What’s Next ? Bubble Gum ?

The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday that New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone, chairman of the House Health Subcommittee, is calling on the San Francisco Giants and Texas Rangers to tell their players not to use smokeless tobacco on the field or in the dugout during the World Series.  First of all, how do we know if they are chewing tobacco or bubble gum?  Will bubble gum be the next thing to be frowned on (too much sugar?)?

I don’t smoke.  I have never smoked.  I don’t chew tobacco.  I have never done that either.  However, I am concerned about people’s personal choices being infringed upon.  If tobacco is that bad, stop subsidizing the tobacco farmers, stop taxing tobacco products, and ban the sale of tobacco.  If the government is not willing to stop the subsidies and give up the tax revenue tobacco generates, they should stop griping about its use and stop trying to make smokers huddle in doorways in 10 degree weather like some sort of social outcasts. 

I appreciate the fact that in Massachusetts I can have dinner without having to smell cigarette smoke.  I have developed an allergy to cigarette smoke in recent years, and even walking through the cloud of doorway smoke in many places is enough to set off coughing spells.  However, there are two sides to every story.  People should not be forced to huddle in doorways like abandoned animals in order to smoke.  We need to either ban tobacco or create places where smokers can smoke without discomfort or inconvenience.