Titled:    Big Nanny Is Watching You

A couple of weeks ago, I interviewed Roger Valdez, director of tobacco prevention for Public Health–Seattle & King County. He is in charge of Seattle-area enforcement of the statewide smoking ban approved by voters in November. I call him the tobacco czar.

We were talking about how enforcement was working out, including the 25-foot rule. In the midst of our chat, Valdez said something remarkable.

"Americans think they have a lot of rights they really don't have. Smoking is one of those things where people think they have the right to smoke, but you don't." He used "you" in the plural. "You have no right to smoke. It's an addiction. It's something you should see a doctor about."

He went on to tell me that people have no right to smoke even in their private residences.

"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people."- Tenth Amendment to the US Constitution.

If Iraq needs a good constitution, written by clever men, guaranteed to provide liberty and justice for all, they could use ours. We don't seem to use it anymore.