Bleachers no place for smokers

The following letter (except for the last paragraph) ran in "The Republic" (Columbus, Indiana) on Sunday, 30 October 2005.

Date: Tue, 18 Oct 2005 09:15:36 -0500
To: "John Harmon -- letter to the editor"
Subject: Letter to the editor ("Clean air at Lincoln Park too?")

I remain opposed on principle to a legislative ban on smoking in private business establishments in Columbus.

However, as I read in today's paper about the upcoming ban on smoking in public places in Columbus, I have to admit that it has crossed my mind several times this summer, while watching my family play softball at Lincoln Park, how much more pleasant it would be to be able to breathe clean air in the city park without trying to hunt down a seat in the bleachers upwind from the smokers.

Now there's a place where the Columbus City Council probably actually has legitimate jurisdiction over smoking.

And if you buy all of the arguments about the deleterious effects of secondhand smoke, it would also be a bold stroke for public health on behalf of infants, children, and adult spectators in the stands at the park.

(Once the genie [ of nanny government ] is out of the bottle, it's hard to put him back.)