Illegal Substances

The whole Roger Clemens incident and general topic of banned substances in baseball is getting pretty long in the tooth. So, let's talk about another substance that's now illegal in many settings, is grown right here in the states, and is still the rage of stage and screen.

Driving around Kentucky you see two different kinds of fences -- black and white. The white ones nearly always signal a nearby horse farm. The acreages are so large you may not actually see any horses, but you can rest assured they live there. Each one is dotted with an elaborate barn -- not a barn really, but a horse palace. Kentucky is, of course, home to the Kentucky Derby, and many of the horses that win someday compete for that horse racing crown.

Then there are the black fences, and black barns. They represent the other cash cow of Kentucky -- tobacco.

Tobacco is perfectly legal to grow, to buy, and to have possession of. But use it for its intended purpose, and you may find yourself in water. Lighting up is getting harder to do in government buildings, around hospitals, and even in your favorite restaurant.

In the Iowa state legislature, a bill has been introduced that effectively bans smoking everywhere but in your own home (unless your home doubles as an in-home daycare, then smoking is a no-no even there). Walk within a few feet of the doorway to the mall, and you better be putting your cigarette out! There are exceptions, of course. Your corner tavern is one. Casinos are another. If you're caught blowing chemical smoke in the general vicinity of another, you could pay a $500 fine.

What do we make of this? Tough call.

I have never smoked a cigarette, not one. I hate cigarette smoke. Put me in a room with a smoker and I'll limp out with a headache after a half hour. I am in favor of restaurant owners making their establishment smoke-free. I'm certainly in favor of other business owners deciding whether their own employees have the privilege of lighting up while on the clock. And I know that, as a taxpayer, I'm footing the bill for millions of tobacco users who may become cancer carriers someday. I certainly don't like that.

But, I'm not sure that this broad-based ban on smoking is a good thing. Smoking is legal. Tobacco is legal. Are we trampling on individual rights? Are we creating laws that are nearly impossible to enforce? Are we taking away the liberties of individual business owners and giving too much responsibility to big government?

Seems to me we've been down this road before. It was called prohibition. It lasted a few years, and ultimately was lifted. Changes in the way society morally views alcohol has made consumption more acceptable today. "Adult beverages" are big business. Whether that's good or bad is another topic altogether.

So, what do we do about smoking? Lift all bans, pass local and state laws limiting usage, or get rid of the "heart darts" at the federal level? What say you?