Smoke-Free But Not Living Free

By Jim on June 3rd, 2007

Good editorial from today’s Union Leader.

After last week, New Hampshire adults will remain free to decide for themselves whether to wear their seat belts, but not whether to enjoy tobacco smoke while at a bar, nightclub or restaurant.

New Hampshire is slowly regressing. What the Left calls “progress” is really a steady slide backward to the time when government could dictate people’s personal behavior.

Last week New Hampshire avoided a large regression. The Senate voted 16-8 against requiring adults to wear seat belts just because doing so is good for them. That was a resounding triumph for New Hampshire tradition and values, and the senators who voted against that bill should congratulate themselves for a job well done.

But that victory was mitigated by the smaller backward step taken when the House voted 224-117 to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and nightclubs.

It is easy to forget that our liberties, though granted by God, had to be won by force of arms. Freedom is not our natural state. The strong dominating the weak is humanity’s natural state.

Government is supposed to protect the weak from the strong, not dictate everyone’s behavior. When it does so, it moves backwards, not forwards. Progress is the movement toward greater liberty.

We cannot be both smoke-free and free. Achieving the former injures the latter. Perhaps the next Legislature will realize that and repeal this condescending, unnecessary law.

I quite agree and I wrote a comment. Not sure how long it takes for the comments to get posted on that site but I hope they will consider it. Here’s the text of my comment:

Waiters and waitresses have the right to pick a smoke-free restaurant or bar to work at if they want. Before this awful, authoritarian monstrosity was passed there were many restaurants and bars that had already decided to go smoke-free…voluntarily.

This law was NOT needed and it’s a violation of property owner’s rights and a violation of the Live Free or Die spirit of New Hampshire.

It’s also not the last word on this issue. The smoking prohibitionists will next try to force people smoking outside bars to move at least 20 – 50 feet away from the doorways of buildings. Then they will move to ban smoking in certain outdoor public places. After that they will progress to a complete ban in all public places, as well as banning it in cars and perhaps even private residences.

This issue is NOT over. The prohibitionists have won the first round but there will be more attacks on liberty.

I am a non-smoker but I am not an anti-smoker. If someone wishes to smoke in a bar or restaurant and the owner of the establishment wants to let them then smoking should be allowed.