News that makes me go, "Good grief!"
This is an opinion piece I wrote on October 22, 2008.
This is an article released by the San Francisco Chronicle in July 2008. A month ago, the cigarette ban in pharmacies went into effect. I certainly agree that cigarette smoking is terrible for your health, and the health of others and I support regulating it and not promoting it. But, I also feel that passing righteous, hypocritical laws does not serve the public good.
For those of you unaware of San Francisco politics, I say with high probability, that it is the most socially liberal, leftist city in the U.S. For the republicans, that means it is also the most anti-American city (see: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNZEcdXHvsU or http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WtJpHIwpimA ). To give you an example of how socially liberal the city is, it is by an act of city government that smoking or possessing marijuana is listed as the lowest priority for city law enforcement. Thumbs up! This year, there is a ballot initiative to not enforce laws against prostitution. Not quite sure how I stand on that. Probably worth it's own blog entry. The city hosts a yearly parade and celebration to the art of BDSM. Fun! San Francisco is one of the first cities to allow gay marriage. Way to go! For goodness sakes, it's the home of Burning Man, the week long survival test for the most liberal, leftist, hippies with a few thousand to blow. Love it!.....But wait! Can a city become so liberal that it unknowingly becomes conservative? This cigarette ban, I believe, is a testament to this theory. It appears that SF is now on a crusade to save us from ourselves. It is a slippery slope that those supporting this act will soon wake to wonder what happened. But let's look at why this act is bad legislation:
1. It prohibits cigarette sales in pharmacies, but does not prohibit the sale in grocery stores that have pharmacies!
2. It proposes that a pharmacy should be viewed as a place to "get well", yet allows the sales of Twinkies, Pringles, Snickers etc. This is troubling when we look at the fact that obesity is fast surpassing cigarettes as the cause of most preventable deaths in the U.S.!
3. The pharmacy is one of the few places where you can find a vast array of smoking cessation products. This act discourages smokers from being exposed and perhaps enticed to try one of these methods.
I will admit there is one byproduct of this act that is a benefit. The sales at the locally owned and operated smoke shops will have their business increased. However, we should all support our local shops more than we do without hypocritical, ill-thought and unnecessary legislation.
Good grief!