Posted on 03/27/2016 7:12:36 AM PDT by Kaslin
Fans do not attend Major League Baseball games to enhance their physical health. Among their customary activities are eating hot dogs, drinking beer or sugary soda, sitting idly for hours on end and stressing terribly about inconsequential events on the field of play.
But this season, those at Wrigley Field and U.S. Cellular Field will have to forgo one vice. Chicago recently became the fourth city to outlaw smokeless tobacco in sports stadiums (followed shortly by New York).
The law owes much to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, whose president, Matthew Myers, says, "Our national pastime should be about promoting a healthy and active lifestyle, not a deadly and addictive product."
But don't worry, MillerCoors and Anheuser-Busch. He's not talking about your wares. Alcohol is one deadly and addictive product that will remain legal, welcome and profitable at professional sports venues. Some venues -- Miller Park, Busch Stadium, Coors Field -- are even named after brewing giants.
Alcohol is not just for fans, either. What do players do in the locker room after winning a title? They spray and drink enough Champagne to float a battleship.
Not everyone is happy about the new law. Cubs pitcher John Lackey, who doesn't use smokeless tobacco, took the position that "grown men should have their own choice." Catcher Miguel Montero lamented, "It's going to be tough to quit cold turkey."
But the most cogent objection came from Cubs manager Joe Maddon, evincing an affinity for libertarian principles. "I'm into personal freedoms," he said. "I'm not into over-legislating the human race." He even offered a modest counterproposal: "Educate the masses and let everybody make their own decision."
Illinois already forbids smoking in stadiums, on the grounds that watching the White Sox attempt to catch and throw the ball -- they were the worst defensive team in baseball last season -- is miserable enough without having to peer through someone else's cigarette fumes. Not only that but secondhand smoke carries health risks to innocent bystanders, including death from cancer.
But secondhand spit is a danger only to your shoes, not your lungs. The person in front of you could be getting a nicotine fix without your ever being aware of it, much less injured by it. The difference between banning cigarettes and banning snuff is the difference between minding your business and butting into everyone else's.
Using these products is less hazardous than sucking on paper cylinders stuffed with burning leaves, but it's not harmless. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, smokeless tobacco causes cancer of the mouth, esophagus and pancreas, among other maladies.
The danger gained attention when two baseball legends who chewed tobacco, Tony Gwynn and Curt Schilling, contracted oral cancer (which in Gwynn's case was fatal). But it remains a legal commodity that adults are allowed to consume at their own risk, like booze and bratwurst.
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids justifies its overbearing demand with the pretext that it's for the good of the children. "Players' use of smokeless tobacco sets a terrible example for millions of impressionable youth," it says. A complete ban in baseball is essential "to protect our kids."
Really? It's not as though our heroes are flaunting their addiction. Spectators at the ballpark or at home would have trouble detecting which players are chewing Red Man and which are chewing gum or sunflower seeds.
If a small percentage of high-school boys dip or chew -- almost no girls do -- it's not because they idolize Miguel Montero. Blaming ballplayers for adolescent use of smokeless tobacco is like blaming Taylor Swift for teenage heartbreak.
Players and owners have already taken steps to shield children. Tobacco in any form is banned in the minor leagues, with fines for players caught with it, even in their lockers.
Major league players are not allowed to use smokeless tobacco when signing autographs, giving interviews or doing events with fans, and they're forbidden to possess it on the field -- a change from the days when tins of snuff were a common back-pocket cargo. Strict discretion is the norm.
That should be enough. The existing arrangement in Major League Baseball accommodates the reasonable goal of not encouraging kids to use tobacco and the right of players and coaches (not to mention fans) to exercise their own preferences.
As addictive habits go, chewing tobacco is bad. But over-legislating the human race is worse.
Liberals are today’s Puritans (with one exception). No one should have any fun. (Unless the fun is gay sex.)
“...sitting idly for hours on end and stressing terribly about inconsequential events on the field of play.”
Dude, the writer of this screed is using baseball to further HIS agenda.
It is rather ridiculous, because there are plenty of empty sections at many ballparks.
I watched a lot of home and away Texas Rangers games on TV the last couple of years. One thing I noticed at both were the numbers of empty SECTIONS of stadiums. Many stadiums did not have enough ticket sales to pay the employees. Baseball has become a TV sport.
Some better teams did have better turnouts, but others did not. Teams now seem dependent on revenues from TV.
It’s none of any city’s business whether anyone chews tobacco or dips snuff - none of that directly affects another single human being. If they’re worried about a “bad example for the kids”, they should prohibit athletes from making beer commercials. For crying out loud, 75% of the NBA and about half of the NFL is a “bad example for the kids”.
I think smokeless tobacco is stupid, and I hate to see anyone end up maimed because of it - but until they miss the spit cup and hit my shoe, it’s none of my damn business.
I’d agree with the libertarian sense if it weren’t for the kids in attendance. Now if they’d also propose to trim back those muslim face-dos....
Mein life sucks! Zat much iss true!
I vill not shtop til yours sucks, too!
...and those damned tattoos.
The mind-boggling irony is that the tax on tobacco is part of the “sin tax” that funds stadiums.
Really? From the same people who promote homosexuality?
The smell of some vape flavors is rank... I don’t mind e-cigs at all,as I’ve never detected an odor. But beyond the smell, there is nothing that the vapor produces that is hazardous to anyone around the user. Do they allow drinking alcohol at games? yes... so the reasoning to protect children is a bit flawed
My husband chewed tobacco for 50 years and quit when he had by pass surgery 8 years ago. He talks about it from time to time and says he misses it but doesn’t start again. Thankfully!
Chew tobacco......Chew tobacco....... Chew tobacco.....SPIT! Good song!
The Nanny State presses on.
Just a reminder that the United States of America was strong, free, and the true leader of the free world when there was widespread use of cigars and cigarettes, chewing tobacco, booze, slide rules, chalkboards, and textbooks.
The NY Mets are having an official LBGTQ day later this summer.
But that’s a-ok
“Not only that but secondhand smoke carries health risks to innocent bystanders, including death from cancer. “
—
I doubt that is true when exposed outdoors.
.
The evidence for death from second-hand smoke from stadiums, parking lots, public parks is exactly....
non-existent.
So of course everyone _knows_ it is a major health hazard. :-(
I believe it was Einstein who said that the only unlimited thing in the universe is human stupidity.
Been a snuff dipper for close to 50 years as are most of the males I grew up with and I’ve yet to have a single person I know come down with any form of cancer elated to snuff.
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