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EDITORIAL: Lawmakers waffle on smoking ban 

There is no hurry. That's the disturbing message that a bipartisan conference committee of Pennsylvania lawmakers delivered last week on the subject of a statewide smoking ban. They are so wrong, and impatience for a ban seems to grow by the minute.

Rep. Ron Miller, R-York, said he needs the extra time to work on an amendment regarding requirements for ventilation equipment that will clear smoke out of a bar or club.

Hello? The same Surgeon General's report that concluded secondhand smoke can have deadly effects also concluded there is virtually no ventilation system that can effectively clear a room or a building of cigarette smoke. . . .

one conference committee member, state Rep. Bob Belfanti, D-Northumberland County, a leading proponent of smokers' rights. "This is still the United States of America, with a capital USA, and I do believe that everyone has rights," he told the Harrisburg newspaper.

Smokers' rights, huh? The whole trouble with the "rights" argument is that it clashes with the "rights" of the nonsmoking majority.

That's why 15 states -- Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island, Washington and Vermont -- plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico prohibit smoking in almost all public places and workplaces, including restaurants and bars.

It's time for Gov. Ed Rendell to once again lay down the law to the lawmakers. He should threaten to veto any measure that includes exceptions beyond private clubs and some floors of casinos. That's bad enough.

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