Editor:
I am not a smoker. I am a resident of a Santa Monica apartment building. There are people around me who smoke. As far as I know, tobacco is still a legal substance in the United States of America.
So why would the city of Santa Monica think it is OK to dictate what someone does in their own home ("Smoking ban extinguished," July 25)? Sure, cigarette smoke travels. It travels from one house to another. It travels from one apartment or condo to the house next door. Why is it OK to regulate only multi-unit dwellings and not all dwellings? Why is it OK to stigmatize smokers in their own homes?
I understand the concern about second-hand smoke, however, I would rather spend a little money for an air purifier (which I have) than tell my neighbor that he or she cannot smoke or consume a legal substance in the privacy of his or her own home. Heck, I have more problems with my neighbor's idiotic arguments or barking dogs or screaming children than I do over a smoker!
Our homes are just that — our homes. Whether a single-family house, a condo, a townhouse, or an apartment, we deserve the sanctity of peace in our homes without intervention of the government telling us whether we can or cannot consume legal substances because it might bother someone else.
We are going too far in our attempts to regulate the bejesus out of everything. What's next? No alcohol consumption in your house because you "might" hurt yourself or others? No soda or sugary sweets because your kids might get a sugar rush and make too much noise?
I wonder exactly how many smokers live in Santa Monica and how many people have complained about smoke infiltrating their homes to such a degree that it constitutes a nuisance or harm is done. I wonder if I can get barbecues banned because I almost choked over someone using too much lighter fluid. I wonder how many more people I will now see in the alley smoking because they cannot smoke in the courtyards of their buildings.
Be careful, Santa Monica, be very, very careful.
Stacy Westly
Santa Monica
