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Cigarette Ban

It’s time for a statewide ban on cigarette smoking in bars and restaurants. Our American society doesn’t let restaurants sell food that causes cancer, and they shouldn’t serve air that causes cancer either. If a private business had unlimited rights, we could have strip clubs next to schools and factories in residential neighborhoods. Thank goodness most people support some rules that help make our community safe and livable.

I want to support people’s right to do as they please, but there are limits. You can chew gum all you want, but when I find it on my clothes and in my hair, we have a problem. Cigarette smoke ends up on everyone in the room, in their hair and on their clothes, and imaginary lines dividing a room into sections don’t stop it.

If our clothes are disgusting after leaving a smoke-filled establishment, imagine our lungs. Clothes are passive receptacles of air quality, while lungs pump air in and out continually. It bothers me that our children are exposed to that. It bothers me that some smokers consider their habit more important than the health of someone with asthma.

Millions of dollars are raised annually to fund cancer cure research, but no cure is guaranteed. We can prevent cancer cases, guaranteed, with a ban on bar and restaurant smoking. Let’s not wait any longer.

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