Published: December 02, 2007 01:28 am            

Smoke-free in Meridian

This past week, the Meridian City Council discussed the possibility of a city-wide smoking ban … again. The council passed a ban in 2004, but it was vetoed by Mayor John Robert Smith. The council let the veto stand because it included places they “did not want included” in the ban.

I have mixed feelings about this law. First of all, I do not smoke. I don’t like the smell of cigarette smoke (especially when I am trying to eat), and I would love to live the rest of my life never, ever, smelling cigarette smoke again. On the other hand, I am very concerned when government steps in and tells a private business what they can or cannot do. In this case, the other hand comes out way ahead.

Our government doesn’t always do such a good job of running itself, and I sure don’t want government telling me how to run my own business. Note — for a reminder of how bad government screws up when dealing with a private business, research the “Mississippi Beef Processors” fiasco.

Yet, here is government considering telling a private business they cannot allow a free person to consume a legal product on their own premises. Many businesses already have a no-smoking policy by their own choice. This newspaper, by choice, has a designated smoking area outside of our building. Most restaurants have areas which are smoke-free. Whether to allow smoking on their private property is a business decision that the owners or managers make, and that is absolutely wonderful in my book. Some of my best friends smoke, yet they are respectful of me and exercise their free right to smoke far enough away so as not to offend my senses.

Other cities in Mississippi have already adopted stringent smoking bans. Many of these laws are written in language that places the responsibility for the enforcement of the law on the private businesses. This is my primary point of contention.

If a legal, private citizen chooses to light up a legally purchased cigarette in a private establishment, should the owner be held accountable by law? How many strikes should a private establishment be allowed before they are fined? What if citizens held a “smoke in” at the mall the week before Christmas — should we shut the mall down, penalizing the businesses rather than the individuals?

What if a legal, private citizen chooses to light up a cigarette in City Hall — should the mayor or the city council be held accountable by law?

If a business wants to allow smoking, that should be their right. I probably wouldn’t willingly patronize that business, but I respect their right to make that decision. When I lived in Laurel, my husband and I entered into a business partnership with another couple to open an upscale coffee house in the downtown area. We purposely chose to prohibit smoking in our building, allowing smoking only outside in our courtyard area. Over eight years later, we have had only a handful of customers who lit up in our restaurant and every one of them extinguished their cigarettes when we asked them to refrain from smoking.

A couple of years ago, my husband and I enjoyed a wonderful, smoke-free evening with great friends in a popular establishment in Hattiesburg. We all commented how nice it was to go home without the usual stench of cigarette smoke in our hair and in our clothes. That’s because Hattiesburg had recently passed a smoking ban, so that city’s nightspots were “forced” to prevent their customers from smoking. By the way, that establishment was just as busy (if not busier) as they were before the smoking ban.

Unfortunately, too many businesses won’t take it upon themselves to request that smokers refrain from lighting up. Even though I enjoyed that smoke-free evening out, it was the result of a policy decision from government rather than a business decision from the owner.

While I applaud the result, I disagree with the method.



Crystal Dupré is publisher of The Meridian Star. E-mail her at

cdupre@themeridianstar.com.

        

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