Smoking ban is 10 years old

Delaware's bold step is now taken for granted

12:56 PM, Dec. 2, 2012  |  Comments
On the 10th anniversary of Delaware's indoor smoking ban, smoke-free signs can be seen all over state.

Ten years ago on Nov. 27, Delaware's controversial indoor smoking ban went into effect amid dire predictions that virtually every bar, restaurant and public facility would go out of business if patrons were not allowed to smoke inside. The First State was the second to implement such a ban, following in California's footsteps.

It's now hard to imagine living in that world. Even before then, we knew that cigarette smoke was a major cause of lung and other cancers. We knew it contributed to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and emphysema. In short, we knew it was not a healthy habit.

But banning a perfectly legal activity in public places was a tricky issue, pitting the rights of smokers to indulge their habit against the right of nonsmokers to breath clean air. Unlike other unhealthy activities, like drinking alcoholic beverages, for example, smoking creates an immediate and unpleasant environment for nonsmokers who happen to be in proximity to a smoker.

The forecasted disaster for Delaware's hospitality industry never came to pass. In the interim, Maryland passed a similar indoor smoking ban that likewise did not spell the end for hospitality commerce.

But nicotine is horribly addictive. Though we are now accustomed to a world where smokers are banished to out-of-the-way, outdoor location, people still start smoking and get hooked. It only takes two weeks, according to tobacco heir Patrick Reynolds, an outspoken anti-smoking advocate.

And now that indoor smoking bans are mostly taken for granted just about everywhere on Delmarva - when was the last time you saw someone smoking indoors, anywhere? - many jurisdictions are looking at outdoor restrictions.

If there are lessons to ponder on this 10th anniversary, then among them should be these:

? Doomsday predictions do not always come to pass.

? Societal expectations can help shape individual perceptions and behaviors.

But we already knew this, didn't we?

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