In World War II, “VE Day” signified victory for the United States in Europe and “VJ Day” marked the end of the conflict with Japan. Last Tuesday was “VS Day” or Victory Over Smokers.
    As I have often stated, I am a smoker. I’m not proud of it, but I am one of those poor people called addicts. I am in complete agreement with the experts who say secondhand smoke is dangerous even though I grew up in a family of smokers. My parents both smoked and lived to advanced years and ultimately died of causes other than smoke related.
    At any rate, the new law will affect me very little. For years, I have not smoked in my house and I have become accustomed to going outside of restaurants to smoke. A few years ago, the smoking ban in bars would have been an inconvenience, but now I seldom enter bars. So the law change is moot.
    There are certain items in the regulations on enforcement that I would like to address.
    Smoking in private cars on school parking lots is prohibited. I have trouble believing a rabid Hawkeye fan, after a big win, would sit in his car in a university parking lot for perhaps an hour waiting to light up until he is on the highway.
    I plan to contact the powers that be to acquire some of the magic potion to be used in casinos to protect patrons and employees from the ravages of second handsmoke. My best guess is the magic potion is large injections of cash to state and local taxing bodies.
    For police dealing with such a diverse set of violations, it seems additional law enforcement personnel will be needed at a local level. I plan to contact Sheriff Marty and Chief Mike to apply for a job on the “Butt Patrol” which will likely be formed.
    When the gendarmes look for help in a drug investigation, they often recruit former users. As a lifelong nicotine user, I should be able to spot violators. I realize I am beyond the age of new employees, but it only seems reasonable to waive the age stipulation to obtain someone with such extensive experience.