Smoking bans

Allegheny County's smoking ban got shot down in Commonwealth Court so Scranton has decided to stop enforcing it's ordinance. So far the only business that has been cited is Chick's Diner and the owners are suing the city. Either cigarettes are legal or not. But the government collects huge amounts of taxes on a product that everyone agrees is a health hazard so they won't outlaw them. The same with booze and the neo-prohibitionist drunk driving zealots. Many restaurants and bars have already instituted a smoke free policy and that is their choice. If you smoke and can't take an hour off from your habit go somewhere else. Steve Corbett's new show debuted on WILK today and what little I caught of it he was was on his high horse about banning smoking. As I was listening to him I was behind a dump truck that was spewing diesel fumes that wasn't pleasant and there was a bus ahead of it. Auto emissions, pesticides, coal fired power plants, etc are all fouling the air. Alex and the gang also weigh in on the Nanny State aspects of these laws over at PAWatercooler.com.

And we had a discussion previously on this with Russ Diamond framing it as a question of property rights.