Editor,
In response to Deadra Wright's letter in Tuesday's Daily Lobo, what Constitution is she reading? Nowhere in the U.S. Constitution does it grant or imply a person's right to smoke. Wright may have the right to buy cigarettes, but the right to smoke them publicly is a gray area.
We assume that if we have the legal right to buy it, we must have the legal right to use it. It is sort of an implied power of the people. If one looks at the Declaration of Independence, one will see the rights Wright must be thinking of - life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. However, the pursuit of those rights is limited by the same rights of other people within society, as the laws of our nation show.
Examine cigarettes and guns - one has the right to buy a gun; one has the right to buy cigarettes. Rights fade as one explores the use of the rights one exercises. One cannot rightfully or legally use a gun to shoot people walking down the street, because it infringes upon their rights - little life, liberty or happiness is found by being shot or possibly killed by a gun.
That's why it is strange that walking down that same street a person can freely produce a carcinogen-containing smoke that has been proven to negatively affect the health of adults and children and bring heart disease and cancer, both of which can lead to death. A person smoking is infringing upon others' right to pursue life, liberty and happiness, just as a gun would.
It is no supposition that secondhand smoke kills. Go check out the American Lung Association's Web site and numerous other scientific articles in the academic medium. Maybe it's just me, but I have yet to hear anyone call cancer, asthma or any other secondhand smoke side effects enjoyable. I'm sure not a big fan of my asthma. They have gun control laws for a reason, too.
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As for Wright's other remarks, this issue is of importance to the University, because UNM is funded by the students' and the state's money, and students are saying they're tired of inhaling others' toxins. I am willing for my tuition to go to a smoke-free campus.
Revisions have been made to minimize the carbon emissions produced by cars that worsen global warming. Have you seen any cigarette revisions to make them less toxic to smokers and nonsmokers?
Jesse Stark
UNM student
