Could a smoking ban affect your housing choices?

Yes

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by Patrick Sills

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In a previous article titled somewhat similarly, I stated that a public smoking ban would have no effect on my lighting up at home. Put simply, if I own the property on which I live, I'm going to smoke whether my neighbors approve of it or not. Nobody would have had an issue with this 20 years ago. And why is this so? To put it bluntly, the late 1980s was a time when nobody was stupid or gullible enough to believe that anyone smoking in their home; or for that matter, in their yard, would offend nonsmoking neighbors. But thanks to junk science and blatant lies put forth by those who seek a smoke-free society, nonsmokers have actually been led to believe that cigarette smoke not only travels through walls, closed windows, closed doors, and ceilings, but that it also reaches adjoining yards, apartments, or condominiums and will consequently wreak havoc on innocent bystanders! Even those smart enough to know that smoke cannot pass through solid objects argue that it still passes through common air ducts and vents. This may be true, but the amounts would be so tiny that a microscope would be required to detect it. Moreover, anyone who could even smell it would have to have the olfactory senses of a predatory shark or a police dog.

Nevertheless, many apartment dwellings, condominiums, and motels have either voluntarily become smoke-free zones or local ordinances have forced these intrusive violations of individual rights upon those who inhabit such establishments. Therefore, a smoking ban that is inclusive of apartments or condos would most certainly affect my housing choices. The short answer? I would refuse to live where I couldn't smoke! I also refuse to spend my hard-earned money for lodging in motels where smoking is not permitted. On July 5, 2010, all hotels and motels in the state of Wisconsin will become 100% nonsmoking. As a person who spends about 20 nights a year away from home, a travel trailer is on my list of upcoming purchases.

Thus far, those who smoke can still indulge in houses and mobile homes, but who knows for how long? In a couple of incredible instances, I have learned that in places, legislation is being proposed to ban smoking in campgrounds! Never mind that the campfire; which will produce more smoke in an hour than what a smoker could duplicate in a lifetime, would still be acceptable. In Iowa, motorists are prohibited from smoking on rest stop grounds! But the exhaust emissions from potentially dozens of cars and semi-tractors whose occupants pull in for a bathroom break? No problem there. A bit ironic, wouldn't you say?

Unfortunately, The United States is rapidly losing its status as the land of the free .If you happen to be a smoker, this nation is anything but free. This becomes painfully obvious when those who have made the choice to use a legal product are now limited as to where they can live and light up as they please.

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