Posted on 03/08/2006 2:25:36 PM PST by neverdem
A smoke-free, family-friendly atmosphere of moralistic intolerance
Because it's getting hard to keep track of all the places where you're not allowed to smoke, the city council of Calabasas, California, decided to start over from scratch and make things simple. "Smoking is prohibited everywhere in the city," says a Calabasas ordinance that takes effect on March 17, "except as otherwise provided."
The exceptions are private residences, up to 20 percent of hotel rooms, "smokers' outposts" in shopping center parking lots, and "any outdoor area in which no non-smoker is present and...it is not reasonable to expect another person to arrive." The smoke-free areas, a.k.a. "everywhere else," include sidewalks, streets, bus stops, parks, the outdoor seating of bars and restaurants, and apartment balconies near common areas such as pools or laundry rooms.
The city council, which unanimously approved the ordinance last month and has started calling the Los Angeles suburb "Clean Air Calabasas, a Smoke-Free City," predicts the state government (which already prohibits smoking in indoor workplaces) will follow its example. If so, judging from the history of smoking bans, Calabasas-style restrictions eventually will move from California to the rest of the country. Before that happens, Americans should consider whether they really want to embrace the Calabasas spirit of moralistic intolerance masquerading as "public health."
Tellingly, a provision that would have permitted outdoor smoking in the presence of nonsmokers with their consent was removed from the final version of the Calabasas ban. So if you're in some deserted part of the city in the middle of the night with a friend who smokes, he is allowed to light up only if you do too.
If he lights up and you don't like it, you can file a complaint with the city, which can charge your friend with a misdemeanor punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 and a jail sentence of up to six months. You also can sue him, seeking compensation for injuries inflicted by his tobacco smoke or statutory damages of $250 for each violation, plus attorneys' fees and court costs.
If you can show your friend was guilty of "oppression, fraud, malice, or conscious disregard for the public health and safety," you can recover punitive damages too. By that point, of course, he might not be your friend anymore.
"We are not trying to pit neighbor against neighbor," Calabasas Mayor Barry Groveman told the Los Angeles Times in January. "We're trying to do this in the least punitive and least disruptive way."
Which is why they decided to resolve the minor annoyance of drifting outdoor tobacco smoke through criminal charges and lawsuits—instead of, say, public stoning. Presumably the city council members also had the minimization of punitiveness and disruption in mind when they chose to criminalize not only unauthorized smoking but "allowing, aiding or abetting" it by looking the other way or putting out ashtrays.
All this may seem a little extreme when you consider there's no evidence that outdoor smoking jeopardizes the health of bystanders. But that is not really what the ban's supporters have in mind when they talk about protecting "public health."
Their aim is not just to eliminate secondhand smoke but to eliminate smoking. That's why the ordinance cites the health effects of smoking on smokers as a justification for the ban. And that's why the ban's official goals include "reducing the potential for children to associate smoking and tobacco with a healthy lifestyle" and "affirming and promoting the family-friendly atmosphere of the City's public places."
The ban's backers see smoking as a shameful vice that must be kept out of sight, an indecent activity from which adults must shield children's eyes as well as their noses. The logic of forcing people to set a good example for the kids—which also would justify banning fat people and motorcyclists from public places—reduces adults to the level of children whenever they venture out of their homes.
Jacob Sullum is a senior editor at Reason.
health-nazi, nanny-state ping
Good Grief...........
I'm on my way out the door - will be back to pick this up later..........
but if we were, this would be the best way to do it.
i am not that far from Calabasas, I should drive there and light one up after this law takes effect!!!!
Ditto.
Welcome to the nazi state/city.
FMCDH(BITS)
Thanks for the ping!
since you can't smoke in the patio at the Sagebrush Cantina anymore and I don't have a relative in the Old Actors Home across the street I have no reason to visit Calabasas anymore.
They must be referring to the Clean Air Calabasas Agenda, or as it's informally known, CACA.
[the city council] predicts the state government (which already prohibits smoking in indoor workplaces) will follow its example.
As if I needed another reason to go berserk on some of the people in this God-forsaken state.
"any outdoor area in which no non-smoker is present and...it is not reasonable to expect another person to arrive."
Stay away, eeeeeevvviillllllll smoker! I give you the forked sign of the evil lung!
I never would have thought I would see such Orwellian style government bullying in America in my time. Boy, was I wrong. Today, the peoples republik of kalifornia, tommorrow the world.
Liberty and justice for all. Yeah, right. {but we'll still take your tax money, evil, unhospitable smoker}
It seems that the majority of Kalifornians won't be happy until they have driven every freedom-loving person from the state. The mischief that will then ensue will be a marvel to behold.
Edgewood, NM , which has one (1) recently-added stoplight has an indoor smoking ban.
Near as I can tell, it was targeted at the Dairy Queen, which was one of two indoor eating joints (if you can call it that) anyway.
Sheesh!
Your sign is has more truth than you may realize.
NYC goes after smokers who bought cigarettes on Internet
By SARA KUGLER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NEW YORK, March 7 Thousands of New Yorkers who bought cigarettes on the Internet without paying sales taxes will be reordered to pay a collective $33 million that went unpaid, officials said.
City lawyers say New York loses millions of dollars a year from unpaid taxes on Internet cigarette purchases. They have gone after the online dealers with a series of lawsuits in recent years.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced Tuesday that the city reached a settlement with Virginia-based eSmokes. The company will provide the names and addresses of New York customers from 2000 to 2003, when a state ban on Internet sales took effect.
http://famulus.msnbc.com/famulusgen/ap03-07-220737.asp?t=apnew&vts=3720062246
I've read a few issues of "Reason" magazine. Great editorial by the Editor. :)
Thank God for Free Republic where the truth can be told and millions will be able to read about it! I'm sick to death of all the lies being spewed by the highly paid anti-smokers around the United States and the world and everyone is just expected to believe them.
NO MORE!!!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.