On Nov. 9, the Florence City Council voted to defeat an ordinance that would ban smoking in public places. Four people — Councilman Bill Bradham, Councilman Ed Robinson, Councilman Billy Williams, and Councilman Steve Powers — are responsible for the outcome. What did Florence lose by that decision?
To begin, secondhand smoke kills. About 50,000 innocent, non-smoking Americans die each year from secondhand smoke.
To put this in perspective, all together about 50,000 American soldiers died during the entire Vietnam conflict. Al Qaida only wishes it could do to us what smokers do every month.
Second, the lethal effect of cigarette smoke is non-linear; the damaging effects of the chemicals in cigarette smoke increase rapidly at low concentrations. Translated: Cigarette smoke is nearly as harmful to the bystander as it is to the smoker.
Finally, the smoking ordinance did not prohibit smoking. In no way would the proposed ordinance have prevented smokers from buying and smoking cigarettes. Instead, by restricting smoking to private places and keeping smoking out of public places, the ordinance protected the 80 percent who choose not to smoke.
At the City Council meeting, opponents of the smoking ordinance invoked the word “freedom” as justification for their decision. The “freedom” they described is a perversion of what Americans mean by the word. Opponents of the smoking ordinance defended a “freedom” of smokers to force their habit on non-smokers.
A love of freedom is part of our shared, Southern culture. We must not allow the word “freedom” to be twisted by special interests to justify its opposite, coercion. We must be free to choose. Eighty percent of the electorate has chosen not to smoke. If the public is forced to inhale cigarette smoke in public places, then that freedom to choose has been stolen.
I see Florence as a city at a crossroads. We are blessed with so much talent and with so much potential. There is no reason that Florence could not become an Aiken, but grander. We have a Arts Trail Gallery. We have a symphony. We have a Little Theater, and we are building a performing arts center.
Our library must be the most elegant in the state. Yet, the downtown is a scary place at night, and every street corner is decorated with cigarette butts. We just need a little push in the right direction. The proposed smoking ordinance was a push.
Ian Smith
Florence
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