The Boston Health Public Commission is imposing some of the nation’s harshest tobacco regulations. The sale of cigarettes in drug stores and on college campuses have been banned and the city’s ten cigar and hookah bars are said to be shutdown by the year 2013. The purpose of these regulations are to discourage people, especially college students, from buying cigarettes, to remove the cancer-causing agents from stores that promote good health, and to protect employees from the harmful effects of being exposed to secondhand smoke.
Many people, like Barbara Ferrer, director of the board of health, believe products like tobacco should be lumped into the same category as guns and alcohol, Ferrer claims all of which are dangerous and require regulation. Others with opposing views on the situation, believe the changes are discriminatory. The regulations anger smokers and small business leaders who say they are being singled out.
On November 13th, the board of health will vote on these regulations and if approved they will take effect within sixty days. I understand the intentions behind proposing tobacco regulations such as these but the truth remains; if a young adult wants to buy a pack of cigarettes or a cigar nothing will prevent he/she from doing so.
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Quite frankly, I hate cigarettes. However, I also feel that it is not up to the government to tell the people if they can or cannot choose to smoke. I agree that if people want to smoke they will, and I am surprised that this has actually made it so far in legislation.
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