Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Unfair anti-smoking enforcement

As I drove by a Woodstock business yesterday and noticed smokers standing within 15' of the entrance, I wondered again why the Illinois law is enforced against businessowners and not against the smokers themselves.

It's not the businessowner who is smoking.

The businessowner has no authority outside his business, when the smokers are standing on a public sidewalk.

If the businessowner complains to his customers, won't they just shop elsewhere?

Why won't the police enforce the law? I was told previously that enforcement is handled by the County Health Department, when it could easily be handled by the local police departments and their officers. Why should a Health Department employee be dispatched and hope to catch a violator, when a cop driving by could just pull in and write the ticket?

Does anyone else think this enforcement is mis-directed (and even possibly unlawful to cite a businessowner, not a smoker)?

3 comments:

Richard W Gorski, M.D. said...

Because it is a stupid law and it is not enforceble. Politicians have to enact laws so that the people think that they are doing something to justify what they are being paid.

Karen30036 said...

Damn right it's a stupid law.

Another Lawyer said...

You're right Doc. It's like our mothers are running the legislature. I think when "the people" figure out that these guys work for us (and are NOT our mothers) things would change.