Conspiracy Corner

Sure this may sound like something that some young barfly might say after waking up next to a beer-goggled conquest from the night before, but it is also the formula for citizens who slowly but surely forfeit their rights to the sponge of an overreaching government.

Take the possible Ohio smoking ban for example. There is a possibility that by the end of next fall, it could be illegal for citizens to smoke in all public places in the state. Sure this could possibly improve the health of some of the population, but at what cost? No one is going to quit smoking because of a law-- if they’re willing to fork over the cash for a pack of smokes in spite of all the price-hikes, then I highly doubt that they’ll stop because they can’t light up in a Friday’s.

It’s already a no-no to smoke in the majority of restaurants now anyway. Now you get herds of stalwart patriots loitering out in front of eating establishments and businesses and indulging in their addiction.

This will just get worse with a statewide ban.

If you thought it was bad having smokers on the other side of the restaurant, wait until you have to pull a Moses and part a sea of second-hand just to walk in and order your all-you-can-eat ribs and diet soda (you’re right, you are a health-nut compared to smokers).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that everyone should smoke, hell, I don’t even smoke (at least not since Sputnik), but it’s a freedom issue. Do you think that all abolitionists were African-American? Of course not, but you don’t have to be like someone to defend their rights.

Trust me, if this ban passes, it’s not about smoking or the risks that come with it, but how much the government can take before we put a stop to it. This issue is a litmus test for what we’re willing to take.

For now it’s the inconveniencing of a few easy targets, but soon, it will be all of us, and it won’t be about where we can and can’t have a smoke. It’ll be something much more heinous than that. When the time comes, and it will, don’t open the door for the further usurping of our liberties. What’s portrayed as our best interest is what can often be the most harmful.

I know it.

- Roy Bancroft, Jr.