Florence Takes On the Smoking Debate ..

First They Came For the Smokers .....



       We're watching from afar, as the Great Smoking Ban debate has come to Florence.  Most times we take positions on an issue - and we're usually right.  However this time, we'll stay out of it as an unbiased observer, and we'll explain in a minute.


      No, we don't smoke. I'm pretty tolerant of smokers in fact.  We do know that smoking is bad for you, and bad for those around you.  Medically, the argument of whether smoking is a negative is a no-brainer.  But, the smoking ban debate is more of a Personal Freedoms issue - the freedom to smoke, and the freedom to not be exposed to the smoking of others.  Yeah, it does kinda go both ways, folks....


     No, we don't like big government getting in the way people live their lives, but there's also an incorrect motivation to smoking bans: That banning smoking is a deterrent to smoking.  Watching from afar, from the place where smoking bans in bars, restaurants and public buildings started, I can give you a glimpse into your future..


    When I first left Yankeeville, they started taxing cigarettes to 'deter' people from smoking. That was when they were about $3 a pack.  Today, they're about $10 per pack from further 'deterrent taxes' ...... and no one has stopped smoking.  If you want to smoke you'll find a way, despite the deterrents...


   So, what am i saying? I'm saying for the most part that everyone is wasting their time.  It's an argument where both sides are right, both sides are wrong, and in the end, it matters nothing. It's one giant push...  Yeah, there will be smoke-free areas, but smokers will still smoke. Freedoms will not be lost, but still lost at the same time.  It matters nothing... But it's always fun to watch politicians pound their heads against the wall for a little while...

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