Happiness is nothing more than good health and a bad memory

And that will seriously take effect in January of 2007. City Council just passed a measure to ban smoking in all public places. It awaits approval by the mayor, who promised to veto it when it was being discussed in 2005, but there are enough votes in City Council to override his veto. Smoking bans will take effect in restaurants immediately, and in bars by January of 2007.

Many people, both smokers and nonsmokers alike, are against this type of ban because they believe it is someone's right to smoke in public and that if you don't like it, you can always choose to go somewhere else. To be honest and fair, that line of thinking isn't exactly correct. To my knowledge, there are no bars that cater to a non-smoking crowd. The closest thing I've been able to find is a gay bar called Halo. And while I love my gay boys, I am not particularly fond of overly priced martinis.

Of course, there is also the anti-smoking anthem that proclaims that second-hand smoke can cause serious health issues. Let me point out here that there is simply no scientific evidence to prove this statement. It is just like that "greenhouse gases are killing the ozone" theory - there is nothing conclusive that indicates that this is a fact. So let's get off that bandwagon already.

Personally however, I am THRILLED about this measure, and hope it goes into effect immediately. It is just common courtesy to not smoke in a restaurant - even my mother, a veteran pack-a-day smoker, refuses to smoke when she goes out to eat. There is nothing less appealing than a steak with a side of cigarette smoke. Seriously folks.

As for the bars and taverns inclusion, I am just happy that someday I may be able to go out for a few hours and not have to burn my clothes when I get home. On occasion, I've been known to stay out late and the last thing I want to do when I go home is take a shower and dry my hair at 2AM (I just happen to not be able to sleep with wet hair). If there were other viable options for a non-smoking bar experience, I'd be all for it, but noone seems to step up to the plate on this issue.

It seems that a lot of bar owners think that smoking is integral to their profits. I don't remotely understand the connection, but the proof is in New York City: people will NOT stop going to bars, and they will NOT stop getting drunk and overspending on the weekends, so get over it. The biggest problem NYC faced was when the barhoppers would stand outside the bar in large groups to smoke, and their obnoxiousness would bother the tenants who live in the apartments above and around the bar. Obviously, this is more of an issue in NYC than it will ever be in DC, but so long as bar owners are aware of this and prepare for this, it will all work out in their favor and no cops have to be called for disturbance of the peace issues.

(p.s. That quote in the subject line is from Albert Schweitzer.)