[Mpls] Smoking Ban - YES

[Greg Abbott]

Thanks to the miracle of the internet, I'm reading this thread from my 
mom's house, 1400 miles away in Washington state, about 40 miles north 
of Seattle.  I've been out here for three of the past four weeks.

Perhaps my emotions are a touch raw to comment on this topic, but two 
weeks ago my mother was diagnosed with Stage IV cancer of "unknown 
primary origin" in her abdomen.  Although the "unknown primary origin" 
complicates things, my mother's prognosis is poor.

My mother's primary risk factor was her status as a 45-year smoker.

So for intense personal reasons I've been giving tobacco some thought.  
It is addictive, expensive, and has no social or medical benefits.  If 
tobacco was a new drug, it would be strictly prohibited, and John 
Ashcroft would be circling ominously around those states contemplating 
a relaxation of their tobacco laws.

The burden of proof is, IMHO, on those who think that tobacco use ought 
to be permitted.  Tobacco use causes deadly illness, and it is 
expensive, addictive, and has no social or personal benefits.  Tobacco 
is more analogous to addictive hard drugs than it is to alcohol: e.g., 
used in moderation alcohol can be beneficial for health.

The arguments for permitting use of an addictive and deadly substance 
in any public place are fairly weak.  Permitting such behavior in 
public signals that tobacco use is socially acceptable.  Obviously 
there are many people who would use tobacco anyway, regardless of a ban 
in public places, but there are also many for whom such a ban would 
deter smoking -- my mom, for example, as law-abiding and church-going a 
person as can be found, very likely would have responded to the 
"official" message than smoking was bad.

The virtue of a complete ban on tobacco use in bars and restaurants is 
that all of these businesses would face the same economic impacts.  
There may be some who would go to St. Paul instead of Minneapolis 
because of the smoking ban, but I have hard time imagining a truly 
large economic impact.

And any decline in business would be offset by those who would start 
going downtown because of the smoking ban -- me, for example: Lynn and 
I are non-smokers and the smell of smoke on our clothes is by far the 
biggest reason we don't spend much time in the entertainment district.

My mom is 64 years old and otherwise in good health.  What is 15-20 
years of life worth?  What is being able to watch your grandchildren 
grow up worth?

A lot more than the economic costs of a transition to a smoke-free 
entertainment district, IMHO.

Greg Abbott
Linden Hills
13th Ward