Oklahoma Smokers

The city of Norman, Oklahoma may enact a public smoking ban in the near future.

The Norman City Council is considering banning all smoking in public parks, the golf course and even on city owned parking lots.

This after Noble, another Cleveland County town, recently enacted a ban on smoking in its public parks.

As smoking has been banned from more and more indoor locations it is only reasonable to expect that the anti-smoking zealots would go after outdoor smoking.

They have and have already achieved considerable success with smoking bans in football stadiums, zoos and now public parks.

The handwriting is all over the wall and unless smokers as well as others interested in individual rights take a more active role in public policy and decision making, odds are that before long smoking in public will be relegated to the same status as urinating in public; a criminal offense.

It strains the imagination that anyone would claim that second-hand tobacco smoke outdoors, in the presence of Oklahoma’s prevailing winds, constitutes a health hazard to anyone. Such claims simply fly in the face of logic and reason. Yet they play well to a gullible public eager to have someone to look down upon and yes, even to hate.

Some of the anti-smoking zealots have concluded that the health hazard argument of second-hand tobacco smoke outdoors makes no sense. Therefore they have switched tactics claiming that if smoking is not banned from outdoors in public parks, zoos and other facilities, children will see some adults smoking and concluded that smoking is ‘a good thing’.

That argument is as weak as is that regarding heath hazards from second hand smoke outdoors. If non-smokers have not indoctorinated their children in the evils of smoking they probably should be prosecuted for child neglect or in he least shunned for their political incorrectness.

If your children are convinced to take up smoking owing to the fact they see me smoke out doors, then all I can say is that you are pretty damned poor excuses for parents.

Otherwise you would have ‘taught them better’.