Friday, February 9, 2007
Recent efforts to enact a state-wide smoking ban in Kansas have faced harsh opposition from the Kansas Chamber of Commerce and Kansas business owners. The bill, which would ban smoking in public places such as businesses, bars and restaurants in Kansas, is being fought on the grounds that it unfairly rejects smokers’ right to smoke and that it will have a negative impact on business. These arguments are unfair and inadequate when stacked against the health benefits of enacting the ban.
There are many reasons it’s unlikely that a statewide smoking ban would significantly affect restaurants and bars. Customers who smoke would not relocate just to be closer to pro-smoking facilities. Even those who live on a Kansas border would be more likely to consider food, liquor specials and costs before smoking options across the state line.
The proposed smoking ban in Kansas is not a battle against businesses or smokers.
Businesses concerned about losing customers would need only to invest in a smoking porch and heated torch lamps to become smoker-friendly hotspots. And visiting individuals who had previously avoided smoky environments might enhance business. Non-smokers do make up a majority of the U.S. population.
The proposed ban is not a discriminatory act to deny smokers’ freedom. It simply considers the effect of smoke in public places with the fact that most Americans do not smoke.
The scientific phenomenon of particle dispersion means that there is no such thing as a smoking section and a non-smoking section — it all becomes the same . One could argue that by not enacting a smoking ban, non-smokers are being denied their right to clean air. Smoky environments are particularly harmful for individuals who do not smoke for health reasons, such as those with respiratory and coronary conditions.
Numerous studies have shown that smoke is not just a nuisance. The unavoidable fact is that smoking is a dangerous and potentially deadly activity. Cigarette smoke, which contains cancer-causing chemicals, is linked to a multitude of diseases and health issues and affects nonsmokers as well as smokers.
According to the American Lung Association, nearly 3,000 nonsmokers die annually from lung cancer caused by secondhand smoke.
The proposed smoking ban in Kansas is not a battle against businesses or smokers. Businesses wouldn’t face significant financial loss and could evolve to become smoker-friendly, and just because smokers have the right to smoke doesn’t give them the right to pollute a public space.
If the Kansas Senate passes the bill, it makes a decision to improve state health statistics.
The Kansas smoking ban would benefit the majority of Americans who choose not to smoke and would set a positive example of health for future generations.
— Alison Kieler for the editorial board
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