Thursday, July 20, 2006

Marriott comes clean-air

The Marriott hotel chain is going the way I like businesses to go: smoke-free. And they're doing it the correct way, as a natural response to consumer demand, not because of a heavy-handed government act.

Quite frankly, I would be one of the happiest people on the planet if every business went the same route. Smoke and the cleaning chemicals to erase it have left my respiratory system a wreck every time I travel. My allergies usually force me to sleep in my car, or beg to stay with non-smoking friends. (Okay, I don't travel much & when I don I stay with friends mostly because I can't afford any other options, right now. Sue me. But during those days when I could travel, staying in motels was an occasion for doubling or tripling my antihistamines and other meds.) It's a relief when somebody big like this chooses clean air.

I don't, however, think it's the place of a government to tell businesses they can't allow a legal activity to occur on their premises. City, state, fed should all stay out of this decision-making process and let human business nature take its course.

So, today, hooray for our side! lungs and sinuses the world over can do a happy dance.


HT: Jonathan Adler @ The Volokh Conspiracy

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