From the Right Corner: Why I'm a "No" on the anti-smoking initiative, 901.

I'm a "no."

Smoking killed my parents, contributed to my oldest brother's stroke... and I HATE it.

As a militant nonsmoker, I would not enter a smoking establishment. But as an American, I have concluded that as much as "I" hate smoking and would like to see it disappear, it IS the principle of the thing.

This is a classic "slippery-slope" argument. Those here who seek out the ever-growing embrace of a larger, more intrusive government in THIS instance merely encourage it to expand in OTHER areas of "public health," or "public safety."

So, next year, the initiative will be fast food. And then, the year after that, alcohol. Next, we can look forward to a ban on even legal racing. Next up might be lawn fertilizer. And did you know the car wash people have been pushing legislation for years that would make it illegal for us to wash our cars at home? I mean, can an initiative be far behind?

All of these activities, to a greater or lesser extent, cause harm. All of them are now legal activities. All of them are voluntary. And all of them are subject to become banned conduct… and our approval of THIS initiative will only bring on these and OTHER efforts to regulate our conduct.

I am sick of government “saving us from ourselves.” And I’m not happy when ultra-liberals subvert the process to accomplish the same thing. I would hope that those in the middle and on the right recognize this for what it is: the removal of yet more of our rights.