Smoking bans: an interesting comment

Atlantic City recently enacted a partial smoking ban, which Melissa Fine argued against in an editorial in Casino Player. A letter to the editor from Jim Glasheen offered an insightful comment:

Her comments to non-smokers to "suck it up or move away" is the same narrow-minded comment I hear from the smokers who can no longer smoke in bars. For years it was legal to smoke in bars and they felt it was all right to say to me, "If you don't like the smoke, don't go to the bar." Now that the shoe is on the other foot, all I hear is about their rights. They never cared about my rights before the ban.

I agree with this assessment. Let's face it, selfishness is an ingrained part of human nature. You always want what's best for you, all else equal, and so I'm not surprised people will make these arguments.

I'm actually not a fan of the typical smoking bans; here, you can only smoke in establishments restricted to 21 and older. I say this because the technology certainly exists to have separate air systems for a smoking section. However, realistically, low-margin businesses like restaurants aren't going to be willing to make this kind of investment.

Still, I'm happy when establishments are non-smoking. While fresh tobacco has a pleasant smell, burning tobacco and especially stale tobacco smoke smells awful.