EDITORIAL: Spring or Fall?

Publication Date: 2005-03-09

• Author:Editorial
• Publication:Vancouver (WA) Columbian

Last Tuesday, Rhode Island became the seventh state to ban smoking indoors in public places (except for two gambling centers). Will Washington state be the eighth? Should aspire to finish in the Top 10?

The correct path should be obvious. Of course Washington should ban smoking indoors in public. It's a matter of public health, which the state is charged with protecting. That obligation far outweighs any "smokers' rights" argument. Besides, smokers in those seven states are free to puff away to their hearts' content (detriment, actually), just not indoors in public.