When smoke gets in our lungs
May. 4, 2015
Some years ago, I used to look at going to a bar or a music venue and the requisite cigarette smoke as one in the same; a package deal, you might say.
I thought we had no choice (good job, tobacco lobby).
I figured that the smoke came with the territory, part of being an adult in an adult socializing world. To me, smoking was just someone else's vice to accompany the vice I sought in the bottle behind the bar.
I'll never forget how I used to bury my smoky clothes from the evening out at the bottom of the clothes basket, or simply put them outside to air out.
I remember smelling the smoke/chemical odor again later on in the shower as it rolled down from my hair and covered my face in liquid form. It was worse than walking in a smoking club in the first place.
Every time I see the "no smoking" sign on airplanes and hear the no smoking in the lavatory routine, I smirk. To think that people were allowed to smoke in such cramped, airtight quarters would be laughable if it weren't so sad.
Anyway, Lafayette City-Parish Council Chairman Kenneth Boudreaux and Chubby Carrier (yes, the Grammy winner and Tobacco-Free Living activist) have teamed up to draft an ordinance for the city and unincorporated parts of the parish to ban the smoking of tobacco products plus electronic cigarettes or e-cigarettes in bars and clubs.
The ordinance, to protect musicians, bartenders and waitresses from the effects of second-hand smoke in the workplace, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing at the city-parish council Tuesday (May 5). Let's hope the council does the right thing.
If they're looking for a name for the law, how about the David Egan Law. David is dealing with lung cancer as I write. He's a musician who played for years in smoky clubs and is now paying the price. Godspeed, David.
Drew Landry needs some help
As you may know by now, musician and activist Drew Landry is recovering from a serious accident a couple of weeks ago. He had a run-in with an 18-wheeler — head-on, mind you — and lived to tell about it. I saw a photo of his vehicle and it boggles the mind he's even in one piece.
Five years ago, Drew went down to the coast and helped with the cleanup after the BP oil spill. He has a documentary on the subject and had a couple of screenings/concerts set for it just before the wreck. He told me what he's trying to do with his activism and I have to admire his heart.
I was in Mississippi when I saw him perform his "BP Blues" on C-SPAN before the president's National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling. I smiled in both disbelief and belief.
Drew had some seven hours of surgery recently and is expecting a few more. You can help him out at gofundme.com/s5z5nwc.
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