A law that I agree with but that constrains others are the bans placed on smoking in certain cities. I am allergic to smoke, and when laws prohibiting smoking in Columbia, SC (my hometown) in public places like restaurants and even Williams Brice Stadium , I was really excited because I wouldn't have to hold my breath walking behind or around someone smoking or pray that I wouldn't be seated near the smoking section. I recognize that this infringes upon an individual's right to smoke, but I feel as though the preventative aspects of the law (i.e., preventing inhalation of second-hand smoke by nonsmokers) outweigh this breach of personal choice.
This being said, a law that fascinates me, especially in a place only 2 and a half hours from Columbia, is the law that states that one cannot order an alcoholic drink (or buy alcohol) in restaurants or stores on a Sunday. This was the case a while ago in Columbia, and is still to some degree (you may purchase wine or beer, but no liquor). As I am not 21, I have not felt the direct effects of this mandate, but my poor father has. Trips to Clemson are especially stressful for him, a Carolina grad, and he almost fell out of his chair one Sunday when he found he could not order something stronger than unsweetened tea. While this alone isn't truly unsettling, what irks me is that one cannot purchase alcohol on a Sunday, yet one can still smoke in a restaurant any time he chooses. I find this puzzling-- why can't a man choose alcohol, a vice which, unless abused or combined with driving, generally only harms the user, when he can choose cigarettes, which cause harm to not only the user, but to innocent patrons of the restaurant who wish not to get cancer while enjoying a caeser salad.
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