Stop Smoking Way

Wednesday is the one-year anniversary of the statewide smoking ban, and a new survey conducted by ClearWay Minnesota indicates that 77 percent of Minnesota’s residents support it.

The percentage of those who back the Freedom to Breathe Act here in southern Minnesota is even higher: 79 percent. The survey results show strong support for the ban among all demographic groups.

Still, some candidates for the Legislature and others have made passage of the smoking ban a campaign issue, saying it’s just another example of government overstepping its bounds.

“I’m not a smoker,” I’ve heard a few dozen times from opponents of the ban. “But the government shouldn’t have the right to tell us where we can and can’t use a legal product. If smoking is bad for business, then business owners will decide to ban it in their establishments. Let the free market make the decision.”

I believe in the free-market system. But one reason our form of government has worked so well for more than 230 years is that the people who represent us in Congress and on city councils and county boards have done a pretty good job balancing the need for businesses and individuals to make decisions for themselves with the need for the government to protect and serve its citizens.

So when multiple studies concluded that second-hand smoke is a danger to those who work in bars, restaurants and other public establishments, a statewide smoking ban became a no-brainer for the Legislature.

To me, this law is no different than those requiring inspections of restaurants to make sure the food they sell is safe and sanitary, or those that prevent motorists from zooming along at 90 miles an hour on Broadway or West Circle Drive.

But those laws are different, the so-called “personal freedom” advocates maintain. When I drive like a maniac, or slice salad ingredients on the same unwashed cutting board I’ve used for raw chicken, I’m affecting other people. When I smoke, they say, I’m not hurting anyone but myself. And if people are concerned about secondhand smoke they have the freedom to eat somewhere else or find work at another restaurant whose owner doesn’t allow smoking.

I would argue that smoking does affect a lot of other people.

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Minnesota, says state Health Commissioner Dr. Sanne Magnan. It is responsible for nearly $2 billion in avoidable medical costs.

So, tobacco use is costing all of us in the form of higher health insurance premiums, and in increased taxes to foot the bill for those suffering from tobacco-related disease and illness who are on Medicare, Minnesota Care or who don’t have insurance.

ClearWay Minnesota — created a decade ago with funds from the state’s settlement with tobacco companies to help educate Minnesotans about the dangers of smoking and help them quit — had a little fun with the most recent survey.

It ranked the popularity of the smoking ban among other things folks enjoy in the land of lakes, loons and lady slippers.

The smoking ban, with support from 77 percent of the state’s residents, ranked behind a walleye dinner, 86 percent; the State Fair, 86 percent; and the Minnesota Twins, 83 percent. It tied with the Vikings, 77 percent (the survey was taken before Sunday’s disaster in Tennessee); and ahead of the Mall of America, 69 percent; and the State Fair Pronto Pup, 69 percent.

I don’t plan to write any more columns on the smoking ban. It’s obvious that the vast majority of Minnesotans support it and that helped make us a healthier state. It’s a done deal.

Related posts:

• Smoking ban would hurt small businesses
• Michigan’s smoking ban efforts may be flaming out
• Time to quit smoking?
• Youth anti-smoking campaign a success, says Govt
• Statewide smoking ban proposed in Missouri

Tags: Smoking ban