Portland City Council Inducted as Sixth Member of Colonel Benjamin Church Hypocrisy Hall of Shame

Colonel Benjamin Church Hypocrisy Hall of Shame Award

Awarded to: Portland City Council       Diamond Rank

Awarded for: Banning smoking in all outdoor public parks, but allowing smoking in indoor private clubs."

Other Hall of Shame Members:

BOB BUTTERWORTH

Attorney General of Florida  SILVER RANK

CAMPAIGN FOR TOBACCO-FREE KIDS

National Anti-smoking Organization  GOLD RANK

MICHAEL BLOOMBERG

Mayor of New York City        BLUE RANK

FRANK LAUTENBERG            
U.S. Senator, New Jersey   BRONZE RANK

KEMP HANNON

New York State Senator         DIAMOND RANK
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Today, I am announcing the induction of the 6th member of the the Colonel Benjamin Church Hypocrisy Hall of Shame.

Today's award goes to the Portland (Maine) City Council, which last Thursday voted to ban smoking in all outdoor public parks, but to continue to allow smoking indoors in private clubs.

According to an article in the Portland Press-Herald: "A City Council committee voted Thursday to recommend that the council ban smoking in all public parks but declined to pursue a ban for private clubs. Banning smoking in all city-owned and maintained parks would "basically complete" Portland's restrictions on smoking near playgrounds, athletic fields and beaches, said Councilor Edward Suslovic, chairman of the Public Safety, Health and Human Services Committee." ...

"Despite their unanimous support for the smoking ban in parks, committee members decided against pursuing a proposal to prohibit smoking in private/fraternal clubs such as the American Legion, Eagles and Elks." 

City Councilor John Coyne explained his reason for voting against a ban on smoking in private clubs:
"I look at this as government getting into something we don't need to. I just don't think the city really has a role in it."

"Suslovic (another City Council member) said he also prefers to see clubs deal with the issue privately, but urged them to reconsider permitting smoking."

The Rest of the Story

If banning smoking in private establishments, such as the American Legion, is something that we don't need "government getting into," then why should the city ban smoking in all other private establishments, such as bars, restaurants, and the buildings of private organizations?

If banning smoking in private clubs is something that the city does not "have a role in," then why should the city have a role in banning smoking in private restaurants and bars?

If clubs should deal with the issue privately, then why shouldn't bars also deal with the issue privately.

In advancing these arguments, the Portland City Council has destroyed its own arguments for banning smoking in all private establishments in the city.

To be sure, the problem of secondhand smoke exposure is far worse in indoor private clubs than it is in outdoor public parks. If you were going to justify exempting one of the two from a smoking ban, you would certainly be more justified in exempting outdoor parks than in exempting indoor workplaces, albeit they are located within "private" clubs.

This is first-rate hypocrisy and worthy of induction into the Colonel Benjamin Church Hypocrisy Hall of Shame at the Diamond Level.