The Longview Daily News weighed in on a Bremerton American Legion Post’s challenge to the state’s smoking ban Sunday, asking the legion to drop the issue like a bad habit.
Read their editorial here.
The ban, approved by Washington voters in 2005, is one of the most restrictive in the country. Read the Kitsap Sun story here.
The TDN also includes reader comments. The one about the “golden thread” of freedom is really boring. Don’t let all the talk about golden threads fool you.
Super Editorial!
“…Secondhand smoke is a well-documented health hazard. It contains more than 50 cancer-causing chemicals. Exposure to secondhand smoke can lead to heart disease, breast cancer and premature births, as well as lung cancer and other respiratory diseases. Federal health officials have estimated that each year secondhand smoke kills about 3,400 nonsmoking Americans from lung cancer, 46,000 from heart disease and 430 from sudden infant syndrome. A University of California, San Francisco study concluded that exposure to secondhand smoke is about 80 percent as harmful as being a smoker….”
Why would anyone consider their ‘right’ to smoke to mean their right to cause health problems to others? How can smoking in any public place be okay to the smoker knowing their smoke is damaging others?
Rereading your piece and the Editorial clearly shows the vast difference between reporting and opinion.
Why doesn’t this health risk extend to the casinos?
Sharon O’Hara
“Why doesn’t this health risk extend to the casinos?”
Because the Tribes are exempt from the laws under which the rest of us labor. You think, then, they should not be allowed to push legislation that doesn’t affect them?
How about – considering its health threats – the Tribes push legislation to prohibit restaurants from serving red meat? For our health, you know. Of course you can still enjoy a nice prime rib dinner at any one of your local sovereign casinos…
Blue…I don’t know of any warnings against red meat as a health hazard.
…and I’m sorry you mock the real health consequences of inhaling second hand smoke.
Sharon O’Hara