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March 19, 2010

Our view: Salem councilors right in rejecting smoking ban

A Salem City Council committee took the wiser course Tuesday in rejecting a proposal to ban smoking in the city's public housing units.

For one thing, as Assistant City Solicitor Jerry Parisella advised, the council lacks jurisdiction to impose rules on the tenants of these units, which were built and are operated with state funds.

A smoking ban has been a longtime cause of Councilor at large Thomas Furey who introduced a similar resolution shortly after being elected to the council 16 years ago. He feels his cause is bolstered by the fact Boston Mayor Thomas Menino has proposed a similar measure for public housing units in that city.

But just how far are we prepared to let government go in dictating what people can do in their own homes?

Smoking, which everyone acknowledges is an unhealthy habit, is now banned in virtually every public space. Furey's proposal raises the specter of tenant spying on tenant or a Salem Housing Authority representative bursting into an elderly person's apartment in an attempt to catch him or her in the act of smoking. As tenants' representative Maureen Fry told the Committee on Public Health and Safety, the whole thing smacks of Big Brother.

There's nothing wrong with the SHA stepping up the effort to discourage people from smoking. But an outright ban crosses the line.

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