Commonwealth Journal
May 07, 2008 07:54 am
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Dear Editor:
My first statement to you is: “I smoke.” Yet, I come here tonight not as an individual seeking to protect my own rights, but as an American standing up for this country’s principles. Principles for which so many brave men have fought and die, and which many of you here tonight seek to destroy.
My second statement to you is: “Nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty or property without due process of law.” These words are not my own, but come straight from the 14th Amendment to our Constitution – the basic law of our land.
Now I must ask a question: Why are so many of you trying to destroy the property rights of Pulaski County’s business owners and depriving them of their due process of the law? Our Constitution guarantees businesses the right to make their own decision about how to run their businesses. Those of you who support this ban should think about this carefully before you trample upon our Constitution.
I have COPD, asthma, and I’m on oxygen at night. But I still smoke, and it is my choice to do so. I am not a child in need of a babysitter. I am an American and can make my own decisions without the government telling me how to live my life.
I recently read an article about smoking that really got to me. The writer was calling us “killers.” She said we should be more like the big cities. She kind of got her wish. The other day on the front page of the paper was a story about guy robbing a local gas station. She should be happy: we are more like the big cities now.
But in some ways even the big cities have more respect for individual rights than Somerset. All of the major Lexington hospitals have designated smoking areas, unlike Somerset where even employees and doctors can’t smoke. If they get caught smoking on the grounds twice they can get fired. I guess employee happiness does not matter at the place that may some day determine if we live or die.
One evening I was standing in the snow smoking off the hospital grounds and watched a lady come out to smoke five hours after given birth.
Is that what you want for your fellow Americans.
I do not smoke around my grandkids. I do not smoke around anyone in poor health. I don’t smoke anywhere I’m not allowed to.
I play by the rules of the game, even when I disagree with them.
Yet, what I don’t understand is why a restaurant cannot make its own decision as to whether it will allow smoking in the business. If you don’t want to eat at a restaurant that allows smoking, go somewhere else. You cannot trample on the rights of others just to get your own way. Even my 7-year-old grandson understands that.
As for the lady whose sister died from secondhand smoke, first off, I’m truly sorry, but I’ve always been told that we go when it’s our time to go. Further, a recent study by the World Health Organization as to the harm caused by secondhand smoke produced findings that were inconclusive at best. So, while I am sorry when anyone looses a sister, there is no proof that secondhand smoke was the actual cause of her death.
In closing, I would like to say something to those of you who will make this important decision. When you vote on this policy, do not do so based on whether you feel that smoking is good or bad. Do not vote based on what you think is the politically correct decision. Instead, think about the Constitution – the basic law of our nation – and the rights it bestows on each of us to make our own decisions on how to live our lives and run our businesses.
Many great Americans have fought and died to protect these rights, do not vote them away ...
Gail Fix
8088 Hwy. 39
Somerset, KY 42503
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