2008 Woodie Awards
Smoke free is the way to be
Kim Seedor
Issue date: 11/29/07 Section: Op/Ed
The majority of my so-called social life had always taken place in New York state. In 5th grade, 'going into town' was the rave on Fridays after school; my friends and I would sit at the window bar in the local pizza shop and giggle about crushes and inside jokes. When I was 14, my mom would drop me off at the cheap Chinese restaurant, where my friends and I would secretly meet boys. Senior year of high school, I used to linger outside of the local bars hoping to get past the bouncer.
Absolutely none of this entailed suffocating in cigarette smoke.
As far back as I can remember, there was always an option: choosing the non-smoking section over the smoking. Moving far enough away from a smoker out-of-doors to get some fresh air. Walking into the bar to escape the crowd of drinkers on their smoking breaks.
Yes - it's true - back home, I can walk indoors to find fresher, cleaner air. Here in Allentown, it's a completely different story; it's a story of smelling my jacket the morning after a bar night and needing to hang it out of the window for two days. It's a story of developing a severe irritating headache from cigarette smoke when I should be developing an alcohol buzz. But mostly, it's about a pathologist examining my lungs after my death and concluding that I was a smoker, even though I wasn't.
At least some states, California, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, have banned smoking in bars. I think it's time for Pennsylvania to jump on the bandwagon and put an end to the nights of palpable air due to thick smoke.
When the idea was first publicized, the notion of a smoke-free atmosphere caused a lot of controversy. There was concern amongst business owners that revenue would be reduced. People were worried that the smoking problem would move elsewhere, invading other public areas or becoming increasingly common at home.
But in reality, quite the opposite has occurred. In years since New York City adapted the smoking ban, the number of employees in bars and restaurants have increased, which has turned greater profits for these establishments. Moreover, research has shown that residents have not begun to congregate at other places to smoke, and the incidents of smoking at home have remained constant.
With everything we now know about the dangers of smoking, along with research that shows no financial loss to businesses, it would be impossible for the state government to turn down a bill that will ban smoking in public places. Maybe and hopefully for the first time, I won't have to immediately shower after coming home from Pennsylvania bars.
Absolutely none of this entailed suffocating in cigarette smoke.
As far back as I can remember, there was always an option: choosing the non-smoking section over the smoking. Moving far enough away from a smoker out-of-doors to get some fresh air. Walking into the bar to escape the crowd of drinkers on their smoking breaks.
Yes - it's true - back home, I can walk indoors to find fresher, cleaner air. Here in Allentown, it's a completely different story; it's a story of smelling my jacket the morning after a bar night and needing to hang it out of the window for two days. It's a story of developing a severe irritating headache from cigarette smoke when I should be developing an alcohol buzz. But mostly, it's about a pathologist examining my lungs after my death and concluding that I was a smoker, even though I wasn't.
At least some states, California, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington, have banned smoking in bars. I think it's time for Pennsylvania to jump on the bandwagon and put an end to the nights of palpable air due to thick smoke.
When the idea was first publicized, the notion of a smoke-free atmosphere caused a lot of controversy. There was concern amongst business owners that revenue would be reduced. People were worried that the smoking problem would move elsewhere, invading other public areas or becoming increasingly common at home.
But in reality, quite the opposite has occurred. In years since New York City adapted the smoking ban, the number of employees in bars and restaurants have increased, which has turned greater profits for these establishments. Moreover, research has shown that residents have not begun to congregate at other places to smoke, and the incidents of smoking at home have remained constant.
With everything we now know about the dangers of smoking, along with research that shows no financial loss to businesses, it would be impossible for the state government to turn down a bill that will ban smoking in public places. Maybe and hopefully for the first time, I won't have to immediately shower after coming home from Pennsylvania bars.