Leave it to Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson to try to keep the party going for cigar smokers in Oakland County Michigan.
Early this morning Kathleen Gray of the Detroit Free Press reported that Brooks (@brookspatterson) was planning on filing suit against the State of Michigan over the state-wide smoking ban that will go into affect May 1st, 2010. He took the position because he believed the ban was an unfunded mandate. Basically the Oakland County Health Department wouldn’t have the funding to hire the staff necessary to police bars and restaurants and make sure that people aren’t smoking.
The suit was filed this afternoon (Thursday) with the Michigan Court of Appeals.
The glimmer of hope for Michigan cigar lovers unfortunately vanished as quickly as it appeared. After receiving over 70 phone calls and numerous emails from Oakland County residents that disagreed with his opposition of the ban, L. Brooks withdrew the suit.
Although it was an exciting day for smokers in the state, the ban is still being fought along the wrong lines. This law is about removing citizens rights, and denying people the right to make their own decisions (if you still want to cry about 2nd hand smoke – go read The Myth of Second Hand Smoke). If the county/state doesn’t have the money to enforce the ban, and that’s what gets it repealed, then it’s obviously a positive thing for cigar smokers. The bigger picture, however, is still the idea of the government dictating what we can and cannot do.
Like Brooks, I have also never been a cigarette smoker. I don’t see the appeal of it, and I obviously believe in the scientific proof that it causes cancer and other serious life-threatening illnesses.
However, even if I don’t like smelling like cigarette smoke every time I go to a restaurant or bar, I strongly believe that smoking is a personal decision that people should be able to make for themselves. Personal freedoms tend to slip away quickly when the government gets involved, and are always incredibly harder to get back. I fear this is a slippery slope that will continue to a point where the government is telling us how to behave in our own homes.
Enforcing the Smoking Ban
The issue of enforcement continues to come up in discussions about the ban. It’s clear to me that the patrons of bars and restaurants will do the enforcing.
We’ve seen how loud everyone can whine about the smell of smoke. Try lighting up a cigar (or cigarette) in a bar or restaurant in Michigan after May 1st, and you’re going to be swarmed with screaming people telling you to put it out.
Patterson, who doesn’t smoke and has never been a smoker, also pointed this out in a live interview with Stephen Clark of Channel 7 Action News (@sclarkwxyz) which wrapped up the day of cigar ban drama.
As the interview wrapped up, Patterson joked about filing the suit and withdrawing it in the same day as, “not my finest hour.”
I’ve always held Brooks in extremely high regard. In countless instances I’ve respected him for standing his ground for what he believes in, even in the face of extreme adversity. Today I still respect him, for making a decision which he believes represents the will of his constituents.
The sad part is that it’s the small number of activists that always yell the loudest (calling him today and sending emails) while the rest of us sit idly by while our rights are stripped away.
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Mike
