I can feel the momentum! It appears as though a smoke-free St. Louis may be plausible after all. In today’s newspaper (they still have those?) an article outlines plans for Clayton, Missouri to go smoke-free. Nothing has been settled yet but holy cigarette Batman! would this be great news. For those of you who don’t know, Clayton is downtown St. Louis’ more homogeneous but relatively (sub) urban little sister. It’s where the law firms move when the City can’t pay the firms’ partners their dowry. In all honesty, some times it works the other way too.
One of the biggest problems with making a city smoke-free has been the attitude that everyone needs to be in “this” together or some businesses will suffer while others won’t. That’s mostly hogwash, and the municipalities in the metro area with bigger sacks decided years ago to make their public places smoke-free. Kudos to them. Looks like some of the more sizable ones are coming around.
I’m working with a coalition, Smoke-Free St. Louis City, to make the City of St. Louis smoke-free. The City is not quite where Clayton is in its thinking but a smoke-free Clayton would go a long way in influencing other major parts of town to mimic the behavior. This would also help reach a critical mass of influence with politicians, all of whom claim they don’t want to go at it alone; on the Missouri side of the Muddy Mississippi, St. Louis’ population is concentrated mostly in three counties, St. Louis City, St. Louis County, St. Charles County. The leaders of all three have said they won’t jump off the bridge unless their comrades do the same. The hour is nigh!
I was bowling with friends last night at a laid-back, blue-collar establishment that sits within the borders of St. Louis County. Fun was had by all, though I bowled like a guy who’d lost his primary bowling arm. But, by the time I left, my hair smelled like smoke, my clothes smelled like smoke and my eyes were burning. At least my sister-in-law wore a Smoke-Free St. Louis City t-shirt in silent protest.
Making public places smoke-free is about protecting people’s health, and only about protecting people’s health. These efforts aren’t about restricting rights or shoving more government down your throat. Smoke-free means clean air for everyone, especially the people who work at places that currently allow smoking, and there’s nothing wrong with that.
FYI – Filtration systems don’t work and the studies that say second-hand smoke doesn’t kill are done by the same ilk of people that brought you studies claiming climate change is a hoax and the “theory” of evolution is wrong. Oh, maybe they’re Holocaust deniers too! If you believe those studies let me know, I’ll buy you a pack of cigarettes.
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