******************************************
News from the Montana Libertarian Party
P.O. Box 4803 Missoula MT 59806
Contact Mike Fellows (406) 721-9020
****************************************
For Immediate Release:
May 31, 2002
Let the Free market work say Libertarians in a proposed Helena ballot measure
to ban smoking in all public places
Missoula MT -- If as reports indicate that 75-percent of Helena is already
smoke free, then why do we need an ordinance to ban smoking in Helena, says
Montana Libertarian Party Chair Mike Fellows, "If the free market is already
promoting smoke free establishments, then this ballot measure is a waste of
time and money". Individuals have choices and since proponents haven't
included private homes in the smoking ban suggests a residual concern for
property rights. Business owners have property rights to said Fellows. "They
can establish their own rules about smoking and customers and employees can
take that into account in deciding which businesses to patronize".
In 1964 the head of the American Cancer Society said in a Congressional
hearing that "We are opposed to legislation that would prohibit the smoking
of cigarettes...To achieve our goals we rely on persuasion and public and
professional education". Libertarians agree, education and the free market
should be the answer, not more laws.
What else will the crusaders go after: fatty foods because of health risks,
caffeine because of its effects on nervous disorders or talking within twenty
feet of another person because 2nd hand germs kill thousands each year. The
list could go on said Fellows.
Jacob Sullum, in his book, "For Your Own Good" The Anti-Smoking Crusade And
The Tyranny Of Public Health, writes "Whether secondhand smoke is a health
hazard or merely a nuisance, such a voluntary system is the most appropriate
way to deal with the conflicting demands of smokers and non-smokers since it
allows for diversity and competition, rather than simply imposing the will of
the majority on everyone" Helena citizens should look at education and vote
this bad law down says Fellows, "the free market is working, let it continue".
Libertarians don't believe in the use of force of fraud to achieve political
or social goals.