I am against the public smoking ban and this crusade against smokers. I find it hypocritical and an assault on the rights of smokers. We have obeyed all “no smoking” laws, even when we have been discriminated against by employers who refuse to hire people who smoke, landlords who refuse to rent to people who smoke, and are denied service by establishments where they refuse to allow smokers by being a “no smoking” restaurant or bar.

Banning smoking isn’t going to improve the health of the people. That argument is a fallacy.

Why not ban:

• The carbon monoxide from vehicle emissions or cars that cause more health issues than cigarettes.

• Big Macs because they are contributing to Americas obesity and diabetes issues.

Sounds insane right? That’s because it is.

With all the pollutants in our water, earth, and air from mining and extracting fossil fuels, also toxic gaseous materials created by oil companies and nuclear plants, people are crusading over cigarette smoking? Really?

With our FDA-approved steroid and toxin-rich chemicals in our meat and food products, pesticide riddled and genetically modified Franken-veggies and Franken-fruits that cause all sorts of health issues, smoking in public areas is all of a sudden a problem?

This is bull, and this crusade is a con job perpetuated by people who have nothing better to do than to disenfranchise others by shaming, discriminating, and trying to control or take away the rights of others. In this case, smokers.

You can pick up a cigarette butt. Littering laws can be observed, but telling smokers they can’t smoke is morally wrong. People say “second-hand smoke kills!” That’s a lie. The truth is prolonged exposure to second-hand smoke is unhealthy but no less unhealthy than the smog or the massive amount of carbon monoxide that everyone with a car is subjecting everyone else to!

Where is the moral outrage or the “anti-smoker” sensibility when people are burning massive amounts of fossil fuels in the air all day everyday?

This is hypocrisy at its best.

I like to enjoy smoking a cigarette or two with a dirty martini on the back patio of a bar away from nonsmokers who are inside. Taking that away from me because it’s cool to be anti-smoking is infringing on my right to smoke. Last time I checked, it was still legal. Or are non-smokers going to try to take that away too?

No.

I am against banning smoking in public in Santa Barbara. Find another law to pass or better yet, get a friggin’ hobby already, and stop bullying smokers!

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