A Metastatic Smoking Ban

One of the first things I remember learning when I began to study economics in college was the truism, "controls breed controls". In other words, one example of government interference, like price controls, would cause a problem like shortages, which would then provide the government yet another excuse to grab more power for itself in the name of "fixing" the problem -- the one that it created in the first place.

Today, in the Houston Chronicle, I saw that sometimes it isn't even necessary for the government to grab more power. Sometimes, a segment of the population will foolishly agitate for it to do so.

A push to extend Houston's smoking ban to bars and other workplaces gained momentum Wednesday when the Greater Houston Restaurant Association announced its support for a citywide ban and Mayor Bill White said he thinks most residents support that move.

The association's endorsement came one day before a City Council public health committee plans to hear testimony about the effects of secondhand smoke. That meeting, scheduled for this afternoon, is the first of two hearings on whether to broaden the city's existing ordinance, which prohibits smoking in dining areas of restaurants but allows it in bars.

"We want to make sure that (the ban) is fair across the board," said Carl Walker, president of the Restaurant Association and owner of Brennan's of Houston. "Let's just don't focus on restaurants only."

That position is new for the group; last year, it supported the city's push for a partial ban. But without a comprehensive ban, bars have a competitive edge over restaurants, Walker said.

Since the ban likely will be strengthened in some way, Walker said, he and other restaurant owners would prefer it apply to all food and drink establishments, even if that means patrons in the bar areas of their restaurants no longer are allowed to smoke. [bold added]

Never mind that there is no such thing as a "fair" intrusion of inappropriate government force into our daily affairs. Never mind that these very businessmen originally opposed this silly ordinance. Never mind that a better way to put themselves on an equal footing with bars would be to repeal the smoking ordinance altogether. Never mind that smoking, entering a smoke-filled room, and allowing people to smoke in a business establishment are all voluntary activities. And never mind that you are helping the spread of the cancer of government meddling.

Far better, apparently, is to simply accept the premise that the government can run your businesses. And then compound cowardice with complicity.

Houston's business community is the backbone of this city and has often in the past taken the lead in effecting meaningful social change. But this episode is shameful, to say the least.

-- CAV