Pa. needs state-wide smoking ban
Our state legislators are now considering Senate Bill 246 and House Bill 720, the Clean Indoor Air Act. These bills need to be passed as soon as possible and without amendment. They also offer an opportunity for our legislators to put aside partisan politics and act in the best interest of their constituents. Pennsylvania has been without a state-wide smoking ban long enough.
To comment on this letter, click on "Comments" below
I do not propose to bore you with statistics about how bad secondhand smoking is – the deleterious effects of secondhand smoke have been well established over the last decade – but I would remind you that the Surgeon General released findings a year ago stating that secondhand smoke is harmful to all people and that the only means of protecting non-smokers is by establishing smoke-free environments. Additionally, the WHO released a statement on May 29th reinforcing the Surgeon General’s statement, providing further evidence that “there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke.” The evidence is incontrovertible – non-smokers suffer from secondhand smoke.
Opponents of smoking bans have characterized bills like these as seeking to take away their rights, appealing to people who prefer a small, non-intrusive government. I would place myself in the libertarian wing of the Republican Party, but I absolutely reject that kind of argument. The old saying, “One man’s liberty ends where another man’s begins,” applies – smokers should have the right to smoke insofar as they are not harming anyone else in the process. With the mountain of evidence, there can be no other conclusion but that one person smoking adversely affects everyone around him. Passing this bill will protect the rights of non-smokers against the reckless and inconsiderate actions of a self-destructive element in society. I urge all non-smokers to contact their state legislators and show their support.
Eric Dorward
York Township
Leave a comment