. Power is way more addictive than nicotine. Forcing your will onto others is a heady experience. The anti-smoking power-mongers will not rest until the entire state of California is smoke free.
It is actually good for Hawaii that California has banned smoking in liquor-drinking establishments. Now, Hawaii do-gooders seeking to make Hawaii smoke free will get to see the sort of havoc prohibition has on society.
Some on the Honolulu City Council have already started the city down the path toward a total city-wide smoking ban. They are clearly not satisfied that smoking has only been banned in restaurants. They want it banned in bars, too. And like their California counterparts, they have hit upon a sanctimonious justification for a smoking prohibition: protecting the health of the poor, powerless employees who are forced to work in these dark, evil dens of iniquity. There are jobs available in non-smoking businesses. Why don't they work there?
Smoking prohibitionists on the Left Coast contend banning smoking in bars is no different from banning it in restaurants. That's not true.
People go into restaurants mainly to eat food and thereby improve their health.
People go into bars to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes and thereby risk their health. There's not a single soul in a bar who thinks he or she is improving their health by slugging down a whiskey and soda while sucking on a cancer stick. They do it because they enjoy it and, who knows, maybe by relieving stress, which is a serious cause of heart attacks, they actually will live longer than those anal Type-A-personality vegetarian yuppie marathon runners.
THE thing is, these are private businesses whose owners should be able to decide whether they want their establishments to be smoke-free. It should be up to patrons to decide if they want to go into a private business where smoking is allowed or not. It is also up to employees to decide if they want to work in a place where people smoke.
By banning smoking in bars, California has now created a new group of criminals. There will be illegal smoking in the hidden back rooms of bars, much like the speak-easies of alcohol prohibition. Many bars will probably convert to "private" clubs, which may be safe from a no-smoking ban.
When I worked at a newspaper in Wheeling, W. Va., - which, technically, was a "dry" town - reporters would gather after work at "Ye Olde Alpha Club," a place that looked suspiciously like a regular old neighborhood bar. The only difference was that the first time you entered, you signed your name and "joined" the private club. There were "private" clubs on every corner, even though bars were illegal.
The California health Nazis will demand higher and higher fines for bar owners who let patrons smoke. They will force police to shut down any "private" clubs that allow smoking and arrest the proprietors. Lawyers are going to love the new business.
And, after a total smoking prohibition is enforced for California, the health Nazis will turn their efforts toward stopping people from eating cheeseburgers. Next thing you know, you'll see Ronald McDonald in shackles being led away for Child Nutrition Abuse.