To the dismay of many Ohio smokers, voters passed Issue 5 on November 7, 2006, creating Ohio’s indoor smoking ban. This ban requires “public places” and “places of employment” to prohibit smoking inside their establishments. They must place signs on their doors sporting a “No Smoking” warning, which must also have the number for people to report incidences to. The smoking ban covers many public places that include bars and restaurants.

So far there has not been much objection to this new ban because it has not been seriously enforced yet. Violators won’t face penalties until the state finalizes dozens of rules to enforce the ban. The Director of Health has six months (June 7, 2007) to adopt rules on how the procedure will work on how to enforce this law.

The ban has a good idea for protecting non-smokers from dangerous second-hand smoke, but their actions for this protection were done in an unfair fashion. The ban is definitely a good idea for restaurants because of the frequent visits from families with small children, pregnant women and people who are sickened by the smell of smoke.

Bars are a different story. People go to bars to drink, socialize and smoke cigarettes. Families with young children do not hang around bars at 9 p.m. on a Friday night. People who hang around bars at this hour seek inebriation and excitement. They seek the “party scene” and smoking has long been a common norm in this scene. Taking smoking away from people in the late-night drinking scene in bars seems like rights are being taken away without protecting the rights of others. Since the country we live in is a free one, this strategy to make everyone happy baffles my mind. A smoking ban in restaurants is acceptable, but in bars it seems ridiculous.

Then with this compromise we run into the problem of the restaurants that are bar and grills, such as Jed’s and Buffalo Wild Wings. Maybe it would make sense if these places would transition between being smoking and non-smoking based on the time of the day. Perhaps smoking in these establishments should be forbidden during the day and into the early evening when families are present. Then in the evening, around 9 p.m., smoking should be allowed because the family atmosphere has left and the “party scene” has moved in.

Everyone’s rights should be considered in this decision because people’s health is important, but taking away too many rights may lead to a slippery slope into a way of life that would make our forefathers frown.

When this ban starts being enforced and citations are being handed out, people will start objecting and rebelling about the unfairness of this law. When this law hits home and people are starting to be harassed and citied for public smoking, conflict will start. This will especially occur in bars where excessive alcohol consumption has been going on. People will try to smoke in bars when they are intoxicated because alcohol obviously lowers consideration for social norms and laws. This will cause serious problems that will lead to a lot of confrontations and disorderly conduct.

Not many people realize, or care to realize, the seriousness of Ohio’s smoking ban. People treat the smoking ban like a concept or some kind of humorless joke rather than an enforced law. When the ban is in full effect, and citations are being handed out, I believe there will be much more rebellion against this unfair law.

This smoking ban hits home, and all of us here at the University will be affected by this ban one way or another sometime in the next year. This ban does not seem popular around the collegiate “party scene” which usually falls into the age group of 21 to 27. Brittany Cheesewright, a sophomore IPC major, states that “restaurants are a family environment and there are children and elderly people who should not be subjected to smoke, but when you go to a bar it is almost implied someone will be smoking.” Agreeing with Brittany and going even a little further in denouncing the statewide smoking ban Brad Bisheimer, a sophomore Graphic Design major. “The smoking ban is taking away our freedom, because the government is putting limitations on where we can use a legal substance,” Bisheimer said.

The smoking ban might not be a huge issue right now, but it will be. There will be many angry people because they were kicked out of a bar and issued a $100 fine, with their only crime being smoking a legal substance.

Send comments to Scott Recker at [email protected].