My buddy Alex at Energetics found this article about quitting smoking in celebration of Earth Day (which was this past Thursday, for those of you who are following my blog from other planets). Although the article is more about smoking cessation than smoking policy, and despite some of the obvious implications that smoking has on the environment, there are a few quotes I’d like to share:
“…many of us don't know that quitting smoking is another way to help combat climate change…cigarette production and consumption contribute to global warming.”
So, if you’re an environmentally conscious smoker, you better quit! Quitting will also reduce the number of littered cigarette butts…
“Smokers may be tossing their butts without even realizing their impact on the environment.”
This is an understatement if I’ve ever heard one! The way that I see people toss cigarette butts out of cars tells me that they simply don’t care, regardless of their knowledge of the environmental impact.
“The sure-fire way to combat this growing problem is for more Americans to quit smoking, and for those of us who don't smoke to support them.”
With that said, let’s help them quit by enacting and enforcing more smoke-free policies…and, perhaps creating some persuasive public art.
Hookah Bars
I ran across a brief article about a North Carolina hookah bar that is combating the state’s indoor smoking ban, and realized the common problem for these establishments: Because hookah bars are basically small restaurants where hookah is served to most customers, and state smoking bans require all restaurants to comply with the law, hookah bars cannot serve hookah—unless they qualify themselves as designated smoking venues by not serving food and/or alcohol.
So, should hookah bars be exempt from state smoking bans? Of course not! I can’t prove this with statistics, but it seems that hookah bars are largely populated by college-aged customers—the people who I predict are most susceptible to being turned into cigarette smokers (more on this topic later). Hey, even I smoked hookah a few times in my college days; I know how good it tastes and feels. Although I didn’t come close to smoking cigarettes, I have friends who started on hookah and are now full-blown smokers. Assuming that our society has an interest in limiting the number of kids who start smoking, we need to make sure that hookahs can’t be used as a justification to overlook statewide bans.
In a few days, the state of Michigan will be going smoke-free, and I hope that hookah bars are forced to comply with the law. For more information on their situation, see this article.
Miami Student Smokers
I applaud the University of Miami for modifying their student health insurance policy to include a $50 per semester fee for student smokers. As the article says, this is a big step toward becoming a smoke-free campus.
However, one student smoker who was interviewed said that the change is discriminatory. I personally don’t believe that the notion of discrimination, as we commonly recognize it, can be applied to a choice (more on this topic later); people can discriminate against race, religion, sexual orientation, but not against a changeable personal habit.
But, for the sake of argument, let’s assume that the university is discriminating against smokers. So what? Nobody said that discrimination is always a bad thing. In this case, “discrimination” is merely a practical means to compensate for tobacco awareness programs and increases in healthcare costs that student smokers impose on the university.
My only concern with the $50 fee is that many student smokers will probably get away with not paying it. Either way, this is a big win for the smoke-free cause because the university is setting some groundwork for future policy change.
San Luis Obispo Sidewalks
The San Luis Obispo City Council recently approved a more expansive public smoking ban, which prohibits smoking in bars, restaurants, stores, stadiums, parking garages, transit centers, playgrounds, and best of all, SIDEWALKS! Nothing is more unnecessarily dangerous to me than having to choose between walking through a trail of secondhand smoke and jumping into the adjacent street to avoid it.
Quote of the Week
“I realize that most restaurants have a “no smoking” section, but smoke rarely adheres to assigned boundaries. It’s tantamount to having a urination zone in a swimming pool—everyone still gets contaminated.” --Lee Lupo
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