When the Boise, Idaho city council considers a new city ordinance tomorrow that would prohibit smoking in more public places than are currently included in the state ban, they should consider the rationale behind the proposal as well as the consequences, suggested the International Premium Cigar & Pipe Retailers Association.
The Council is considering Smoke Free Air Ordinances that, if passed, would add new restrictions to state laws that already ban smoking in public areas like restaurants to include bars and other workplaces like home-based businesses and tobacco shops. Proponents of the ordinance base their case on alleged health effects of secondhand smoke and surveys that show Boise citizens favor such a ban.
“It’s the tyranny of the majority,” said Bill Spann, chief executive officer of the IPCPR. “There are more non-smokers than smokers, so if you take a poll and ask the right questions the wrong way, you will get a majority that favors such a draconian smoking ban. That doesn’t make it the right thing to do.”
Spann noted that the framers of the United States Constitution wrote about how important it is to protect minority groups from being run over roughshod by the majority.
We couldn’t agree more!
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