The Carson Circus continues the three ring entertainment schedule by considering, as one of its amazing feats, the possible passage of a bill that would over ride the wishes of the legislators own constituents. The bill in question is the one that would water down the anti smoking ban in areas where food is served that was passed by the voters a few years ago.

This has got to be the comedic event of the entire legislative session in the great state of Nevada. The bill would allow food to be served, cooked, and eaten in establishments that cater exclusively to adults. If children were to be present, the ban would still be in effect. Those arguing for the passage of this measure say businesses have suffered by the loss of the ability of customers to light up. I say don’t be chipping away at a vital public health law.

This same group is probably closely affiliated with the group that tries biannually to squelch the helmet law for motorcyclists. The voters had the good sense to choose health over bucks. If the Nevada legislature passes this measure, those who vote for this bill should be taken out individually and forced to suffer a slow demise in an intensely smoke filled room.

Before the current law was enacted, I would go to various venues where smoking was rampant and upon my return home, my clothes stunk to high heaven of smoke. I finally quit going to those venues because of the smoke. Those businesses that I quit going to lost revenue from my not spending my hard earned dollars in their establishment.

Before the current law was passed, employees had no choice but to tolerate the smoky environment of their work place. I would be interested in how many health issues in those workers have had to be addressed by the health benefits of those employers, if they even offered their employees such a benefit. Heart problems, lung problems, are just a couple of possible defects that either are brought on by cigarette smoke or intensified as a result of such exposure.

Even though the current law bans smoke in areas of businesses, employees often can be seen outside these establishments, within range of the front door to the establishment, taking their smoke break. There should actually be a law passed that bans smoking anywhere on the property of the business much like the ban the Washoe County School District has imposed on all school district property.

Although I don’t smoke, I’ve worked many different jobs as I have strived to earn a living and one of the things that I have noticed over the years is that the more education a person has, the less likely they are to smoke. When I worked in schools there might be thirty teachers and staff working in a school and the only smoker was the custodian. I don’t mean to imply that the custodians are not educated, but it was so evident that the level of education often was the gauge as to whether or not the person smoked. When I worked in other blue collar jobs, the percentages were flipped. The majority of those workers were smokers.

There is also an environmental impact by smoking. Smokers are not the neatest people on the planet either. Next time you drive up to the stop light at a freeway off ramp, notice how many cigarette butts are strewn along the shoulder of the road at that spot. It’s disgraceful. I’ve never seen a smoker out there picking up their butts either.

My parents both died of lung cancer. My dad smoked, but my mom didn’t smoke. If you want proof of the importance of the smoking ban, watch a person die of lung cancer and it will make a believer out of the toughest Marlboro Man. After having watched my dad die of lung cancer two years before being diagnosed with the disease herself, my mom knew the process she was facing in battling the same affliction. There was no softening the blow for Mom and no one deserves to go through that suffering before death, except maybe the Nevada legislators who for this latest proposal before them.