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Proposed Smoking Ban In Saginaw
County
Shows Government Hypocrisy by
Pitting Public Health Against
Rights of Privacy
By Robert E. Martin
"I am an advocate of individual rights because there are no others. It is on this ground that I oppose any doctrine which proposes the sacrifice of the individual to the collective, such as communism, socialism, the welfare state, fascism, Nazism and modern liberalism. I oppose conservatives on the same ground. Government really has only one proper function: the protection of individual rights." - Ayn Rand On October 5th the Saginaw County Department of Health voted to support adoption of a county regulation that would ban smoking in public restrooms, lobbies, common-use areas, and all office buildings open to the public. The only exceptions to this law would consist of bars & restaurants, private residences, and tobacco specialty stores.
The genesis for this broadly sweeping and
controversial action was predicated upon a so-called 'scientific study'
that solicited opinions from only 464 'randomly selected'
residents of Saginaw County during a telephone survey conducted for
five days in the month of May.
Based upon results of this survey, the Public Health Department extrapolates their figures to proclaim that 79% of Saginaw County residents believe indoor areas of worksites and public places should be smoke free.
Considering that the population of
Saginaw County in 2004 was approximately 209,000 people, a quick
computation of the math involved translates into the remarkable fact
that for every single person contacted in this 'scientific survey',
their single voice spoke for 450 other people in Saginaw
County not contacted for an opinion.
Seeing as I am one of those 450
individuals not contacted about this move, compounded by the fact that I
am a smoker, allow me to offer my own unsolicited opinion concerning
this pernicious piece of legislation.
First, the need for this regulation is
allegedly predicated upon the assertion that secondhand smoke is the
second leading cause of preventable death in Michigan, second only to
tobacco use. Nonsmokers regularly exposed to secondhand smoke (not that
any of them are regularly exposed in a public place) purportedly
suffer death rates 30% higher than that of unexposed smokers.
To this I would take issue, especially in
Saginaw County, insofar as a much more significant and timely source of
illness, death, and disease that is very preventable exists in the form
of dioxin contamination along the Tittabawassee River watershed that the
Saginaw County Public Health Department and The Saginaw County
Board of Commissioners have done absolutely nothing to address.
The soil sampling conducted along the
contaminated watershed revealed dioxin levels in all the many
areas sampled as averaging around 998 ppt, with the
highest levels at 1,500 ppt found in Freeland Festival Park.
Indeed, MDEQ Assistant Division Chief Andrew Hogarth has noted, "it
was present at every depth we sampled and we didn't stop finding it."
More dioxin has been measured at this
site than in Michigan's entire history, it dramatically exceeds Federal
EPA guidelines, yet the Saginaw County Public Health Department
response has pretty much been limited to posting 'warning signs' on
public access areas.
Now I ask you, is this an acceptable response from a department concerning an established byproduct that causes decreased fertility, endometriosis, birth defects, neurological problems, fetal death, diabetes, and yes - you guessed it - lung cancer?
The hypocrisy is shameful.
And where was the Public Health
Department when it came time to object to the resolution that the
Saginaw County Board of Commissioners made on October 25th
in support for HB4617, which would essentially gut the ability of
the DEQ to enforce cleanup of this contamination?
Don't you also find it odd that nothing
was received from this body concerning ongoing health risks to children,
families, and the potential for restoration of our watershed, especially
from a body charged with the protection of the health & safety of the
people of Saginaw County?
Some may argue that banning smoking in
public places in Saginaw County and the issue of dioxin contamination is
like comparing apples to oranges; but I would argue that the comparison
is more than telling on an even more significant level - namely,
protecting the rights of individuals as opposed to corporations, which I fail to
see mentioned anywhere in the United States Constitution.
In my own instance, smoking is my hobby.
As a writer, I love to smoke and, as far as I'm concerned, the entire
point of being an adult. I realize it is dangerous and not without risk,
but most people who ski, play professional football, and drive race cars
also take dangerous risks, yet I fail to see any laws proposed banning a
fast moving car from passing a rail and plowing into a crowd of
second-hand spectators.
Why do I smoke? Perhaps for the reasons
novelist Tom Robbins speaks of in that all creatures share three
of the four elements, but fire is a gift to humans alone. "Smoking
cigarettes is as intimate as we become with fire without immediate
excruciation. Every smoker is an embodiment of Prometheus, stealing fire
from the gods and bringing it on back home. We smoke to capture the
power of the sun, to pacify Hell, to identify with the primordial spark,
to feed on the marrow of the volcano. When we smoke, we are performing a
version of the fire dance, a ritual as ancient as lightning."
People may also find smoking
objectionable, but as the writer (and smoker) Fran Lebowitz quite
cogently argues, "I find many - even most things - objectionable.
"Being offended is that natural
consequence of leaving one's home. I do not like aftershave lotion,
adults who roller-skate, children who speak French, or anyone with an
unduly tan. I do not, however, go around enacting legislation and
putting up signs. When it is necessary to go out of the house, people
must be prepared, as am I, to deal with the unpleasant personal habits
of others. That is what 'public' means. If you can't stand the heat, get back in
the kitchen."
Finally, I object to anybody -
especially government - telling me what I can or cannot do in the
privacy of my own office!
I have located The Review offices
at 318 S. Hamilton St. for 20 years. Few people come into my
back office where I do most of my work, so the notion that suddenly the
long reaching arms of 'Big Brother' can tell me what I can or cannot do
in the privacy of my own workspace is not only odious, it is downright
un-American.
Not that this exception is contained
anywhere in the proposed new anti-smoking ban; but what about
smoke-eaters and air purifiers as a solution to ebbing the alleged
dangers of second-hand smoke?
Remediation in this sense is not an
option to the Department of Public Health, the same as it is not
an option they wish to consider for the parties responsible for
contaminating our watershed.
In addition to the support from their survey, apparently the Public Health Department received approximately '15 resolutions of support' from various businesses, health, and human service agencies. Wow. 15 out of a thousand businesses - now that is what I call commanding support!
They also received a whopping 413
signatures in support of the proposed regulation.
When (and if) it is passed the regulation will have a 3-month implementation period. The Health Department will be responsible for enforcing the regulation. Great. Not that they don't have enough to do, they can adopt a new branch for police enforcement. Can't you wait for the millage request certain to follow for adding this new level to their bureaucratic structure?
I urge anybody concerned with personal
freedom to oppose this odious piece of legislation.
The last thing I wish to do is move out
of my office space and do business out of the privacy of my home, but if
this comes to pass, I guess the Saginaw County Board of Commissioners
can add another task to their calendar - namely finding thriving
enterprises for the myriad of commercial vacancies they will undoubtedly
have to fill in business districts, law offices, and private enterprises
that permeate the streets of our community where adults and
professionals actually work in order to maintain some semblance of
alienability and privacy to the rights they pay their hard
earned money to obtain, and just happen to have open to the public.
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