The plight of county smokers vs. the plight of those who just breathe county air

As though further proof is needed, yesterday's Advocate page-one report on the plight of smoking county employees proves again that we live in a society gone mad. Let us count the ways ...

... anyone who would deliberately suck into their lungs any quantity of tar, ammonia, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and about 4,000 (really!) other ingredients, most or all of them unhealthful, has gone mad.

... anyone who would pay $4.45 for a pack of killer cigarettes (Ohio average) has gone mad, especially when you can roll your own for a lot less.

... anti-smokers who are so artificially touchy about the tiniest waft of cigarette smoke in their presence have gone mad.

... voters who passed the state smoking ban in public places, making them now only partially public, have gone mad.

... smokers who didn't do anything much to preserve their freedoms before that election proved themselves to have gone mad.

... health "gurus" such as as Joe Ebel, county health commissioner, and County Commissioner Doug Smith, who continue to do a war dance over miniscule amounts of second-hand smoke, while continuing to ignore the colossal dump that Fiberglas takes on Licking County 24/7, have gone mad.

... Advocate reporters and managers, who think the plight of a few county employees without a smoking haven and the reaction to this plight by gone-mad health "gurus" - and not Fiberglas pollution - merits a page-one report, have gone mad.