Smoking Ban Hits Home
The Happy Shiny Democratic Peoples Republic of Eugene has gone too far this time. In yet another attempt to deny its citizens the right to make any choices for themselves, city inspectors have declared that the covered portion of Rennie’s upstairs smoking deck no longer conforms to Eugene’s smoking ban. At first glance, this might seem to not make sense, considering that the ban was enacted in 2000. Well guess what, sucka? It’s been toughened.
The original ban defined “enclosed area” logically enough as “A space between a floor and a ceiling that is enclosed on all sides by solid walls or windows.” Apparently people were still dropping like flies in smoking areas which “conformed to the letter but not the spirit of the law,” because in November of last year, City Manager Dennis Green issued an administrative order requiring smoking areas to be “at least 75% open.”
The covered portion of Rennie’s smoking deck has a ceiling, a floor, and three walls. It is completely open, smoke has nowhere to stagnate, and airflow is brisk. Regardless, this draconian new definition requires them to ban smoking on that portion of the deck, forcing smokers to the uncovered edge of the deck, with only a pop-up tent for covering. Unbelievably, Rennie’s was also told that “they were lucky” that the downstairs smoking area (which has only one wall) stayed open because the wrought iron fence could constitute a wall under the new rules. That’s right, a completely permeable wall that couldn’t stop smoke from going anywhere nearly shut down most of the remaining smoking area.
This situation seems out of control. The city seems to have completely lost sight of its priorities, and is engaging in a campaign to systematically eliminate its citizens freedom to smoke in a manner that is not harming anyone. The 75% rule means that there can be only one wall in a smoking area, making it nearly impossible for bars who want to allow their customers to smoke, to create an area in which to do so which also complies with OLCC regulations which require that alcohol be served only in areas divided from the public. City government clearly doesn’t care that bars want to give smokers the opportunity to drink and smoke in such a way that prevents harm to employees and bystanders. This is not a campaign to keep non-smokers safe: it is a neo-prohibitionist assault on personal freedom, and responsible free enterprise. For shame.
