No Smoking In Charleston, South Carolina, Y'all

On June 23^rd, 2007 Charleston, SC officially became a member of the No Smoking club. The ordinance was approved by a 9-4 vote in January. The new law requires almost all of the enclosed workplaces in Charleston to be non-smoking. There are very few exceptions to the strict ordinance and Charlestonians are all breathing a little easier. That is, except for the smokers.

The new law prohibits smoking in all enclosed workplaces, such as offices, auditoriums, conference and meeting rooms, cafeterias, restrooms and restaurants and bars to name a few. People may smoke outside as long as the smoke cannot enter the building. This means no smoking in front of doorways or open windows.

75% of inns, hotels, motels, B&B's, and other guest lodgings must be smoke-free. 25% or less can be set aside as smoking rooms. Obviously these places must be able to provide lodging to smokers.

Smoking is only permitted in the following places: Private residences, cigar bars, retail tobacco outlets, religious ceremonies where it's part of the ritual, medical research, and performers on a stage or screen. Violators of the ordinance can be fined over $1000 and subject to 30 days in jail.

No smoking signs must be placed at the entrance to all establishments. Even small businesses that employ one or more employees must adhere to the law.

Business owners, especially restaurant and bar owners were against the ban for obvious reasons. They claimed that their patrons would head to other counties that don't have a no-smoking law. However Sullivan's Island passes a similar law recently and Mt. Pleasant has a smoking ban about to go into effect on September 1^st, 2007. Realistically people aren't going to go miles out of their way just to be able to smoke a couple of cigarettes while they eat.

Many people argue that these laws are a violation of civil rights. If that were the case, then perhaps we should revoke the anti-nudity laws, or other laws that regulate any kind of behavior that affects everyone. The smoking bans that are sweeping the country are in the interests of public health, not because "the government" or "they" want to take rights away from the public. The simple fact is that smoking causes many diseases and illnesses, many of which are long-term and fatal. Most of the people working in these businesses and/or eating/drinking in restaurants or bars don't smoke. Why should they be subjected to second-hand smoke on a daily basis because smokers don't want to take it outside? The answer is that they shouldn't, and the fact that more and more of these ordinances and laws are being passed by a huge majority shows that this is what the majority of people want. As "they" say, the ayes have it.