With the election just weeks away and most people being completely overwhelmed by information and attacks ads from shady politicians (regardless of which party they represent), the other stuff on the ballot is easily overlooked and lost in the shuffle. So in order to help clear up some confusion, I thought I'd write up about one of the important issues on the ballot here in Ohio.

Issues 4 & 5: These two are always mentioned together since they both have to do with smoking, and both proclaim to be anti-smoking, though that is really not the case. One would actually overturn existing smoking bans in over 20 cities across Ohio, such as Columbus. So here are the real simple truths about Issues 4 & 5:

ISSUE 4: This issue, if passed, would amend the Ohio constitution to allow smoking in many public places such as restaurants and would overturn the 20+ city bans on smoking (including the one in Columbus) and prevent future bans from being put in place, and would overrule Issue 5 even if it passed. This issue has been almost entirely funded by the tobacco and alcohol industries.

ISSUE 5: This issue, if passed, would ban smoking in restaurants, public places and workplaces throughout Ohio. This issue is backed by the American Cancer Society and over 500 organizations and businesses.

So hopefully that clears up a bit of the confusion, most of which is being intentionally created by the big corporate backers of Issue 4. To read more about Issue 4 from it's supporters, visit SmokeLessOhio.com. To read more about Issue 5 from it's supporters, visit SmokeFreeOhio.org.

This entry was posted by Brad, on Thursday, October 19, 2006. You can leave your response.