We’ve been hitting pretty hard on the “follow the leader” theme as of late, but not without reason. We are hammering on this because the excuse of “everybody else is doing it, we should too” is a very poor argument to use to justify something that isn’t really working so hot elsewhere.
So now we turn to Iowa, where not only are the people upset about the new ban and the legislature has already changed the rules in their favor without really giving any consideration to the fact that they have pulled a really nasty trick on the people of the state… But now, less than a week since the ban went into effect, we’re seeing a major lawsuit against the state arise:
Bar and restaurant owners upset with the statewide smoking ban that went into effect Tuesday are taking legal action in an attempt to overturn the law.
A group led by the Iowa Bar Owners Coalition, a nonprofit organization based in Clinton County, filed a petition in Polk County District Court in Des Moines on Tuesday. The petition asks the court to put a halt on the ban until it can rule on the law’s constitutionality, according to court documents.
So it will be intresting to see where this goes, but the more important aspect of this is that while hailed as a success by Smoke Free Wisconsin et al., the only success that they have really had is pissing off the people of Iowa and invoking a law suit. Success worth emulating? I think not!
Filed under: Ban Damage, Defiance, Good News, Rights, iowa ban news | Tagged: iowa smoking ban, iowa smoking ban lawsuit, smoking bans
Pre Ban days I could avoid smoke by not walking by the smokers doors of the office. Every break and at lunch I went on my way out the front door into the fresh clean air to enjoy a beautiful walk around the parking lots of nearby buildings. Now, I have no choice but to breath smoke where ever I go. Smokers no longer have a designated area, and are forced to walk to the curbs to smoke. Usually, this means that they are sneaking a smoke, or lighting up ON the way to thier cars or to the green spaces of parking lots. Smoke is everywhere on my now non healthy breaks. And don’t even get me started on the butts in the parking lots. Because more and more people are choosing to smoke in thier cars, they are dumping ashtrays everywhere.
That is a good point. Hasn’t anybody stopped to consider that, in the name of “public health,” smokers have been banished from their private areas to the public areas?
That gives me something new to think about! Thank you for your insight