by Adam Conder
The usage of tobacco has become very controversial in the past few years. With the increases in taxes and the anti-smoking commercials trickling into our favorite television programs, times have changed.
A few decades ago, it was the norm to smoke tobacco. One was deviant if one didn’t have an occasional cigarette. Now a smoker gets the luxury of being judged while on a smoke break.
Kurt Vonnegut, a famous author and notorious chain smoker, once answered the question many smokers are asked, “Why do you smoke?” with one sentence: “It’s a classy way of committing suicide.”
Why does a smoker smoke? The truth is that it doesn’t matter. It’s the smoker’s business. We are in an age that is at war with tobacco companies. Could we not be doing better things with our time? Is it really your or my place to tell someone what they can and can’t do to themselves? The government seems to think so and has begun taking rights away from citizens. Rights have been taken away from businesses all around the United States. Many bars, even some in the Lee’s Summit area, have been hurt by the smoking ban. Just in Downtown Lee’s Summit, a bar called The Peanut rebelled against the smoking ban by allowing smoking in the premises, but eventually had to submit.
It should be up to a business whether to allow smoking or not in their building. The government and the people should have no say in the matter. It is up to the individual whether or not that individual wants to smoke.
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