Be Defiant

Dear Senator Wysong:

I am a Leawood resident, and owner of a cigar accessory design / distribution company which employs more than 20 people. I am writing to inform you of my opposition to Senate Bill 660, the smoking ban bill. I implore you to reconsider your position and vote against this onerous bill, for the following reasons: it infringes on civil liberties and it taxes small business into extinction.

1. It infringes on civil liberties. We must agree that smoking is a legal activity and tobacco a legal substance. Most cigar and even cigarette smokers would agree that restrictions on smoking in public areas which capture a large non-smoking population (airplanes, buses, restaurants, public offices, etc.), are perfectly acceptable. However, wide smoking bans are nothing more than a regulatory approach to outlaw a legal substance. This is an infringement on the rights of smokers who choose to engage in a legal activity.

2. It taxes small business into extinction. Not only will this ban damage every smoke-shop and distributor in the state, perhaps putting them out of business, it will also hurt related business, particularly bars and night clubs whose clients, largely smokers, are proven to spend more when allowed to smoke.

While “I’m for smoking” is a difficult stump for any politician, isn’t “I’m against smoking” too good to be true?  It’s an easy position, but a slippery one. Once the mass opinion takes over, don’t we have tyranny of the masses? It’s no exaggeration to question “what’s next?” trans fats, caffeine, etc. This tyranny, as strong as the tyranny of a monarch, drove our founding fathers to create your job, the elected representative, who must decide between what’s popular and what’s right. Those same men guided us on what’s right: freedom and individual liberty. And, while “I’m for freedom” is a difficult stump, it’s the right one.

Sincerely yours,
Kurt Van Keppel
President, XIKAR, Inc.