by William Bowman

Created on: October 09, 2007

I voted yes. I'm writing to the yes side. That said, this depends largely on one's definition of "public." When I say it, I mean that public places - parks, bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, pool halls, gaming establishments...places that do business with large numbers of people in a largish space.

These places should allow smoking - in designated areas, with proper ventilation. I remember one slaughterhouse I used to work for had a smoking section in the lunchroom. There were air-filters (changed promptly every five or ten years, no doubt...), but no ventilation. And then they closed it down when the non-smokers, a minority in that workplace, whined about the smoke going over to their side.

When it's properly thought out and properly built, there's no reason not to have smoking in public buildings. I've seen studies, but I can tell you that where I grew up, the air was harsher in the lungs just driving down the freeway than in the smokiest pool-hall in town. No doubt it was more carcinogenic, too.

Smokers are easy targets ever since the tobacco companies settled for all that money. Discriminating against us is legal, and what's more, it's even encouraged by the government (read: insurance company lobbyists). I'm resigned to the fact that no doubt all the people with nothing better to do than serve a Cause will eventually have smoking declared illegal, but this is pure persecution for persecution's sake and I'm sure alcohol, guns and video games will be the next to go down in a hail of stupid legislation and unreasoning bigotry.

From an engineering standpoint, there's no reason not to allow smoking in public buildings with the proper safeguards. As to the people who work in those environments, well, the phrase "occupational hazard" comes to mind. Employers have a remarkable lack of concern for smokers, so I, too, have a remarkable lack of concern for people who choose to work in smoky environments only to complain about it later.

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