Got Rights?

Hey Y'all! It's Colleen. I have been talking with many people regarding this piece of legislation and have noticed that many people who oppose it are concerned about how smokers' rights are being handled and whether the government should have any power over the issue at all. So I just wanted to contribute my two cents regarding this issue.

The fact of the matter is that under this piece of legislation Everyone's rights are maintained equally under the law. The government holds the right to protect the general well being of the public with law that limits specific actions. For example, the government can regulate speed limits, conditions under which food can be cooked, and ban actions that harm others such as fighting. It is clear that like speeding, old mayonnaise, and fighting second hand smoke can severely harm your health. Smokers still maintain the right to smoke in the privacy of their homes or unopened cars without harming people who did not choose to do so.

The government also has the right to protect people in the workplace. Very strict conditions have been placed in the past on working environments. Workers cannot be subjected to dangerous chemicals or substances without safety devices. Unfortunately, such a device does not exist for secondhand smoke. It has been proven by studies conducted by the Project ASSIST coalition and other research agencies that ventilators and sectioned smoking sections do not eliminate the dangerous exposure to secondhand smoke. As the Surgeon General stated in 2006, there is no risk-free level of exposure to second-hand smoke. We need to remain consistent in our policies of protection workers by eliminating second-hand smoke in the workplace. As the economy worsens and jobs are lost, the options for job locations are diminishing. Workers simply can't decide not to work in a smoky environment anymore.

Everyone has the same rights. It is time for them to be protected. Allowing the consequences of someone else's choice to negatively affect the health of everyone is a blatant violation of our rights. Just as protesting is prohibited outside a school because it inhibits a child's ability and infringes on their right to learn, smoking must be prohibited in public places because it inhibits our ability and infringes on our right to live a long and healthy life.