I’ve attempted to write this so I don’t offend anyone and I’ve tried to go at it from both sides of the fence. You are invited, at the end, to decide if I’ve succeeded in my attempt.

I’m a nurse by trade; not because it was some sort of life long dream or because I always wanted to be. Looking back in my “School Daze” book; let it be noted that I usually wrote “farmer” in the space provided for what I wanted to be when I grew up. Nursing seemed like a practical choice at some point and it’s a profession that is serving me well. Here recently, I’ve become an “Occupational Health Nurse”, the likes of which they don’t really talk about in nursing school accept to mention it during Nursing History when we covered the single page pertaining to “Industrial Nursing”. Doesn’t that sound exciting or super-hero like? Maybe more like a large-ankled woman in a white, dress-tights-orthopedic shoes ensemble….in reality; it actually depends on the day.

Truth be told, it’s a job like any other only the variety of my work is endless. I often times can’t believe the situations I find myself in and revel in the challenge of figuring out how to get out of them, all the while, striving to achieve the most favorable outcome. My favorite portion of my work would be that of wellness teaching; the health fairs and educational opportunities where healthy people come to us to learn how to be even healthier. In order to fulfill my duties in this area, I network quite a bit with the surrounding community. One of those networks has landed me on the Colfax County Tobacco Free Coalition for the past few years and I’ve become a tobacco cessationist instructor at my job as well.

Sounds like great fun doesn’t it? Our new law: LB395 (requiring every indoor workplace in Nebraska to become smoke free), comes to fruition here on the first of June. My being an instrumental player in initiating compliance at my place of work, as well as in the community has turned me into a “Nurse Ratchet: Tobacco Cessationist”, type character to some, I’m afraid. Personally, I first became interested in this wellness program because some of my employees came to me and asked for help and I felt I needed to be more involved and educated in order to offer the best information. Sometimes the best intentions make you the target for everyone’s complaints, but that’s okay because my super-hero cape is bullet proof, so are my tights.

We all know the law is coming and everyone, of every age group seems to harbor an opinion one way or the other. The most entertaining to me are those folks that come out and complain about the increase in tax on tobacco. They feel this is an effort to play on the publics weaknesses and are leery about where those tax dollars are going to come from once everyone quits smoking. I find this particular argument to be such a positive and prolific one because deep down they believe it’s going to work and that people will stop smoking or cut down on their smoking overall because of the rise in the tax. When they start telling me that the next thing they are going to tax is my ice cream or my fast food to make up for the inevitable decrease in tobacco tax revenue….they’re treading on shaky ground. Though maybe that’s what it will take for me to lose weight…if it works for one, why not another?

I am looking forward to being able to go to our local restaurants/ bars for a meal or a drink. I’ve got some personal medical and hypochondriacal issues that limit my patronage, I’ll admit it. Some folks are okay with it but having to wash my hair and hang my coat and jeans outside after I eat just to get the smell out, or use my inhaler in order to catch my breath, makes the dining experience not even worth it. And I know, it’s my choice: “Just don’t go there if it bothers you.” Which is all fine and good, but we live out here in a wonderful world where the local bars are family places. Where our family meals often DO take place around a table and that table happens to be located at our friend’s establishments, where we meet up, share our lives and break our bread. This isn’t New York or even Omaha where a bar is specifically a place to get loaded….well not 100% of the time anyway. It’s a completely different spin on the idea. We could just not go, but by doing that we cut ourselves off and are missing out on a vital part of community interaction. Believe me, I’m one of those that chooses “not to go” most of the time and I really would love to spend more time with neighbors and friends.

It’s the right thing to do and I’m sure we will all get used to it, our children won’t even remember the days when you used to be able to smoke indoors. I know, right now, some of you may feel like your rights are being violated and it’s natural for you to feel that way because you have to make a change that not everyone else has to make. It doesn’t seem fair, but please take a look around this place where you are smoking. Consider for a moment your waitress or waiter or co-worker: Their risk of heart disease and lung cancer increases by 20-30% just because they want to make a living and are doing their job every day. Talk about having your rights violated! There are OSHA laws out there to limit the amount of ammonia and hundreds of other substances you could be exposed to at work but not the amount of nicotine and in some cases, the carcinogens in second-hand smoke are even deadlier.

It’s also important for those of us who will reap the benefit from this new law to consider our friends and neighbors who are going to have to make the change. Get involved, see what you can do as a community, to help because the law wasn’t passed in order to punish, it’s there to make all of our lives better. What sort of changes will your local establishment have to make to accommodate an outdoor area for smoking? Is there any way we can help them with this? Could we organize a community clean up or a deck raising on a Saturday afternoon before planting season starts to help with an outdoor area? Is there a local smoking cessation class to assist those that want to quit? Do they have the information they need to comply with this new law?

We are all in Nebraska here together and it’s a huge, bold, admirable change for all of us so we need to work together to make it happen because it affects every one of us, of every single age group. So I suggest we start talking about it and not one side against the other but rather, how we can approach this law and make the most of it. Nebraska is one of just 23 states with such a law coming into reality and I am proud to be a part of such a wonderful group of forward-thinkers.

I would love to hear successes as well as complaints from our readers. I don’t usually get too political, but you know where I’m at if you need to vent….that’s why he puts me on the opinion page. For more information go to:
www.smokefree.ne.gov.

For a list of states that already have their law in place go to: www.no-smoke.org/pdf/100ordlist.pdf.