When did smoking become so taboo?

Prohibit, ban, restrict, forbid, illegal and interdict. No, I am not describing President Trump’s latest immigration plan; unfortunately, these words relate to the rights, or the lack thereof, of the new millennium tobacco smoker.

It seems to me that as we leap into the new millennium, making all kinds of advances in every area of life, including technology and medicine, the rights of smokers have taken one step forward and three steps backward. Why is that?

Cigarettes are the most heavily taxed commodities in the United States. The federal excise tax is 39 cents per pack and the national average state excise tax is about 60 cents per pack, for a total of 99 cents per pack.  At these rates, one would think that our right to smoke when and where we want to would be increased monumentally, right? Wrong.

July 1, 2004, the Clean Indoor Air Act went into effect, and my rights as a smoker took a downward spiral that makes it virtually impossible for me to smoke in public without some serious consequences.

I’m not allowed to smoke in restaurants, bars (so forget about having a cocktail and cigarette at the same time), museums, libraries, public and private schools, convention centers, theaters, bowling alleys, buses, taxicabs (really), shopping malls, lobbies, restrooms, the hallway of my apartment or condominium building…

Here’s where it gets tricky, because if anyone needs to decompress, surely the workplace is where we ought to be able to do that, right? Hum, guess again. Smoking is prohibited in all work areas, private offices, employee lounges, restrooms, conference rooms and cafeterias. These places fall under the umbrella of “don’t even think about sneaking a quick smoke.” Maybe the office stairwell? There seems to be some gray area there; a little wiggle room perhaps?

There has been much discussion lately regarding a proposal that would make UHCL a tobacco-free campus. The last time the campus made a revision to the smoking policy was in 2014 when it was decided that the “e-cigarette” would undergo the same restrictions and scrutiny as if you were lighting up a tobacco cigarette.

I suppose that some complaints regarding second-hand smoke and butts that litter the campus could be reason enough to revisit the smoking ban issue. However, I say that it seems unfair to penalize smokers that consistently follow the rules of law because of a few bad apples. We (smokers) take all the risks, and we pay a hefty price both financially and physically. We are regarded as vile, repugnant smelly contributors to society’s biggest and most popular health issue.

Many people may not recall this, but I remember when cigarettes cost just 50 cents a pack, and your mother would send you to the corner store to purchase them– no questions asked, no law enforcement involved.   I also remember when I could smoke at my desk at work. Women weren’t allowed to wear pants in the office back then, but we could smoke with complete impunity.

Back then smoking was considered glamorous, even cool. Of course, Hollywood played a huge role in glamorizing cigarettes during this era. Celebrities such as Clark Gable, Joan Crawford, Lucille Ball, Hank Aaron, Spencer Tracy and Fran Sinatra were paid thousands of dollars by tobacco companies to smoke and endorse their products.

In fact, between 1927 and 1951 classic Hollywood films would promote glamorous posters of stars smoking to help perpetuate public tolerance. This was a common practice, one that was very successful, I might add.

My question is, where’s my public tolerance? Where’s my billboard that says: “Phyllis is so cool because she smokes ‘xyz’ brand.” After all, I am one big walking, talking, breathing advertisement for big tobacco.

I can still remember the satisfaction of going out to my favorite restaurant, having a martini (this is prior to them becoming popular fruit drinks) served before I ordered my favorite meal and enjoyed my dinner guests’ cosmopolitan conversation, all while we smoked to our heart’s content. No one banished us to an obscure section of the restaurant reserved for smokers only and none of the patrons leered at us as though we were single-handedly killing the youth of society.

Those are the days that I long for, and I think we should just all calm down and allow the smokers (me) our tiny little section in the courtyard, where we huddle through the rain, snow, sleet and hail to enjoy our two minutes of uninterrupted escape from our very difficult and stress-filled days.