MIND IF I SNUFF OUT PERSONAL FREEDOM?

Byline: Brad Dickson Local View

"Mind if I smoke?" If that question is asked in Calabasas, the answer is an emphatic "Yes!" as the city recently enacted the nation's first ban on smoking in all outdoor public places.

It isn't surprising. The Los Angeles area has earned a reputation for being tolerant of atheists, communists, the super weird, porn actors, the insane, reality-show contestants and immigrants with no desire whatsoever to purchase car insurance - provided they're all nonsmokers.

In Hollywood recently, a neck-tattooed, lip-pierced, half-naked man holding a lunging pit bull he called Manson didn't receive a single dirty glance - until he lit a cigarette.

Before I kicked the habit, asking "Do you mind if I smoke?" usually elicited about the same glare as asking, "Do you mind if I shave your head and light your baby on fire?"

Although I'm now a nonsmoker, I oppose Calabasas' ban on the grounds of personal freedom. Ban outdoor smoking in Los Angeles and before you know it they're taking away Angelenos' rights to wiretap celebrities, weave across freeways while chatting on cell phones and riot after important Lakers victories.

Don't get me wrong, I'm adamantly opposed to secondhand smoke. But do we need a municipal ordinance to protect us? Not offending those with a distaste for smoke is basic courtesy.

The smoking ban was birthed when Calabasas teenager Margo Arnold appeared before the City Council to ask for constraints on smoking for The Commons open-air shopping mall (thus making this the first Valley Girl-sponsored landmark legislation). She had been offended by smoking outside the Mi Piace eatery, and curmudgeons might suggest she try one of greater Los Angeles' other 989 trillion Italian restaurants.

The punishment for violating the ordinance is a citation and up to a $500 fine. According to a bill provision, anyone can file a lawsuit against any smoker they see smoking within 20 feet of them in any situation where the city decides to prosecute the criminal offense with a fine. And I've often said the biggest problem in our society is that people just aren't litigious enough.

Nevertheless, the upscale Calabasas is a lovely, picturesque area. (I know because I used to live in North Hills, or, as I called it when I listed my home, "Calabasas Adjacent.") Wanting to regulate outdoor secondhand smoke is noble, but this is over the top. If the ban takes hold nationally, that means if smoke is seen near your person outdoors, you'd best be burning an American flag, or you're in big trouble.

Where will all this end? With Southern California divided into Nonsmoking (Calabasas) and Smoking (San Bernardino) sections? They've already banned smoke on planes, in schools and public and private buildings. Now it's being prohibited outdoors. All that's left is banning the release of smoke whenever a new pope is elected.

Has civility sunk to the point where we need to legislate outdoor smoking to protect us from what is essentially bad manners? I don't believe it has. And it's only a matter of time before we're subjected to some nitwit who lit up in public leading 20 police cruisers and 65 mall cops on Segway scooters in a slow-speed chase down the 101 Freeway. Nobody wants that.

It is all so unnecessary. With the price of cigarettes, how many smokers can afford to shop at The Commons anyway?