Saturday night, I had a conversation in which I expressed my dislike of the odor of Marlboro cigarettes to Mr. Justus. Since Marbs are his preferred brand, you might think I’m a bit of a bitch, but the truth is that while I don’t like the smell (largely because I used to smoke marbs, and I recently kicked the habit) I have no problem with him having the right to make his big, hulkin’, road hog of an SUV a palace of marlboro stank.
It’s his SUV after all. He’s a smoker. He should be able to smoke in his own darned car if he wants to and I should not have the right to tell him what to do in his own car. No matter how disgusting I find his habits to be.
Well folks, all of that has now changed. As of January 1st, it will be illegal to smoke in your cars, on public property or within 25 feet of a public building in Washington State.
Don’t you just love tyranny of the majority?
Even more amusing is how the initiative read. It established that secondhand smoke is a “known cause of cancer”. Geez.. somebody should ring up the surgeon general and let him know because um… it doesn’t say that secondhand smoke has been proven to cause cancer in any study that I’ve read, nor does that read on the side of any carton of cigarettes that has ever been sold. Largely because, wait for it now….
….
….
… it’s a… LIE!
There is no conclusive proof about the dangers of secondhand smoke. The studies that have been done with regard to secondhand smoke have all been flawed and I am saying this as an ex-smoker. This doesn’t mean that I don’t think secondhand smoke is dangerous. Certainly something that smells that bad, and leaves the walls of your house looking that nasty has to have some adverse effects, but I, much like the entire world body of scientists and doctors, have no idea what those effects are. This is like saying that celluar phones have been known to cause cancer beyond a shadow of a doubt. In fact, all of the studies done in that regard haven’t managed to dig up a single, solitary shred of evidence to support that argument.
Of course, many initiatives are passed on the hope that they are good ideas and the writers of those initiatives are virtuous and honest… right?
