Ban Revoked

Charlevoix County commissioners have repealed a 2005 ban on smoking in workplaces.
The ban was mild by today’s standards in that it already exempted bars and rstaurants. It covered four Michigan counties under the purview of a regional health agency. The prosecutor’s office says the law still stands for the other three counties unless or until they revoke it, but on the other hand, there has never been a citation for infraction since the law’s inception, while protest against its infringement on property rights has been vociferous. The Charlevoix County revocation came at the instigation of Commissioner Bob Drebenstedt and was passed unanimously. A former commissioner who supported the 2005 imposition, one Connie Saltonstall, calls its revocation "deplorable" and equates smokers to oafish drunks who run people over in the road. We equate Connie Saltonstall to Cotton Mather. Don’t doubt that Connie and her frightened, vicious kind will continue working toward smoker eradication, in Michigan, and everywhere else. Kudos to Bob Drebenstedt and the Charlevoix County Commission.