Walk into almost any bar in Ohio and you’ll see good old fashioned revolutionary rebellion taking place. You will see citizens smoking! Our founding fathers would be proud. They however would be pretty pissed at the reason why this civil disobedience has been forced.

In November the citizens of Ohio passed a statewide smoking ban that virtually eliminates smoking.

Ignoring property rights of private citizens and private business, voters passed a ban that denies your freedom to consume a legal product almost anywhere in privately owned and operated establishments. The few exemptions are virtually unattainable so therefore pointless.

Many bar and restaurant owners have complained that this law is unconstitutional and they have filed several lawsuits trying to overturn the law.

While many smokers have complained about their right to smoke, I believe the real argument is that privately owned businesses have the right to use their property as they see fit as long as they conduct business in a legal manner.

Smoking inside public buildings has been banned in Ohio for years. There is no need to pass another law in this regard.

A privately owned business whether it is a bar or a shopping mall has the right to establish rules that their invited customers must abide by. Many of these businesses already ban smoking because they feel it is good business to do so. If the consumer doesn’t care for the rules then they have the choice not to patronize that establishment. Unfortunately the majority of Ohio voters don’t understand that concept or the constitution.

Instead of voting with their wallets, they chose to listen to anti-smoking busy bodies. This is one more incremental step in sacrificing civil rights. Ironically the smoking ban went into effect on December 7^th. We fought a war against fascism and tyranny yet we forget that and instead, just like the Germans in the 30’s, we freely give up our personal freedoms.

I suggest, in the spirit of the smoking ban, that Ohio citizens comrades pass a law to ban and discriminate against more minorities (take your pick, they’re few and don’t stand a chance by themselves). After all, if we get a mob rule we can silence unpopular ideas or people we don’t like. Isn’t that OK?

PS. I’m not a smoker.

A 61 year old grandmother was convicted of trafficking marijuana. Leticia Villareal Garcia was pulled over by Arizona State troopers and they discovered 214 pounds of pot.

It seems that she has a habit. A bingo habit. It turns out that she turned to marijuana trafficking to fund her bingo habit. Leticia Villareal Garcia is to be sentenced December 18 and faces up to 12 years in jail.

Leticia is lucky that she got busted in Arizona and not Ohio. Arizona doesn’t have a smoking ban whereas Ohio has recently passed one of the most draconian anti-smoking bans in the country. Chances are if she had been convicted in Ohio she would probably be taken directly to the electric chair without appeal.

Prosecutor Doyle Johnstun told jurors; “The underlying issue is that she’s got a bingo problem, which explains why an otherwise nice person might get sucked into something like this.”

I hope that she gets a lenient sentence. After all shouldn’t she get rehab treatment for her bingo habit and not jail time?