LETTERS: TEEN OPPOSES BAN ON CIGARETTES

To the editor:

On the topic of the proposed ordinance concerning possession of cigarettes by minors, I know where I stand. There is a saying, "With age comes experience." But I question its validity. I know that society is setting the trend and politicians are jumping on the bandwagon by advancing prohibition to a certain degree against smoking, especially among minors -- but while wagging their fingers with one hand and then carefully discarding ashes from a lit cigarette with the other hand.

Adults charge that minors are incapable of making important decisions such as to smoke or not to smoke. If smoking is such an atrocity and should be punishable among minors, which is it OK for adults to smoke? Because you can't tell and adult what to do is why. You can easily violate the rights of a minor without thought though, can't you?

Minors are treated unfairly, and I should know, because I am 15 years old. I am told when I can and cannot go outside and what bad habits I pick up at what age, and I am forced to obey laws I can't vote for. If I were an observer looking in, I would see that it's wrong to smoke and drink unless I'm an adult, then it's completely OK. Also, nobody can go outside after 11:30 p.m. because they will commit crimes -- except for adults. They can go outside after that time to commit any crime they have the opportunity to do. And nobody can vote on any laws that affect them because they are incapable -- except for adults, who are commonly more incapable than children.

What kind of example are you people setting for those young, highly perceptive and incapable minds?

I pointed out that minors cannot vote. Twenty-five years ago kids were screaming for the right to vote, and now that age range (18 to 21) has the lowest voter turnout. Voter turn out is low all over, even among adults. Children are bred on the attitude that they cannot make their own decisions and that what they think doesn't count. In turn, when they are old enough to vote, the don't because they feel one vote doesn't make a difference. This exact thought process is what destroys democracy. When no clear line is drawn concerning government authority and when more laws like the proposed ban on tobacco possession by minors is passed -- laws that prohibit socially unacceptable offenses -- we will wonder where along the line did we give up our freedom.

I can tell you it starts here. Once you trigger an avalanche, you can't stop it.

The ordinance against smoking seems like a good idea, but later another ordinance will come up, against alcohol perhaps. A few years later smoking among adults will be restricted even more tightly than it is now. Pretty soon we'll have a citywide curfew. Nobody will object, not any large numbers of people anyway.

I live by these two ideas: my rights end where other people's begin, and if I violate my rights, they should be taken away. As long as I don't have to breathe any secondhand smoke, I don't think it's anybody's responsibility except for their own, and when you let the government take on your responsibilities, your are also letting it take your rights.

Welfare is something many conservatives dislike. Well, friends, this is the same principle. Think long and hard about this before you let it pass, because it opens up doors for things we may not want in the future. Learn from history. Thirteen years of prohibition against alcohol produced Al Capone and some of the worst crimes America has ever seen. Cape Girardeau is a fine town, but if this ordinance passes it may become something less.

ERIN CHRISTOPHER

Cape Girardeau