Generally my postings are light-hearted. This one is serious. Let me start off by saying that my opinion on this topic is influenced by the fact that my father and two of my aunts were heavy smokers who died of emphysema. My mother, a non-smoker, also had emphysema from my father’s “second hand smoke.”

I’m very allergic to smoke. If I’m around even small amounts of cigarette, pipe or cigar smoke, I usually lose my voice (sometimes for long periods after exposure.)

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John and I divide our time between two lovely states: Michigan and Florida. We therefore experience the way these states deal with the conflict between smokers and non-smokers. Michigan is more pro-active when it comes to protecting the rights of non-smokers. Florida’s law, sorry to say, misses the mark.

This week, several hospitals in the Tampa area made news by forbidding smoking on their property. In Michigan, hospitals haven’t allowed smoking for at least a dozen years. Michigan hospitals took the lead and said they would set a good example and it’s worked. It’s hard to believe that in Florida, hospitals are doing this “voluntarily” and aren’t required by state law to provide a smoke free environment for those on hospital property.

Although Florida does not allow smoking in public buildings/workplaces, they let folks smoke on terraces, patios, and other similar areas. In Michigan, if a business has even one paid employee (and that includes private clubs), smoking is not allowed even on terraces and other adjacent outdoor properties.

It would be great if Florida would extend their law to cover these out-door places. There are many instances where Florida non-smokers are forced to endure the smoke of others. If Florida’s law matched Michigan’s no-smoking policy which went into effect in 2010, the pool deck would be off-limits for smokers. There’d be absolutely NO SMOKING on patios. You wouldn’t have to avoid “smoke zones” at Busch Gardens.

What difference does it make? you ask. If you’re a smoker you probably feel that you’ve already lost most of your right to smoke. But Florida law still give preference to smokers in many areas.

Smoke knows no boundries. It doesn’t stay within the “smoking” area at the pool deck. Smoke can’t read signs. Frequently the wind carries the smoke from one area to another.

At least at Kings Point, no smoking is permitted inside. But the other day we went to the Moose Club in Ruskin for their Friday fish fry. The food was good but we won’t go back. To order your food or get a drink, you had to stand in “the smoking section.” That room was blue with heavy smoke and the non-smoking area smelled strongly of smoke. In Michigan, our Moose Club was forced to eliminate smoking completely because the Michigan law applies to private clubs, if they have any paid employees. The Ruskin Moose won’t see us again. We’ll find a place that puts a higher value on the rights of non-smokers.

My allergies are often triggered by the blowing smoke at the pool, even though it’s outside. And just who figured out that outdoor food service should be located IN the smoking area?

When smokers ask, “What about our rights?” to be honest, that isn’t my concern. Everyone has a right to expect that they can breathe in smoke-free air. Smokers don’t have the right to polute the environment. Smokers’ rights end when they contaminate the air I breathe in.

In the past, I’ve been forced to give up bowling (because all bowling alleys allowed smokers), I’ve had to move at restaurants because smoke traveled from area to area, I’ve had to leave venues where smokers were contaminating the area. Now, when the rules are supposedly favoring non-smokers, I’m still having to avoid the pool deck area at our favorite pool because smoking is allowed in “smoking” areas and the smoke won’t stay in the areas designated for it.

I just wish Florida would adopt Michigan’s stricter non-smoking policy.

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(Today, January 15th, I went to the pool. There was a guy in the smoking section with a cigar. I wanted to get a burger but I had to stand in the smoking section to get my food. Later, I had to endure his smoke even at the other end of the pool. I believe the lack of wind and heavy air contributed to the inversion which trapped his smoke. But why did I have to put up with it? I left.)