Last November, Washington State voters
overwhelmingly approved the anti-smoking initiative, I-901. The initiative went beyond a full ban on operating any type of public establishment that allows smoking, but also required that there be a 25-foot non-smoking radius around all public buildings. This rule not only makes it illegal to smoke in the outdoor patios of restaurants, but also throughout much of Seattle and other city's urban areas. Still, the initiative had wide bi-partisan support and was a grand testament to this state's passive-aggressive culture. The rallying cry of the supposed great northwest libertarian was that someone smoking near me is the equivalent of them punching me in the face, and so therefore I can make them stop.
Of course, many of my friends around Seattle (even ones who smoke) have remarked at how nice it is that the bars are smoke free. That's little consolation to a cigar bar like Tini Bigs, which is losing its business because the state legislature
won't provide any exceptions, even if their employees want it. The Rabbit Hole Hookah Lounge in the University District had to turn itself into a private club in order to skirt the ban and post a sign on its door to keep the average voter out. Providing exceptions to the ban would be a very simple thing to do if the people supporting it really cared about the wishes of bar workers or anyone else, but the reality is that this initiative never had anything to do with that; it had to do with trying to force people to quit smoking.
The proof of this is starting to become very clear. The man behind Washington State's smoking ban is Dr. Chris Covert-Bowlds. Dr. Covert-Bowlds is now leading the charge to make it a crime to smoke cigarettes around children. A frightening 58% of the people polled by a Portland TV station said that smoking around a child should constitute child abuse. From there, we're on the doorstep of having state child protective services removing children from homes where a parent smokes. Does anybody really believe that a child is better off being taken from loving parents who happen to smoke than being left alone?
It would be one thing to consider some of this if the science was fully behind it, but that's not even the case. A 1998 study by the World Health Organization in Europe concluded that there's no connection between a child being exposed to second-hand smoke and the eventuality of getting lung cancer. There have certainly been studies that have found some dangers of second-hand smoke, but there is far from a scientific consensus on this, especially one that would justify breaking up families over.
Both of my parents were raised in inner-city households by one smoking and one non-smoking parent each. In both cases, they were surrounded by second-hand smoke growing up. My two grandparents who chose to smoke have passed away (from emphysema and heart disease). Their spouses, who spent so much of their life inhaling that second-hand smoke, are still both alive, healthy and approaching 90. My parents are also both very healthy (my father actually smoked too, until I was 4, then quit). It's because of this, and the numerous similar stories I've heard and seen, that I'll always be skeptical about the real risks of second-hand smoke. If the risk of second-hand smoke is so great, then the difference between people who grow up constantly surrounded by it and those who are never around it as a child should be very profound and unmistakable. But it's not.
It's not unusual for anti-smoking organizations to lie and distort data in order to achieve their goals, just as we see it done on a regular basis concerning illegal drugs like marijuana. Some of this data becomes more accepted among Democrats because it appears to be coming from progressive sources, but it should be treated just as skeptically as if it were coming from the Bush Administration. These people look at smokers and see them as people punching them in the face. It shouldn't be a surprise when they exaggerate these claims to get what they want. It's the passive-aggressive way.
Starting in January 2007, it will be easier for Washington State child services groups to remove a child from a parent who uses drugs to the extent that it causes "chronic neglect." This is where the bar should be - when the parents actions have a direct, negative impact on the child's safety. Not just because we disapprove of the healthiness of a parent and the environment they create. Jacob Sullum reminds us that anything beyond that is a slippery slope:
If the bar were set as low as Covert-Bowlds recommends, there would be no end to the government's second-guessing of parents' decisions regarding their children's diets, exercise, education, TV viewing, recreational activities, and anything else that could affect their physical or mental health.
It's a scary thought, and one that Democrats and progressives can't ignore.
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In the news this week...
Lester Grinspoon, a prominent medical marijuana expert, writes in the LA Times to rebut the FDA's futile quest to pretend that medical marijuana is imaginary.
Mary Anastasia O'Grady writes in the Wall Street Journal about the effect that our drug laws are having in Mexico. Wall Street Journal Bureau Chief Kevin Helliker, on the other hand, writes a ridiculous article on marijuana addiction.
Paul Jacobs writes about the Cory Maye case in Townhall.
Radley Balko talks about the Rush Limbaugh settlement and explains the difference between addiction and drug dependence. He also writes about unnecessarily violent SWAT team actions in order to arrest marijuana dealers.
Libby at Last One Speaks rebuts Karen Tandy's LTE to the New York Times in which she defends the government's support for marijuana research.
Pete at Drug WarRant notes that one of the 750 laws that President Bush believes he has the authority to disobey is one that prohibits him from sending U.S. troops into Colombia. Pete also has his state-by-state drug war policy wiki up. He's already done the Illinois page.
John Tierney compares the cases of Richard Paey, a paralyzed man serving a 25-year jail sentence in Florida, and Rush Limbaugh, who will be on probation for 18 months. Jacob Sullum has more.
Calvina Fay of the Drug Free America Foundation is still afraid to debate anyone concerning any of the positions she supports. I sent her another letter this week and posted it at Jesus' General. And thanks to everyone who took the poll and told the DFAF whether or not they want drug testing in their schools.
The Washington Post writes about Mexico's struggle to fight drug trafficking. An American named Nancy Conroy living in Baja California writes that the law to decriminalize possession of small amounts of drugs would be fantastic for tourism, yet still a mistake because of a vague notion that people won't like it. She also believes that this law is a result of drug traffickers having too much influence over the government, as if this hasn't been true for over 15 years. I figured an American actually living in Mexico would understand what's going on down there better than most of us. I couldn't have been more wrong. The net result of all this paranoia is that Vicente Fox is bowing to pressure and trying to rewrite the law.
The number of people 19 and younger taking antipsychotic drugs has gone up 73 percent in the past 4 years.
The Bush administration plans to give $3 million for faith-based rehabilitation programs.
Daniel Ernesto Robelo writes about how the issues of immigration and the drug war overlap in many ways.
Red State diarist J A Davis wonders how Republicans feel about our drug laws. Most people who responded to his poll feel that we should consider some form of legalization. Sadly, I would still be posting these roundups at Red State had I not been banned from the site for agreeing with someone who was criticizing Michelle Malkin.
Alaska governor Frank Murkowski's fight against his state's unique semi-legal marijuana status and his willingness to throw monkey wrenches into the state legislative system to change it has gone far beyond any logical explanation.
Ken Starr has agreed to represent an Alaska school district which is trying to appeal a 9th Circuit Court decision that they violated a student's free speech rights for hanging a banner that said "Bong Hits 4 Jesus" across the street from the school.
Seattle University's online journal writes about the drug reform movement in Seattle and about the prevalence of drug arrests at its major universities.
Radical Russ writes about Ethan Nadelmann's comments at the recent NORML conference. He also breaks down the confoundingly ass-backwards ruling by the Oregon Supreme Court that ruled that a person who uses medical marijuana could be fired from a job because he refused to take prescription medication that would have made him too tired to do his job safely.
Federal Agents broke up a meth trafficking operation in California.
San Pablo, CA is considering extending their moratorium on medical marijuana dispensaries.
Rachel Breitman writes about the Nevada marijuana legalization and regulation proposal and about the growing number of politicians who are starting to speak up about the drug war. The Marijuana Policy Project debunks the main myths that are being promoted as opposition to the Nevada proposal.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal also printed an editorial in support of the initiative.
A UNLV student is confounded by how the government treats marijuana.
Three Mexican nationals were arrested in Salt Lake City for selling heroin and cocaine to young adults and teenagers.
Libby writes about what happened in Boulder, CO recently where people were encouraged to snitch on the students who attended the annual 4/20 celebration.
7 areas in Colorado were above the national average on positive workplace marijuana tests.
District Attorneys and Judges in Harris County, Texas (Houston) have been contributing to an overincarceration problem by using a loophole to prevent drug offenders from going into treatment.
Oklahoma Governor Brad Henry wants to name the state's anti-meth law (the first of its kind in the U.S.) after the recently deceased Lonnie Wright. The law, and others like it, haven't been able to reduce meth abuse anywhere they've been tried.
In Leavenworth County, Kansas, 2000 marijuana plants were seized after being discovered by someone looking for mushrooms (not that kind).
A Lincoln, Nebraska teenager was arrested after sending a text message about marijuana for sale to a wrong number.
Chicago White Sox pitcher Freddy Garcia might be suspended from international play after failing a drug test while pitching for Venezuela in the World Baseball Classic.
May is Methamphetamine awareness month in Wisconsin.
A man in Vermont who had 28 bags of heroin in his jail cell will be staying in jail for longer.
Harvard University has decided that students with drug convictions will not be denied financial aid.
The Medical Marijuana Policy Project will help medical marijuana patients in Rhode Island who can't afford the $75 licensing fee.
Albany County, NY district attorney David Soares tells the Canadians not to follow the U.S. lead concerning drug laws and enforcement. More here.
The newly elected President of the New York state SUNY Student assembly, Dan Curtis, and the newly elected Student President of SUNY New Paltz, Justin Holmes, are not shy about their use of marijuana, and like myself and many others, find that it's a wonderful stimulant for creative thought.
Cadets at West Point protested violently after an unannounced drug dog search on their barracks.
A Delaware man was arrested after overdosing on laced heroin, along with 3 other Wilmington residents. The laced heroin was traced back to Camden, NJ.
A couple from Maryland is being held under $1 million bond each in Arkansas for drug trafficking.
A man pulled over in McMinn County, Tennessee had $600,000 worth of meth in his pickup.
Alabama Governor Bob Riley joined local police during a drug bust in Etowah County. One of his potential opponents, Libertarian Party candidate Loretta Nall, knows how to play the PR game too, and her campaign is getting some serious attention.
Gwinnett County, GA held a town hall meeting to discuss the problem of meth.
University of Florida researchers found that pre-natal cocaine use did not have any adverse effects on children.
A Walgreen's in Lake City, Florida had to be evacuated after a meth lab was found in the parking lot.
Venezuelan police made two large drug busts this week.
People from 93 countries attended the 17th Annual International Harm Reduction Conference in Vancouver this week. The Vancouver Sun writes about a success story from that city's new heroin treatment program. More than 100 individuals from 13 countries formed an international coalition of drug user groups. Next week, another coalition of anti-prohibition groups will be meeting in Montreal to counter the DEA's annual hemispheric conference being held in Canada for the first time.
UK Defense Secretary John Reid says he has no idea why a small amount of cannabis resin was found in the guest room of his Scotland home.
Police officers in Scotland refuted the recent reports that they called for the legalization of drugs. They say that it was only one viewpoint in a recent debate. Writing in the Times Online, Tim Luckhurst thinks it's a viewpoint they should seriously consider.
The German government plans to launch a new program to provide free heroin to addicts in order to reduce the health risks that are common with their addiction.
A man was arrested at the Kabul airport with 10 kg of heroin.
Pakistani anti-drug officials are overwhelmed trying to stop the flow of drugs from Afghanistan.
It is estimated that there are 75 million drug addicts in India and the number is rising sharply.
The DEA and the US Joint Inter-Agency Task Force West will be training police officers in the Philippines in enforcing drug laws.
Police near Brisbane, Australia raided a house with 150 marijuana plants.