The Smoking Gun

It's never over until it's over, and the owner of a bar in Warren doesn't think it's over. Boyd Cottrell, the owner of Sporty O'Toole's, is challenging the constitutionality of Michigan's smoking ban. His basic argument is that, as his place offers the same things the Detroit casinos, which are exempted from the ban, then he ought to have an exemption.

There are all sorts of interesting issues which come to play here. For starters, well, fair play. Why ought casinos get an exemption simply because they're casinos? Indeed, why ought they get an exemption at all if a smoking ban is so all fired good for the populace? This is not to defend smoking, which is of course a noxious habit, but to question how the state applies laws. It seems that where big money for Lansing or Detroit is concerned, niches may be cut.

Then, as always with such arguably feel good legislation, why does the state have the right to tell the owners of private establishments what they may allow in those places? Unless smoking is an activity which should be universally banned, how can we really tell pub owners whether to allow it or not in their place of business?

It is nice to step into a bar, restaurant, or what have you and not be accosted by smoke. On that ground, it is an easy regulation to support. But yet again, if smoking is all that bad then it ought to be banned altogether, and we still ignore the question of the owner's right to regulate, within reason, what is allowed in his business. Are we really acting properly to force onto someone what we like, not necessarily because it's immoral, but perhaps simply because we don't like it?

The quest shall eventually be settled, and almost certainly against Mr. Cottrell. But we do well to not forget that rights are what rights are, and not what we want them to be. In the end, as abhorrent as smoking is, and as we don't have the inherent right to enter private property, anyone's private property, then we must ruefully concede that, outside of a complete ban on smoking, the smoke free laws are off base.