Re: Smoking Scouters
Alan Houser (troop24@EMF.NET)
Sat, 12 Aug 1995 23:11:40 -0700
Bruce McKinzie <CeltHero2@AOL.COM> wrote:
>There seems to be a great deal of smoke (pun intended) being created about
>smoking and BSA policies. I feel that those who do choose to smoke should be
>able to do so, but how can this be accomplished without any attempt to
>violate their personal right to do so? I don't like to see adults walking
>around camp with a cigarette hanging from their lips, it sets a poor example,
>but how do we regulate this? Is it my responsibility to walk up to a stranger
>at camp and make an isue of this? There has to be a middle ground here
>somewhere. I appreciate the discussions here in this forum and, who knows, we
>might find a solution to the problem right here.
At our district camporee, the regulation in the camporee book stated something
to the effect that
"An open fire may be built only in an area which has been cleared of vegetation
to a radius of 10 feet.... A lit cigarette is considered an open fire..."
But there was no enforcement and there were plenty of violators.
So, yes, is there a way to ask politely but firmly for smokers to pay
attention to what they are doing and what the effects of that action is
and to stop from time to time?
By the way, I am not a smoker, but my father was a heavy smoker. It killed
him. It also permanently damaged my respiratory system and my brother's to
live in a smoke-filled environment while we were growing up. The consequences
are real, folks.
And I haven't seen ANYONE field strip a butt in over 40 years!
Alan R. Houser ** Scoutmaster, Berkeley Troop 24 ** troop24@emf.net
** WWW page ** http://www.emf.net/~troop24/t24.html **
Terry Howerton Sakima Group, Inc. SCOUTER Magazine Kansas City | 
