Lift ban on smoking in bars

Tuesday, March 2, 1999

Lift ban on smoking in bars

LAWS: Health campaigns target cigarettes, but risks common for
any activity

I picked up the Sunday paper the other day, and right next to
Gene Siskel’s smiling face was an article about vice cops in San
Diego who have been cracking down on smokers in bars, fining them
up to $275. I think I laughed, then coughed since I was smoking
down the last of my grit.

"San Diego is doing an excellent job," said Diana Kaiser,
director of the California Smoke-free Bar Program, "We wish other
cities would use the San Diego model, and we plan to bring it to
their attention."

Hmm … first of all, Diana, you are the director of what? The
California Smoke-free Bar Program. That seems like a credible
association – that does absolutely nothing.

Apparently it is not only illegal to smoke in bars now, but it
is also illegal to reveal the identity of an undercover vice cop.
Imagine this: you’re in a bar, you transiently forget about the new
smoking ban and light up a smooth Lucky Strike. The girl you’ve
been talking to for the last hour takes your hand, and you walk out
with her. Then she begins writing you a ticket. "One hundred
dollars," you scream under your breath.

After a few sarcastic comments, you walk back in, buy another
drink and begin telling people about the vice cop that just busted
you. She comes back in, and everybody stares at her.

As she glides past you, some guy remarks, "I inhaled some smoke
driving here in the smog, and when I walked in I coughed it around.
Several people have complained about my smoggy breath. Am I
eligible for a fine too?" Your fine is now $275 for revealing the
identity of a vice cop.

There is something funny but also disturbing about that story.
Funny, because it’s ridiculous to be fined while smoking in a bar,
and disturbing, because that story is true (except for the
hypothetical characters and inane comment).

The idea that secondhand smoke is bad for the lungs is no
surprise. But the grayish cloud hanging in the air, the smokestack
next to the UCLA police department and that burger you just put
down are all equally bad for your health, if you plug it into some
formula.

If you’re a bartender and complain about secondhand smoke
"that’s like a mechanic complaining about getting his hands
greasy," says John Costello (proud non-smoker but advocate of
smokers’ rights). Waitresses and bartenders take a calculated job
risk just like anybody else in a potentially hazardous
situation.

You can’t say dismantling a nuclear weapon isn’t risky. People
have been smoking for ages. It’s a time old tradition, just like
alcohol and chocolate. What about the secondhand victims of
alcohol-related car accidents?

You see, I enjoy the occasional cigarette after a meal, maybe
one after a four hour final or perhaps in a bar where it isn’t
unusual to use drugs such as nicotine and alcohol. In fact, you may
be surprised that nicotine has some benefits.

It arouses the mind by releasing acetylcholine neurotransmitters
which are key for memory and other cognitive faculties. It also
makes you more alert and can ease tension and stress.

Now I’m not suggesting that you smoke four packs a day and a few
cigars and visit the hookahs at Gypsy Cafe while packing a tight
wad of Shoal’s Wintergreen dip in the back of your mouth, but you
can have a cigarette or two – I don’t care.

I believe cigarettes should not be allowed in certain places and
should not be smoked in certain circumstances. Smoke-free
restaurants are OK. You probably shouldn’t smoke in the ICU
(Intensive Care Unit), in Health and Fitness 100, at the first
meeting of the California Smoke-free Bar Program, in a room full of
propane or in your mother’s car. You also shouldn’t fall asleep
smoking a cigarette in bed, smoke at your first job interview,
smoke if you’re pregnant or smoke in a fire.

Sure, there are plenty of reasons why we shouldn’t be smoking,
but then there are plenty of reasons why we shouldn’t be doing a
lot of things.

I would relinquish my right to have a cigarette in a bar if this
were a utopian society of law-abiding citizens where the government
didn’t allow the mass sale of cigarettes to China and other
countries where up to 80 percent of the population claim to
smoke.

Tobacco company profits may be declining in domestic sales, and
the Americans seem to be becoming more health conscious, but there
is no reason why we shouldn’t market and sell as many cigarettes as
we can to children in Czechoslovakia. Right? This policy seems a
little hypocritical to me.

The media would like to feed you the illusion that tobacco
companies are losing the "war against cigarettes." But the millions
that they lose in class action lawsuits or the $300
billion-something settlement they made with the American public are
slight dents in the profits these companies are raking in from
overseas. Tobacco companies make over 70 percent of their profits
exporting tobacco products.

People are still smoking cigarettes. I really don’t think people
will stop smoking unless it is seriously affecting their personal
health. But how do you know?

Well for starters, if you get addicted to the nicotine patch
while trying to kick the habit, then you should seriously evaluate
your personal addiction.

Also, if that cough you got back during flu season hasn’t gone
away for 16 years, you should probably put out that cigarette. The
idea that smoking takes a few years off your life may or may not be
true. There are just too many other factors such as environment,
diet and exercise that make any vital statistic seem a little less
credible.

If you’re a non-smoker then you’re probably rejoicing over the
new tax hike and smoke-free America campaign. But people who enjoy
tobacco are having a hard time trying to bum cigarettes. I never
ask anyone if they can spare an extra cig because for $4.50 a pack
they are going to say, "Uh … dude, this is like my last one." Or
I’ve always like the response, "Sorry, I bummed this off somebody
else."

The unspoken etiquette that smokers once had – that is the
common courtesy to share a cigarette – is slowly disappearing.

I think Westwood has been getting a little too conservative
recently. The opening of the new smoke store, Illusions, has caused
complaints from residents. Apparently the sale of "glass pipes,"
incense and glowing mushrooms is a little bit too weird for a
college town. Who are these people, and why are they still living
here?

Let me reiterate: Westwood is for the students – there are over
30,000 of us here. Let us have dance clubs and smoke shops and stop
whining about the stupid dome. Who cares what color it is – as if
preserving the historic authenticity of the city means anything
anymore.

Imran Khaliq

Did you know you can buy cigarettes in Boelter Hall at the SEAS
engineering cafe? E-mail all complaints or comments to
[email protected].

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