Sunday, February 19, 2006
Dear Legislator:
....I'm sending this message to all Kansas representatives
and senators whose email addresses I was able to find.
....Last night I had a very nice dinner at a local Chinese
buffet. The one sour note in a pleasant evening was the foul stench
of cigarette smoke drifting from the "smoking
section". I put that term in quotes because, as in
most restaurants in our state, the so-called smoking section is
in the same room as the so-called nonsmoking section. Having a
smoking section in a restaurant is like having a peeing section
in a swimming pool.
....When will the Kansas legislature put a stop to this
idiotic situation? The last time I looked into this subject, seven
states had done away with smoking in enclosed public places. My
question to you is: Will we be the eighth or ninth state to join
the civilized world in passing such sensible legislation, or will
we be forty-ninth or fiftieth?
....The
inevitable red herring always dragged through the debate on this
subject is "smokers'
rights". I do not dispute for one moment anyone's
right to kill himself, whether it's with a bullet to the
head or with self-administered poison gas. What nobody has a right
to do is to take innocent bystanders down with him, whether the
weapon is flying lead or toxic fumes.
....Given the fact that many of the innocent bystanders
currently under chemical assault have no choice in the matter
unless they quit their jobs, and given the inevitable healthcare
costs to the state and its taxpayers, it is in the state's interest to put an end to the present nonsense
sooner rather than later.
Updated 1-5-07