In Defense Of Smoking On Stage

The failure to exempt “artistic performances from Chicago’s wholly laudable ban on indoor, public smoking” is “a dangerous and serious mistake,” Chris Jones writes. “In the theater, we exempt those otherwise undesirable and illegal activities because we understand they serve a greater good-our need to explore who we are, remember who we were, try out what we may be. If there were no warriors on the stage, there would be far fewer pacifists on the streets. If there were no thugs on stage, there would be fewer civilizing laws in real life.”