🚀 go-pugleaf

Proposition 188 would obviate AB 13. AB 13, which so many characterize as
"government intrusion" was in fact passed *unanimously* through the State
legislature. The reason it was passed so well is that it is the direct result
of decades of research from such noble organizations as The Lung Association,
The American Heart Association, and The American Cancer Society. These
organizations were formed not out of a political agenda, but because a
problem existed, namely lung cancer and heart disease. These organizations
are almost entirely comprised of thousands of hard-working unpaid volunteers,
many of them professionals who could be making big bucks working elsewhere.
These volunteers did not set out to destroy tobacco companies nor to remove
personal liberties. Their unpolitically-motivated research findings clearly
show that the seeds of tobacco restriction are inherent in both the substance
and the industry. In other words, it's their own fault. The issue has
absolutely no bearing on property rights. Property rights are being used as a
canard in the debate. Restaurant employees are required to wash their hands
after using the restroom. Is this a property-rights issue?

The leading causes of death in this nation are lung cancer and heart disease.
Their numbers far outstrip vehicular accidents, accidents due to drunk
driving, and drug-related fatalities (even after factoring in deaths from
related violence) combined. The volunteers I mentioned above have shown time
and time again, in medical study after medical study, and without any
"special interest group" influence that tobacco smoke is a major causative
factor in these absolutely unnecessary deaths.

If Prop 188 passes, it will be writ in stone. Because it would be an
intiative-based law, it will remain law forever, whether we like it or not. A
full two-thirds majority vote will be needed to repeal it. Politically savvy
people know that reaching a two-thirds consensus on any issue is practically
impossible, especially with big industry money influencing the outcome. AB
13, OTOH, allows local control. If constituents disagree with any lunatic
local ordinances, they can speak out at city council meetings, gather
signatures on a petition, or in some instances go pound on the mayor's desk
personally. Which is easier: voting a local politician out of office, or
garnering the vote of two-thirds of the state's electorate? Local ordinances
are relatively simple to change. Local ordinances can be enforced flexibly. 

One more point. The volunteers mentioned at the beginning of this post
unswervingly support the defeat of Prop 188. They deserve the support of
every individual who has lost a loved one to heart disease or cancer. All of
us owe them a debt that can never be repaid. To vote for Prop 188 would be to
spit in their faces. I shudder to think of the effect such a vote could have
on the larger volunteer community. After all, why bother even to try when
greedy, lying, money-grubbing cretins as low as tobacco company executives,
lawyers and ad men can make the general population believe you are
"controlling", "intolerant", and even "fascist"?