The law of unintended consequences strikes again!
Posted on April 9th, 2008 by bile Categories and Tags: Uncategorized, alcohol, Chad Cotti, drugs, economics, Enacting, html, Milwaukee, nanny state, prohibition, property, research, Scott Adams, South Carolina, tobacco, University of South Carolina, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Wisconsin, your rightshttp://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,347751,00.html
Enacting city smoking bans appears to increase drunken driving, according to a new national study of arrests by Wisconsin researchers.
Fatal accidents involving alcohol increased after communities banned public smoking, the study to be released by the Journal of Public Economics found. The authors attributed the increase to people driving farther to drink, either to a place with an outdoor smoking area or a city without a ban.
“The increased miles driven by drivers who wish to smoke and drink offsets any reduction in driving from smokers choosing to stay home after a ban, resulting in increased alcohol-related accidents,” the study says.
The researchers, Scott Adams, of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and Chad Cotti, now at the University of South Carolina, said they were surprised by the results.
“We thought we would see a reduction,” Adams said. “Our first thought was, ‘Throw it away, it must be wrong.’”
But it wasn’t, he said.
Be sure to read the title in your best Strong Bad voice. Add a “HAHA” before and/or after. What is so hard to believe an action can have unforeseen consequences? Something is going to change when you forcibly alter peoples behavior. Not smoking means more time to drink. It may mean driving further to drink. It may even cause a drop in hook ups from the loss in “Do you have a light?” pickup lines.
Any researcher whose first reaction is “Throw it away, it must be wrong.” has no credibility in my opinion. I’ll need to make a note of questioning anything out of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
2 Responses to “The law of unintended consequences strikes again!”
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April 9th, 2008 at 10:26 am
The Homestar universe has taught me that smoking is obviously cool. If this anti-smoking wave continues, semi-cute asian chicks will continue to pile up in front of Redwood dorm at NJIT, un-picked-up by hipster dudes in old navy sweaters.
April 9th, 2008 at 11:05 am
I have a whole new appreciation for the term hipster.
Smoking is a tough one because it endangers the lives of the people around you. I think it’s definitely OK to tell people they can’t smoke on your property, it’s partially OK to tell people they can’t smoke on "public" property and that’s about it. You could make the argument that you shouldn’t have to risk your health just because you go into a bar, but there are plenty of bars around here where you risk you health regardless of whether people are smoking. :)