Non-Smokers Rights

In my interview with State Representative, John Cauthorn this week at MexicoMaxim.com, I posed the question, "Do you think Missouri will ever be a smoke free state, or is the tobacco lobby in Jefferson City too powerful?"

John's answer skirted both sides of the issue, and as a politician not wanting to lose any votes I can understand why  he would answer that way.

But what about the rights of non-smokers to breathe smoke free air? 80% of the population does NOT smoke, don't we have rights too? Tobacco is the number 1 preventable cause of death in the United States. Tobacco use places a tremendous burden on the health care system. Why? Because many smokers don't have insurance, they're on welfare rolls, and taxpayer dollars are going toward their tobacco habits and the health care they will require as a consequence of tobacco use.

Today, 39 states in this country are smoke free - including most of the states that border Missouri.

Technically speaking smokers have no inherent right to smoke. The United States Bill of Rights clearly spells out ten fundamental rights of all Americans, and The Right To Smoke is not in the list. Nor has Congress since that time enacted any law or amendment guaranteeing smokers have a right to smoke.

80% of the population does not smoke. Isn't it time somebody started standing up for our rights (and health), too?

Audrain County will have a new Audrain County Health Board overseeing the operation of the Audrain County Health Department starting in 2013. That board will also have the power to enact ordinances that protect the health of all residents of Audrain County.  Let's hope they have the wisdom to make Audrain County a smoke free county.

So it goes.