Robert Best
California State Coordinator
Citizens Freedom Alliance, Inc.
The Smoker's Club
Email for interview requests

Robert Best is a graphic artist who wears vintage suits, organizes "The Rocky Horror Picture Show" screenings, and volunteers his time to The Smoker's Club, Inc. Best joined when organizing a boycott of Calabasas businesses after the city banned smoking in all public places indoors and outdoors.

Many of his arguments revolve around personal freedom. That, he said he believes, should be sacred.

Best worries about intrusions into homes, cars, public spaces, and private property conveniently called "public" property by Antismoking Extremists. "It's moving into my private space. I don't think the government has that right."

Best said lawmakers should be focused on crime and the homeless, not on what he believes is the small handful of parents who still smoke in the car with their kids. "The government doesn't have the right to legislate morality, and that's definitely what this is."

Best acknowledges at least some of the dangers of the tar and nicotine he's inhaling but stops the discussion when secondhand smoke is mentioned. He contends those risks have not been scientifically proven, arguing smokers only hurt themselves. "I know how to live my life," he said. "If I want to drink or smoke myself into an early grave, I have that right."

Read Robert Best articles from the Newsletter

Libertarians Politics Live
April 5, 2007
Newly-elected City Councilman Doug Burlison of Springfield, MO. He won Tuesday with 52.5%. Also, Alaska Election results for Libertarian Party, + Robert Best of Calif. Smokers Club against bans. (Mr. Best starts at 34:36 on the listen slide.)
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