In his "Your voice" column "Smoking ban chokes rights too tight" (June 27), Matthew McGowan appeared to argue that personal rights on private property should be free from government interference. I'd like to see him exercise his "right" to live in a house full of lead-based paint and asbestos, while eating a hamburger made of low-grade beef, prepared under conditions not up to par with health regulations.

The rights of individuals and property owners need to be protected, but not when those rights endanger the public health at large.

We can't expect restaurant, bar and bowling alley employees to quit their jobs to avoid secondhand smoke. We can't ask those with allergies or asthma to live life as recluses by never going out to patronize businesses that allow smoking. McGowan claims that everyone has a choice in a world without clean indoor air laws (otherwise known as smoking bans), but that's not the case at all.

Clean indoor air laws are spreading like wildfire across the country because they are in the best interest of everyone - smokers and nonsmokers, restaurant workers and customers. Smoking bans don't take away the right to smoke. They simply remove the public health hazard of secondhand smoke by taking the habit outside. They also don't take away the rights of property ownership anymore than cooking regulations or employee hygiene regulations - laws for which customers should be thankful.

Smoking bans are not slippery slopes or potential economic disasters, but they do save lives. Workers in smoke-friendly work environments are 34 percent more likely to develop lung cancer. Sitting by someone smoking in a bar for two hours is equivalent to smoking four cigarettes.

The biggest concern I've heard from opponents of smoking bans is the fear of losing business. Methodologically sound studies have examined the impact of smoke-free measures on business revenues or employment in many places. No properly conducted study shows a negative economic impact. Some even show that a smoke-free measure improves business.

Sales don't lie. Business owners, their employees and customers all benefit when cities go smoke-free. It's time for Cincinnati to protect everyone's right to breathe clean indoor air. It's good for people and good for business.

Nicholas Caldwell of Clifton is a graduate student in aerospace engineering at the University of Cincinnati.

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