Smoking Ban

An individual-rights issue collided with the issue of public health during the Nicholasville City Commission workshop Monday afternoon. The topic: a proposed smoke-free ordinance Nearly two dozen people voiced their thoughts to the city commission, and the opinions between the two sides were as different as apples and oranges. “Our smoking customers will go to one of the other businesses (that have an outdoor area in which to smoke),” Lynn Congleton, owner of Shakey Ground, a bar on Maple Street, told the commission.

It’s time to clear the air. The possibility that Jessamine County may enact a smoking ban has clouded some thinking, and not with cigarette smoke. “We have no rights whatsoever anymore,” groused Rick Turner in a WKYT interview aired Monday night. “I just think we ought to have some rights and some choices. You either do that or you move to a communist nation where you don’t have any choices.” Reality check. Even if there is an ordinance banning smoking in public places, Mr. Turner will still have choices.

The Wilmore City Council discussed Monday how it would vote when it came time to review the proposed smoking ban for Jessamine County in a couple of weeks. The topic has been up for debate in the Jessamine County Fiscal Court, Nicholasville City Commission and Wilmore City Council for more than a year. All three governmental bodies within the county will meet Feb. 22 to discuss the proposal. The plan the governments are looking at initially came from patterns used in Danville and Ashland.

The topic of a smoke-free ordinance in Jessamine County seems to be a taboo subject. Oh, every now and then there will be a brief interest in discussing it, but it seems serious talks continually keep getting put off. In a June 16, 2010, article in this newspaper, it was reported that the smoking debate could likely take a back seat until after the November 2010 general election. In a Nov. 9, 2010, article in The Journal, the three heads of our local governments — Jessamine County Judge-Executive Neal Cassity, Nicholasville Mayor Russ Meyer and Wilmore Mayor Harold Rainwater — said the subject would be discussed at the next joint governmental meeting.

Three candidates for Kentucky governor appeared in Louisville Friday and sparred on issues including tax reform, a statewide smoking ban and a drug-testing requirement for those receiving public assistance. Republicans state Sen. David Williams, R-Burkesville, and Louisville businessman Phil Moffett and independent Lexington attorney Gatewood Galbraith spoke during a 90-minute forum at the Hyatt Regency Louisville during the Kentucky Press Association Winter Convention. Incumbent Democrat Gov. Steve Beshear declined to attend.

On Thursday, for the first time in American history, the 112th Congress opened up its tenure by reciting the U.S. Constitution on the House floor. Progressive Democrats bemoaned the act as “nonsense,” “ritualistic” and “propaganda.” Too bad for them, they missed the point. When I was a kid and I misbehaved in class, my teacher would make me write lines. I’d have to write 300 times, “I will not talk in class” — fitting for a guy who now makes his living with words.

The Jessamine County school district is looking to send a strong message of good health as it goes completely smoke-free Jan. 1, 2011, while local governments wait for a joint meeting to discuss the possibility of a countywide smoking ban in workplaces. Smoking had previously been prohibited in all buildings at all times and on all property owned by the school district during the school day, leaving open the possibility of adults smoking cigarettes at outdoor events during the evening.

Like school kids atop a snow-covered hill during a driving storm — oblivious to conditions around them — so health nannies stand, gleefully ready to push us and our freedoms down a slippery slope leading to a ride that might not offer so much fun. I don’t question the motives behind a smoking-ban proposal now under consideration by the Bullitt County Health Department and its Board of Health. They and many — including me — have grave concerns about the health of Kentuckians.

A smoking-ban “family” of government officials and health nuts wants to make some northern Kentucky residents “an offer they can’t refuse.” Think of it as “The Godfather,” Kentucky style. Ever since Lexington enacted Kentucky’s first government-mandated smoking ban in 2004, these “Dons” have pushed for government-imposed smoking bans on private property, primarily restaurants and bars in Northern Kentucky. They continue to twist arms to get bans in Boone, Campbell and Kenton counties.