Smoked Out

The Boston Public Health Commission recently gave preliminary approval to a measure that would impose new restrictions on tobacco consumption and sales. One component of the measure is a proposed ban on the city’s cigar bars, of which four remain. These bars were given an exemption from the citywide ban on smoking imposed in 2004, and are popular hangouts for cigar aficionados.

While the previous ban was an understandable measure in protection of public health, mandating the closure of cigar bars would be alarmingly intrusive given its limited advantages. The direct public health benefits of the ban would be minor at best. There are only four bars targeted by the measure, and most of their customers are likely to smoke in their homes or elsewhere if they cannot go to cigar bars. Thus, the measure is doing nothing to protect the health of the bars’ customers.

Furthermore, smoking in these bars—unlike smoking in the restaurants covered by the previous ban—does not pose a risk to nonsmokers. Customers at a cigar bar go there solely in order to smoke, or at least to spend time in the company of smokers. Eliminating the presence of cigar bars does nothing but redirect the deliberate inhalation of smoke that takes place at these bars elsewhere. The presence of cigar bars might even reduce the amount of secondhand smoke that nonsmokers are exposed to, since the alternative to smoking in bars is often smoking on the street.

Perhaps the worst aspect of this invasion of personal liberty and responsibility is the Commission’s reasoning behind it. Dr. Barbara Ferrer, the director of the Boston Public Health Commission, told the Boston Globe that her goal is to “de-normalize” smoking—a creepy and Orwellian notion. The idea of using a ban to manipulate culture and social norms, even for what the city considers the public good, is dangerously close to social engineering, and should concern any civil libertarian.

All cost-benefit justifications and philosophical objections aside, this measure is offensive because of the burden it would place on the city’s small businesses. If smoking is banned in these bars, they are likely to go out of business, or at least be forced to undergo significant alterations. In the current economic situation, it seems entirely wrong for the city to deliberately attempt to make life more difficult for small business owners and their employees, especially for such a nebulous aim. The Public Health Commission should let these four establishments and their customers live their lives in peace—or at least, let them breathe whatever air they please.