Plan to Ban Smoking in Apartments

Re “West Hollywood Official Backs More Curbs on Smokers,” Aug. 25: West Hollywood has gone too far. As a smoker, I have no problem with not smoking in public places, but that apparently is no longer good enough for the lifestyle police. Now the anti-smokers are trying to make it illegal to smoke in your own home. For years, they have been saying that their goal is to protect the public, not to prohibit smoking. Now the truth is coming out.

The ultimate goal of these people is the prohibition of cigarettes. They have already achieved a total ban on smoking in public places, yet this isn’t enough to satisfy them. Now they are targeting my home. I am being turned into a criminal just because I use a legal product. Councilman Paul Koretz went so far as to say, “Secondhand smoke is not a victimless crime.” That is very interesting. When exactly did smoking become a crime?

ROBERT LoBUE

Aliso Viejo

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I saw your story about the proposed law in West Hollywood that would allow the owners of apartment buildings to ban smoking in apartments. I totally support that proposed law. I live in an apartment building, and I get very tired of being unable to sit on the benches outside my apartment without having smokers sitting next to me, so I stay inside most of the time. I also get annoyed seeing cigarette butts outside my door every day. I think that even people who can’t afford to own houses should be able to breathe clean air.

CHRIS FLESCHER

San Diego