Libertarian Party of Connecticut

Not too long ago readers of The Day were reinformed of the outlawing, in Belmont, Calif., of smoking in residences within multi-unit apartment buildings.

Though this law is seemingly one of good intent with the respectable goal of protecting people from their neighbors’ noxious and dangerous secondhand cigarette smoke, it is harmful and yet another example of our misunderstanding of property rights.

In a free society, a government could not ban smoking or any personal behavior choices on private property, unless these activities were an initiation of force against either another’s rights or an indisputable public good. Secondhand smoke exposure in a space that one does not own and occupies by choice falls rather short of this very important distinctive line. Granted this may be unfortunate for nonsmokers like me, but there are great universal benefits from adhering to these fundamental tenets of freedom. To each live freely, we must ardently defend every person’s right to live freely.
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