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Smoking harmful to health — and career

Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard the old saying that nothing is worse than a reformed smoker.

That may be true but as someone who smoked two packs a day for 10 years or more, then kicked the habit more than a decade ago, I feel that I have the perspective and credentials to criticize those who light up — when it affects me.

I recently read that the Anna Jaques Hospital in Massachusetts has joined a host of other hospitals to implement a policy that prohibits hiring individuals who smoke.

The reason behind this move is the negative health image that smoking conveys and these hospitals’ beliefs that this is inconsistent with their goal of promoting healthy living.

Although I am all for individual liberties, I’m also very supportive of businesses being able to make the decisions that they feel best reflect their needs and their customers.

“No one would question the right of an animal rights or anti-gun organization not to hire people who hunt, or the right of a women’s rights organization to decline to hire men who attend strip shows nor women who perform in them,” Dr. John Banzhaf III, professor of public interest law at George Washington University and executive director and chief counsel for Action on Smoking and Health, said in a prepared statement.

“So it’s somewhat surprising when a few question the right of hospitals and other health organizations not to hire people who engage in an activity which undercuts the organization’s image and mission of promoting good health.”

For me, it does send the wrong message when nurses and doctors walk into a room to provide care but come in through a cloud of cigarette smoke or have the smell embedded on their clothes.

Several area hospitals have “smoke-free campuses” but this simply sends those looking to light up across nearby streets into our neighborhoods.

Before anyone starts crying out that this is discrimination, let’s dispel that notion: It isn’t.

Discrimination revolves around excluding someone based upon unchangeable characteristics.

You can’t change if you are a man or a woman. You can’t change if you are black, white, Asian or some other ethnic or racial group. You can’t be forced to change your religion.

Smoking is purely a behavior that can be modified.

Apparently some of the businesses are making this move for financial reasons as well.

Some statistics show that employers can save tens of thousands of dollars each year in insurance claims and premium increases.

The Action on Smoking and Health organization reports that smoking costs the economy almost $200 billion a year in the form of skyrocketing health insurance premiums and higher taxes to cover Medicaid and Medicare expense.

“There is no right to smoke, and smokers certainly have no right to force the great majority of Americans who are nonsmokers to bear the huge and totally unnecessary costs of their habit,” said Banzhaf.

Although this organization certainly has its own agenda and some of its figures can be debated, there is a lot of common sense here.

Employers have the right to determine the message its employees send to the public.

This is just one more reason people should think twice before lighting up.

We all know smoking is harmful to your health. Now it could be harmful to your career, too.

Michael Caldwell is publisher of The Tribune. To reach him, call (740) 532-1445 ext. 24 or by e-mail at mike.caldwell@irontontribune.com.