Smoking and the use of tobacco have become important issues in governmental affairs of late.
Previously, government tried to find ways to prevent nonsmokers from being uncomfortable in private and some public places. It now appears that Fort Worth and New York City have bolder notions about smoking, or more accurately, smokers.In Fort Worth, the city staff is researching a proposal to hire only nonsmokers.As much as I detest smoking, limiting employment to nonsmokers may encroach upon civil rights, if not a host of other rights. City employment is funded by taxpayers, who include smokers. Although employers have a right to set parameters of employment requirements and qualifications, that may not be enough to prevent legal actions by individuals who want city employment.Employers require abstinence from illegal drugs, and many conduct random tests to ensure that employees do not use those substances. Will similar tests be used to detect smokers? It is common knowledge that being around a smoker can cause smoke to cling to hair, skin and clothing. How accurate can a test be if an individual is suffering from the effects of second-hand smoke, which often go undetected until it is too late?Because some drugs are illegal, one can readily see why an employer would not want workers to use them. Tobacco, however, is a legal product. Its use by an adult is, to my knowledge, not a crime.Banning smokers from employment could open the door to discrimination lawsuits.Mayor Michael Bloomberg has led the effort to ban cigarettes from every public place in New York City that he can. Now his goal is to pass legislation that will require the management of multifamily residential buildings to develop written policies prohibiting smoking even in individual apartments.Bloomberg has personally spent millions of dollars worldwide in his smoke-ban mission.Given the scientific research that has been devoted to proving the harmful effects of smoking on health, one would think individuals would have enough willpower to drop the habit. Yet even at $5 per pack, enough people are still willing to pay for their habit. They keep the tobacco industry making huge profits each year.Smokers are not the only people becoming sick or dying because of the use of tobacco. People associated with smokers also suffer. I lost a friend to the effects of second-hand smoke.When people choose to kill themselves by smoking, our best recourse is to pray for them. No matter how much we try to prevent people from harming themselves, any change in behavior has to come from within. We cannot legislate morals or habits.Depriving worthy individuals of employment because they smoke will hurt everyone concerned. Industry will lose competent employees. Competent employees will not be able to adequately support themselves and their families, and the crime rate will increase.Society has done a lot to smokers. I say let's leave well enough alone and can the idea of hiring only nonsmokers for city jobs.Renetta W. Howard of Fort Worth is a member of the 2012 Star-Telegram Community Columnist Panel.rhowrite@hotmail.comHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
