Smoking ban makes sense

In the United States today, tobacco smoke is definitely on the run. Once a ubiquitous presence at ballparks, theaters, restaurants and elsewhere, the odor from a cigarette is becoming almost as rare as a publicly heard racial epithet.

That's a good thing, and it's about time Utah caught up with the trend.

Cigarette smoke is not primarily a lifestyle choice or a religious issue. It is a public health concern, and the sooner it is eradicated from the culture, the better.

Last week, the Salt Lake Valley Board of Health passed a resolution supporting a strict ban on smoking in all buildings, restaurants, private clubs, parks and other places where the public has access. This expands an earlier resolution that called for a ban on smoking within 50 feet of "playgrounds, play pits/sandboxes, sporting areas, children and animal venues, gathering places, concession stands and pathways." That was a confusing bit of advice that would have required a tape measure and a good deal of patience to enforce. An outright ban makes more sense.

These sorts of bans have stirred passionate objections elsewhere. New York City recently outlawed smoking in all bars, which inspired a number of Web sites and protests. Many of California's coastal cities have outlawed smoking on beaches. Six other states have passed similar sorts of restrictions. Each of these raised the same hue and cry from smokers about their rights.

Bar owners will claim they have a right to allow smoking on their private property, and that their customers want a place they can come to relax without suffering scorn from a judgmental public.

But smoking is almost never a private matter. It is carried on the wind and dispersed. What about the rights of employees who are forced to breathe in the fumes?

In order for this resolution to do any good, state lawmakers would have to amend the Utah Indoor Clean Air Act. The outdoor restriction probably could be passed by separate counties within the state without running afoul of state rules.

Lawmakers have been reluctant to act in the past because of fears people who perceive Utah's predominant religion was forcing its will on others. Surely in today's anti-smoking climate, that concern no longer deserves consideration.

There are those who will argue that such a ban is impossible to enforce. Indeed, people often are observed lighting up with impunity on TRAX station platforms, right under no-smoking signs.

But then, lots of crimes go unpunished. Widespread smoking bans will, over time, send a strong message about the danger of this messy habit. Over time, that message will lead more people to quit and fewer people, especially young people, to start.

That would be well worth the effort.