The movement in the United States towards a smoke-free citizenry is a laudable and worthy goal. The health benefits to the people would be enormous, but what is to become of the smoker with such a strong addiction to nicotine that quitting is not a viable option? Whole areas of social and economic life are closing for the unfortunate legal junkie. Many American citizens became addicted to nicotine during an era when society not only tolerated but also encouraged tobacco use. The government gave soldiers free or low-cost cigarettes. High schools had smoking areas set up for students. Advertisers expounded the sex appeal of cigarettes. Now, like a modern-day Dr. Frankenstein, society turns its back on the unfortunate addicts it created. Society puts a great burden on cigarette smokers by making them social pariahs and limiting their job opportunities.
On the social ladder, smokers have become a class just above violent criminals. Today’s society discriminates against smokers, breathers of tobacco fumes, on a scale rivaling the treatment of minorities before the civil rights movement. Societies unjust bias permeates the everyday life of the smoker. Smokers have become second class citizens. Most eating establishments do not allow smoking on the premises. A smoker cannot enjoy an after dinner cigarette without braving the elements. Restaurants that do allow smoking relegate the smoker to some remote corner, like an unwelcome cousin too embarrassing to be allowed in polite company. The last bastion of smoker's privilege, bars are becoming almost as bad as restaurants in their intolerance toward smokers. Picture a party of jubilant tobacco smokers entering a bar for a drink after enjoying a good movie. (IF) After avoiding the ferns littering the corners like a minefield, the moviegoers find a table and order a round. When the drinks arrive, the joyous group lights their cigarettes. Instantly, all eyes in the establishment burn holes in the offending assemblage. Immediately the bartender rushes over, bypassing a patron who has passed out on the floor, and informs them they have to leave. Another area of smoker discrimination is sporting events, events where tolerance for tobacco use is glaringly lacking. In sports arenas such as the new Safeco field, smokers face banishment to unsheltered ramps. The rain and wind assault the fume-breathers as they huddle together. The non-smokers pass by repressing the urge to point and laugh. Travel poses another challenge to the die-hard smoker. In the arcane days before smokers' rights became non-existent, air travelers had the option of choosing smoking or non-smoking sections. A compromise of sorts existed. The non-smokers, lovers of clean air, have broken the truce. The airlines now deny smokers the joy of puffing on a cigarette while traveling. Other means of transportation are not immune to the encroachments of non-smoking rules. No longer a sanctuary is the rear section of a Greyhound bus, the smoking car of a passenger train, the fantail of a ferry. Society's bias encroaches on the workplace. Break rooms are smoke-free. Ashtrays in lavatories are a thing of the past. Cigarette butts left by disenfranchised smokers litter the streets surrounding office buildings. The community's intolerance of smokers leads to a looming crisis in the job market.
Because of the high cost of insuring smokers, many businesses will not hire smokers. Society’s intolerance toward smokers has invaded the insurance industry, and through them infiltrated the job market. The prejudice against tobacco users is causing businesses to rethink the hiring of smokers. Most job applications ask the questions, “Are you a smoker?" and “have you ever smoked?” Answering yes to either of these questions endangers the applicant’s chances of employment. Employers even discriminate against ex-smokers. The reasoning behind this practice is that smokers have higher risks of cancer, emphysema and heart disease. While this is a valid concern, denying nicotine addicts employment is not the answer. If smokers were a racial minority instead of culturally created addicts, society would not tolerate discrimination against them. Governments would enact laws to protect smokers. Civil rights groups would champion the smoker’s cause. Smokers would create lobbies to protect their interests.
American culture has created a class of citizenry addicted to a drug it once found to be fashionable. Society not only ignored but also denied the existence of the health dangers posed by cigarettes to its people. Now the same society has turned its back on the unfortunates it created. Now is the time for smokers across the country to rise up and make their voices heard. Smokers need to force society to listen to their demands for acceptance as people. Society needs to face the responsibility for the class of addicts it created.
Copyright Steven Spanjer, 1999