Smoke gets in your eyes

Way back in June, the federal government took a moment away from its stagnation on health care and the economy to sign some legislation of a different kind. The bill the government decided to pump out allowed the FDA to begin regulating the contents of tobacco products, notably their nicotine levels and additional flavorings.

Better late than never to jump on the anti-smoking bandwagon, it was supposed.

The explanation given for this particular bill stated that removal of flavorings will reduce the lure for first-time smokers and that limiting other chemical additives will ruin the taste of normal tobacco to the point where it is no longer palatable. In essence, the feds now must force healthy lifestyles upon us because we’re too stupid to do it ourselves.

Thank you, Big Brother.

The laws that mandate whether something is acceptable to smoke stem from the same pandering bureaucratic idiocy that tells gun manufacturers they can’t produce a particular pistol because its barrel is a millimeter too long.

This, of course, doesn’t change the fact that it’s still a gun. It still kills people.
The same is true for tobacco, except that tobacco users are only killing themselves (which is absolutely their right).

This is a popular move throughout the country, of course. On Jan. 1, 2008, the entire IU system went “tobacco- free,” meaning that all forms of tobacco, including cigarettes, cigars and chewing tobacco, were no longer welcome on any IU campus. Little reservations called “designated smoking areas” were set up around campus to cordon off the remnants who refused to conform.

Smoking cessation assistance was then offered for free by the University in a magnanimous gesture to help the disenfranchised smokers integrate into the new IU utopia.

The University touted it as a great step forward in the pursuit of excellence. Those affected saw it for what it was, just another maneuver for the IU leadership to make political headway by attacking a minority of its constituents.

People who smoke aren’t all evil. Very few are, in fact.

They are also well aware that it isn’t the healthiest of activities in which to engage. They don’t do it because they hate themselves or wish to speed up their race to the grave. They do it because they want to, much in the same way many of you out there wanted to have two to 15 drinks this past weekend.

If the smell from tobacco smoke offends you so, why not take a golf club and smash the windshield of the next car you see driving up Jordan Avenue? I guarantee that will do more to spare your nostrils than bullying someone who just wants to ease a little stress by lighting up.

If the government and IU administration truly want people to stop smoking, they should ban it outright. Otherwise, stop using smokers as a punching bag for your political gain. They’re not second-class citizens, and they don’t deserve to be treated as such.