This morning, Farkonomist Craig Newmark wrote:
At the behest of a 19-year-old who said "second-hand smoke gives her a headache and she was tired of having to move in public parks to avoid it", Calabasas CA has banned smoking from many outdoor areas.
Economist John Chilton (blog here) excellently points out one possible effect: the poor smokers in Calabasas, banned from smoking indoors and now outdoors, smoke in their cars, and then reek all day of cigarette smoke, causing even more distress to sensitive 19-year-olds.
Using a line often found over at Fark: "Having solved all other problems in the world, lawmakers in Australia turn to prohibiting what you can do in your car."
Authorities in Australia's most populous state, New South Wales, are to consider banning smoking in cars.
A parliamentary inquiry will look at the effects of passive smoking on passengers, particularly children.
Supporters of the proposal have admitted, however, that enforcing such a ban would be difficult.
Smokers in Australia have already been squeezed out of bars and restaurants, as well as some beaches and most other public places.
One of these days, if it hasn't already, a lucrative underground economy is going to come of all this. Just like the drinking that went on in secret backroom parlors throughout the states during prohibition, we might see secret smoking parlors crop up. But how would the smell of smoke get cleared from the air and the patrons' clothes? Perhaps we'll see an increase in the demand for smokeless ashtrays and smoke-dstroying airfilters.
Or maybe we'll see more nudist smoking parlors.
HT to Fellow Farkonomist, John Chilton.