No Smoking at Home
January 16th, 2007 by
Senior Editor: Jeff
It was only a matter of time. Seattle is now considering bans on smoking in public housing. Of course, landlords have always had the ability to dictate smoking rules for their property. It's not going to end. Soon, people will not be able to smoke in their own homes, once again demonstrating how much our society values the idea of private property (don't make me bring up Kelo…).
The studies that show a correlation (not causation) among second-hand smoke and health risks, basically show that if you live with a heavy smoker for a long time, you have an increased risk of developing health problems. To my knowledge, there is not a link with social exposure (bars, the beach, etc.). It is merely a nuisance. The residents of Seattle probably have more to fear from being stuck in rush hour traffic every day with all those other people who want to live where a million other people do and breathing that air than they do from smelling smoke in a bar or their backyard. I'll happily deal with the nuisances of liberty before I have a telescreen installed in my house.
Forgive me if I sound fanatical. I purposefully make the small things bigger because I believe David Hume to be right when he said that "it is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once."
