Beginning on January 1, 2008, all indoor workplaces and public places, including bars/taverns, restaurants, private clubs, and casinos, will be smoke-free. Smoking will also be prohibited within 15 feet of all entrances and exits, windows that open and ventilation intakes. The new law ensures that all Illinois workers will have a workplace safe from secondhand smoke, and that all of us can breathe clean, smoke-free air when we eat out or spend a night on the town…the Smoke Free Illinois Act prohibits smoking in all indoor workplaces and public places including bars/taverns, restaurants, private clubs, and casinos.
No, Illinois is hardly Paradise. No matter how you slice it, it’s still Illinois…and it still isn’t a place I’d care to call home. Hey, before you begin getting on my case, I was born in Chicago, ‘kay? I know of which I speak. As of January 1st, though, Illinois sucks just a wee bit less, because smoking in all indoor workplaces and public places has largely been outlawed. Another triumph for the lungs of those who refuse to have to inhale second-hand smoke…and one more battle victoriously concluded in the war against tobacco. Even France has banned smoking in bars and restaurants effective January 1st. Cafe culture may never be the same, but even the French government recognizes the health hazards posed by second-hand smoke. Now if Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe follow suit, life would be pretty good, no?
Of course, I’ll grant you that the logical question is how far down this road is too far? I believe that government absolutely has a role in promoting public health, but there’s a point where too much of a good thing is exactly that. I’m not certain I have the answer to that question, but I’m ecstatic with each victorious skirmish in the war against smoking. I’ve said it before (and some of y’all have hammered me for it), and I’ll say it again- your right to smoke ends when it impacts my right to breathe clean, untobaccofied air. If you choose to slowly commit suicide, that’s one thing, but I refuse to be an unwilling participant and be adversely impacted by your carcinogenic addiction.
It will be a beautiful day when smoking is taxed to the point of being prohibitively expensive AND there are no longer easy or convenient venues available for smokers to feed their addiction. I realize that may sound harsh, but after growing up with a father who smoked, and after having worked in the former Yugoslavia, where smoking is the national sport, I DETEST cigarettes. Yes, perhaps it’s not rational, but I no longer really care about being rational. It’s about the right to breathe clean air. Period. Any questions?
