Dear editor,
Your statement on Aug. 17 that the proposed smoke-free ordinance advocated by your newspaper and the zealots and extremists of the smoke-free coalition has polarized and divided our community is accurate. What you neglected to say was that it was completely unnecessary because if we once had a health crisis, it no longer exists.
Several years ago, Maysville prided itself in being the World’s Finest Tobacco Market. Nearly every factory, supermarket, department store, small business, professional office and even schools and hospitals permitted the use of tobacco products in their facilities. These businesses and institutions numbered in excess of 100 and employed in excess of 2,000 people. Today, there are approximately 15 places with few employees which permit smoking in their business. Almost every restaurant and several bars have elected to go smoke-free.
Apparently, the success in all but eliminating smoking in Maysville has not satisfied the extremists and activists. They now propose that the local government of Maysville and Mason County ban smoking on every indoor business regardless of the wishes of the business owner or their patrons.
The advocates of the total ban have the audacity to tell the bar owners that the ban will be good for their business. How much time and how much money have these proponents invested in building their own successful business? The advocates of the ban say that they are concerned about the effects of second hand smoke on the health of the employees. Have the proponents of the ban ever asked the employee, all of whom are adults, whether they smoke or whether they are concerned about the health effects of second hand smoke?
The extremists say “it’s not about the smoker, it’s about the smoke.’ Why then, do they propose that the smoker, whether it is a patron, an employee, or the owner, go outside in extreme heat or bitter cold to enjoy a cigarette?
It is my opinion that those who are proposing a total ban on indoor smoking are offering a solution in search of a problem. As I state before, we have no health crisis in Maysville or Mason County relating to the use of tobacco in public places. The people who are offended by the sight or smell of cigarettes have bares they can patronize. If they are concerned about the effects of second hand smoke, they can patronize the many places that are smoke-free and avoid the few places which permit smoking.
In conclusion, in order to bring an end to the polarization of our community and end the bitter and acrimonious debate, I would suggest that members of the city commission and fiscal court compromise on the issue along the lines proposed by Commissioner Victor McKay, i.e. exempting bars and private clubs, which serve only patrons over 21 years of age from any ban. Instead of resorting to the heavy hand and coercive force of government by enacting a total ban on the use of a legal product by adult citizens, this compromise would allow non-smokers to have the many places where they can enjoy their life choices and the smokers can have the few places where the owners and patrons can exercise their life choices.
Sincerely,
Robert I. Gallenstein
Maysville
