From: Joe@smokefree.org
Date: Fri, 10/13/06
5 is more, Vote NO on 4!
Opinion/Surveys
Ohio: Mary McCarty: Issue 4 hides truth behind its smoke cloud
Category
a.. Business (Tobacco)
b.. Smokefree Policies
c.. Advertising/Promos
d.. Elections/Politics
e.. Op-Ed
f.. Dining/Entertainment
State
a.. Ohio
Org
a.. RJR
Source: Dayton (OH) Daily News, 2006-10-12
Author: Mary McCarty Staff Writer
Tell me I'm not the only one who almost accidentally signed a petition to put
"Smoke Less Ohio" on the ballot.
I was walking out of the Wilmington-Stroop library a couple of months ago when a
man approached me with a petition that appeared to place more restrictions on
smoking in public places. My pen was poised to sign when a woman called out to
me as if I were about to throw myself in front of a train track. "Don't sign
it!" she yelled. "That's the one sponsored by the tobacco companies!"
The man looked at me and shrugged. "This has nothing to do with the tobacco
companies."
As I examined the fine print, I realized the woman was right. I dropped my pen
like a burning cigarette butt.
That's how easy it is to get confused . . .
"It's brilliant, I've got to give them credit for that," said Dr. Greg Wise,
co-chair of the Smoke Free Ohio campaign for Montgomery County. "If people vote
for Issue 4 their vote for Issue 5 doesn't count at all."
It is brilliant, I suppose, in a Machiavellian sort of way. It's also deceitful.
Look at the Big Tobacco campaign in Arizona, with the even more shameless slogan
"Arizonans for Non-Smokers' rights." . . .
If Issue 4 passes, Ohio's more than 500,000 hospitality workers will lose all
hope of saying goodbye to cigarette-scented clothes and carcinogens in the
workplace. They'll be forced to choose between the potential health hazards and
jobs they can't afford to lose. And that isn't fair.
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