by Suzanne Pilkington

Created on: June 05, 2009   Last Updated: June 12, 2009

On January 2, 2010, the state of North Carolina will join other states that have already gone smoke free in public places. (Source: "List of Smoking Bans") As a non-smoker and a mother of one -soon to be two- children, I am thrilled. I have already begun to see the changes in my own hometown as several restaurants have chosen to go non-smoking early. Having grown up in North Carolina, often referred to as the tobacco state, I imagined that a smoking ban would be many years in the future, if ever. I am happy to be wrong.

With this new change, of course, there are many citizens in an uproar over the encroachment upon their civil liberties and personal rights. I, however, have felt that my own personal right to breathe freely in public has been violated for some time, and I am so glad to finally receive the promise of fresh air.

The main comment I hear from those who smoke is that if I don't want to breathe their smoke, I should go elsewhere. Honestly, I don't feel there is anywhere else to go. Until recently, almost every restaurant in town had a smoking section. I always request a non-smoking table, but I have endured countless occasions where I received one that was smoking adjacent and came with its own atmosphere of hazy, blue smoke floating just above my table for the duration of my meal. I try to request a table change, but that isn't always possible in a busy restaurant on a Friday night.

I feel that this smoking ban and the ones that so many other states have already enacted are a great step in the right direction of a healthier America. I think all states should enact a smoking ban to protect the lungs of those children and adults who do not wish to have a vicarious cigarette while waiting for their dinner to come.

Besides the nasty smell of smoke that I am forced to take with me in my hair and clothing when I leave a restaurant, I am always certain to take along a little more lung damage that I didn't ask for. This is a direct violation of my rights, and I don't see how the rights of smokers have trumped non-smokers for so long. Yes, I think those people who want to smoke should be allowed to do so, but I don't think the rest of us should have our own right to breathe healthy air violated in public places. And I don't think non-smokers should have to go somewhere else to protect the rights of those don't mind damaging their own health.

If a drunk driver kills another person, they are held responsible. Since it is a little harder to hold smokers responsible for second-hand smoke deaths, I feel that a smoking ban is the next best method to protect the rights of innocent bystanders.

Works Cited:

"Passive Smoking." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_smoking

"List of smoking bans in the United States." Wikipedia: The Free Encyclopedia.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_smoking_bans_in _the_United_States#.C2.A0North_Carolina

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