Bloomington Herald-Times, November 9, 2005
To the editor:
I do not smoke. I would encourage everyone who smokes to stop doing so immediately, because of the damage you are doing to your health. If you will not quit for yourself, I urge you to quit for your family's sake.
However, tobacco is a legal product and government should not prohibit its use on private property. While the ban on smoking in "public places" benefits me personally, what right do I have to force my preferences on a private property owner?
On Oct. 14, Joyce Poling and Iris Kiesling voted to extend the county smoking ban to every workplace in the county. One reason for doing this was to make the ban the same as the city ban to avoid "confusion." Does anyone really think that businesses, which already abide by a plethora of federal, state and local regulations, will be unable to discern the differences between a city and county smoking ban? Is this a step toward "unigov?"
What good did it do to elect Joyce Poling last year when she votes no different from a Democrat? Would conservatives have been better off with Michael "Moss" Englert? At least Englert does not pretend to be a Republican.
Scott Tibbs.
