Do Smoking Bans Cause DUIs?

From the KNS:

”As the U.S. Surgeon General said last year — the debate is over, the science is clear. Secondhand smoke is a serious health hazard that causes premature death and disease in children and nonsmoking adults,” said Conte.

That statement is certainly true, and I’m not contesting it.  However, there is one small detail to this issue that proponents of smoking bans overlook–the freedom to choose.

I detest smoking.  I usually make the choice (there’s that word again) to stay away from bars and clubs for no other reason than the fact that I don’t want to come home smelling like an ashtray.  By making this personal decision, I am able to avoid second hand smoke, and the establishments I choose not to visit lose the opportunity to do business with me.

Using the logic of those who want to ban smoking, I’ll like to submit this counter to their argument:  Banning smoking in all public businesses would eliminate many non-smokers’ main reason for avoiding bars and night clubs.  Therefore, if smoking is banned, non-smokers will be more likely to go to bars and clubs.  Because they are in these establishments, non-smokers will be more likely to consume alcohol (which is unhealthy by the way), and also more likely to drive back to their homes (where they would have stayed if smoking had never been banned) while under the influence.

It would therefore be logical for a  non-smoker who’s been arrested for DUI to claim that if not for the smoking ban he would be neither drunk NOR driving.

Q.E.D.

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