A feckless health board
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Monday, February 4, 2008
They were all huff, but no puff.
The Weber/Morgan Board of Health listened to a roomful of constituents on the issue of whether to ban smoking in outdoor public areas. After all the talk -- that was overwhelmingly in favor of a ban -- our board members did nothing and went home.
It was a stunning example of political cowardice. The languid board displayed less energy than a wheezy smoker caught outside on a bad-air day; its political punt effectively killed the measure.
In these pages we have favored the Weber/Morgan smoking ban. Davis County aleady has one, and it's working well. We argued that there are 188,000 Utahns who smoke, and 1,100 die each year. We also pointed out that a similar ban in New York has resulted in fewer smokers, and fewer smokers smoking. To sum up, smoking may be legal, but it's a hazard to our health. Secondhand smoke can harm all of us.
We respect an opposing position. There is a libertarian argument that government should not overly restrict tobacco rights. If the Weber/Morgan board had the courage to vote against the measure, we would disagree but note its stance. Unfortunately, no one on the board had the courage to vote, to take a stand. We thought that was what they are supposed to do.
We'll give credit to Morgan City Councilman Colin Winchester, who opposed the bill, arguing that municipalities should enact bans on their own, rather than the county. We disagree, but it's a defensible position.
Another objection came from Weber County Commissioner Jan Zogmaister, who argued that a smoking ban would harm smoking parents who wanted to see their child's soccer game. We feel confident that any smoker can go an hour or two without a cigarette while junior is on the soccer field. Besides, we agree with board member Susan Chase, who countered by pointing out that smoking parents manage to go to movie theaters and work, where smoking is already banned.
North Ogden Mayor Gary Harrop, a board member, did speak in favor of the ordinance. Unfortunately, when it was time to vote, the board remained silent.
We wish the board more courage in the future. Perhaps its members can follow the positive example of 10-year-old Katie Eichmeier. The member of Riverdale Elementary School's Kids Against Tobacco club boldly told the 10-member board that, as reported by the Standard-Examiner's Marshall Thompson, "she wants the park adjacent to her school to be smoke-free so she doesn't have to breathe secondhand smoke."
See how easy it is to take a stand, Weber/Morgan Board of Health members? Come on, there must be one "Katie" among you!
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