That wacky Ames City Council is at it again. Its undying commitment to “public health” is once again on the agenda, in the form of a smoking ban in area bars.

Before I get any further, I’ll confess: I don’t smoke. I never have, and I probably never will. I’m not a fan of lung cancer, emphysema or any of the horrific problems associated with tobacco use. I hate tobacco companies, tobacco advertising, and having to breathe other people’s smoke.

Furthermore, I have no doubt in my mind that there is a public health danger from cigarette smoking.

That being said, the City Council needs to give up its crusade against smokers. Rather than merely being a group of dedicated citizens trying to improve public health, it has merely chosen to limit the rights of a largely despised group.

Why can I make the assumption that the council’s primary interest isn’t the public health and welfare of Ames? Simple. It has aimed at a moderate danger when a more disgusting and preventable disruption to public health exists. This problem occurs every day in homes, businesses and schools.

That lurking demon is none other than unwashed hands.

Few people would suggest that smoking is not bad, but it doesn’t generally spread disease. Second-hand smoke in rare cases can cause cancer, but considering that a good proportion of non-smokers in America suffer from various forms of cancer, it’s not the sole cause.

Diet, sun exposure and smoking all contribute to cancer, and depending on which studies you read, so could cell phone use, sitting too close to the television, or alcohol consumption.

There is a potential danger in breathing other people’s smoke. But when given the choice between breathing their smoke or having their urine, snot, feces or other bathroom substances on my hand, I think I’ll take the smoke.

The fact is that there is a large proportion of society who still doesn’t wash their hands. Rather than spend a minute rinsing and lathering, they simply flush and leave and in doing so begin a cycle of contamination.

Think about your average day. Perhaps you stop off at the library to check your e-mail and then move on to Physics Hall to study up before your afternoon test. Then you stop off at the convenience store before heading back home to your comfy apartment.

Now consider the germs. You used the public computer keyboard that hundreds of fingers with various bodily fluids and residues still on them have been typed on all week.

You leave the library, go into Physics Hall, and as you’re opening the door, acquire the sneezes of dozens of people who don’t wash their hands before going to class. You sit at the desk and get annoyed as the person behind you repeatedly coughs without covering his mouth.

Then at the convenience store, you’re in luck. The clerk is legally required to wash his hands before returning to work. Of course, when he gives you your change, those bills – each and every one – has been contaminated by the general public.

Frankly, it’s amazing that there’s a single day that we aren’t all sick. Even worse, it’s not from smoking or even a perceptible threat. If you see someone smoking, you can simply avoid them or walk around them. But there’s no way you can tell that someone’s been using the toilet without washing their hands. It’s a silent, odorless, colorless threat.

With regard to Ames’ attempt at a bar smoking ban, city councilman Russ Cross was quoted in the Oct. 11 issue of the Daily as saying “If smoking’s bad, then it’s bad everywhere.”

Well, technically that’s true, but their rationale simply doesn’t hold up. Frankly, if smoking’s bad everywhere, then why doesn’t the city council outlaw it everywhere? The only reason is because it can’t legally do that. Instead, it’s trying to make it inconvenient for people to smoke, essentially trying to legislate out a standard public behavior.

So, if it’s going to infringe some rights, it’s time to start at the grassroots level. Don’t make employees be the only ones required to wash their hands. Make it a legal requirement for everyone.

Would it be tough to monitor? Certainly. But consider other laws, outlawing littering or jaywalking. I’ve never met anyone who received a ticket for either. But at least by creating a law against it, we make people aware that there is a societal taboo against it.

It’s time to give the smokers some credit for being human beings. Frankly, I don’t know too many smokers who are so impolite as to blow smoke in your face if you ask them to stop. Certainly there are some, but in every population, there’s bound to be a couple jerks.

So stop legislating against smokers. If you don’t like smoking, you can simply stop frequenting places that allow it. It’s your choice. It shouldn’t be the city’s.