�Statewide Ohio Smoking Ban Proposed

The liberal anti-smoking do-gooders confuse me. And I'm fairly certain that the liberal activists are pretty much the same people who merely change their protest signs depending on the cause of the day. Whether it is pro-abortion, anti-fur, homosexual rights, global warming, anti-SUVs, or whatever, these lefties are homogeneous. Just tell them when, where, and the cause du jour and they'll show up. And, of course, the media will normally overemphasize their presence and message.

So, at the same time that they are pushing hard to get marijuana smoking legalized, they are pushing hard to get laws passed to make tobacco smoking illegal. Their argument is that tobacco smoking is harmful and it bothers people, but marijuana smoking should be legal because it's no worse than drinking liquor. It sure seems that the anti-smoking crowd should be against all smoking, not just tobacco.

Well, anyway, it came as news to me that there is a current effort to get a statewide ban on smoking in public voted into law by referendum on the 2004 ballot. If it does get on the ballot and is passed, Ohio will be following the path forged by California, Florida, and New York City. That's one way to look at it.

Another way to look at it is that if the referendum is passed, Ohio will be taking away another freedom from its citizens just as was done in the liberal mecca of New York City and the socialist states of California and Florida.

Russ Lemmon reports on the proposed Ohio smoking ban for the Toledo Blade.