Oh yes-- here is one of his old ads:
Posted on 12/16/2002 7:38:29 PM PST by Mark
Guest Opinion: Reasons for businesses to not allow smoking
By GAIL BECKNER and LAURA BEHENNA
Some Helena businesses have chosen to allow smoking on their premises again since city court judge Myron Pitch ruled Helena’s clean air ordinance unconstitutional because of a minor procedural issue. The Lewis and Clark City-County Health Department would like to point out, however, that the substance of the ordinance is unchanged and it is still in effect.
Although the city is not currently enforcing the ordinance until the city’s appeal of Judge Pitch’s ruling is decided, we want to emphasize that the facts about secondhand tobacco smoke remain the same. For example:
Secondhand tobacco smoke is the third leading cause of preventable death in the United States, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 3,000 nonsmokers die of lung cancer every year because they were exposed to others’ cigarette smoke.
Secondhand tobacco smoke accounts for up to 62,000 annual deaths from coronary heart disease in this country, concluded a 1998 Journal of the American College of Cardiology review of 12 epidemiologic studies. The American Heart Association states that daily exposure to secondhand tobacco smoke, at work or at home, doubles the risk of having a heart attack.
Secondhand tobacco smoke contains at least 43 known cancer-causing substances, according to the EPA, which has classified secondhand smoke as dangerous a carcinogen as asbestos and benzene. A nonsmoker working in a smoke-filled room for eight hours inhales the amount of cancer-causing chemicals contained in about 36 cigarettes, according to “Indoor Air Quality: A Comprehensive Reference Book,” published in 1995 by Elsevier Science, a leading international publisher of scientific, technical and medical information.
Helena voters made their choice overwhelmingly clear in June. An astonishing 55 percent of registered voters turned out in an otherwise low-key primary election in order to vote on the clean air ordinance. Over sixty-one percent of them cast their votes favoring the right to breathe clean air when they patronize local businesses.
We’re sorry to see that some businesses have chosen to value their bottom line above the health and safety of their employees and their patrons (including children). We would like to remind businesses of the benefits of a smoke-free workplace to employers: Employees have fewer health problems, absences and hospitalizations. Morale improves when an employer clearly indicates that employees’ health and safety are valued.
Employers are less vulnerable to liability issues, occupational health awards and worker’s compensation payments. Maintenance costs go down when smoke, matches and cigarette butts are eliminated from the premises.
Carpets, furniture and equipment last longer. The risk of fires is lower.
Corporate image improves. Businesses that demonstrate a concern for their employees’ health positively influence consumers’ opinions, and are more likely to recruit and retain high-quality employees.
Until the legal issues are resolved, we hope that Helena business owners will elect to put their employees’ health and safety first.
Further, we encourage businesses to think creatively about new ways to market their smoke-free facilities to the 78 percent majority of the population that doesn’t smoke, for example, by emphasizing the high quality and distinctiveness of the food and service they offer in an attractive, pleasant environment; by redoubling efforts to increase customers’ word-of-mouth advertising; by creating packages to entice business groups and organizations to hold meetings there; or by hosting weddings and parties.
We recognize the challenges businesses have faced while implementing the clean air ordinance. We also recognize that the majority of businesses rose to meet these challenges successfully and have provided a safe, smoke-free environment for their patrons and employees. We appreciate these efforts and commend these businesses for their good faith and commitment.
Gail Beckner and Laura Behenna are, respoectively, the Tobacco Use Prevention Specialist at the Lewis and Clark City-County Health Department and a health educator at the department.
And you might just be understating the level of exaggeration. ;>)
Dang, they trotted out EVERYTHING. Especially "fer the chillrun".
Once, when my doctor told me that cigarettes were going to kill me, I asked him that if I quit smoking, that I would then live forever? He hemmed and hawwed for a while, but finally told me the truth.
No matter what I do, I'm going to die. The only thing I have any control over is how quickly. And I don't have much control there.
/john
Period.
They keep forgetting that smokers are 25% of the population. Remember, there are more smokers than Blacks in America, and we are getting sick and tired of this discrimination.
Wow! Imagine that! "CHOSEN"- that's way too much freedom going on out there.
Nothing personal, but I am part of the 75% who are sick and tired of the 25% stinking up public places to the point that we have to change cloths after returning home to get rid of the stench. I don't support laws to enforce non-smoking, but I will go out of my way to patronize non-smoking establishments.
Don't they know? That which is not specifically allowed is verboten!
Wasn't Adolf Hitler a proponent of vegetarianism and very anti-smoking? And a socialist?
/john
Where I have a problem is when people dictate their preference upon others.
Thank you. I appreciate your dislike of the smell of cigarettes. You are willing to let the market do it's work. Support non-smoking establishments with your $$s.
Thank you for not passing a law that gives your local cops the excuse to point a gun at my head to enforce said law, should I choose not to comply.
Because that's the bottom line to laws. Are you willing to point a gun at someone's head who disagrees with you? Is it that important?
/john
It's because he was a liberal left-wing Berkeley democrat.
Oh yes-- here is one of his old ads:
If you can't stand to be around cigarette smoke, limit your travels to buildings with "NO SMOKING" logos on the doors. Some companies will decide they want your business enough to become non-smoking. Others will decide that smokers represent more of a potential market than people who can't abide the smell of smoke, and will allow smoking.
I frequent a number of karaoke places, and am somewhat bothered by the number of singers (and KJ's) who smoke. On the other hand, I recognize that if all these places went non-smoking they'd lose the business of all of the smoking singers and there wouldn't be any karaoke bars. Today, if I want to avoid the smoke I can simply not go to karaoke. If a no-smoking-in-bars law passed, I would no longer have that choice since there'd be no karaoke for me to go or not go to.
That's painting with a pretty wide brush, pardner. This smoker doesn't smoke around those that express a severe emotional reaction to smoking. I'll step outside and away for my smoke.
Just once I would like to find some foul smelling incense and light it up in a restuarant and see the reaction from the smoking section as to the stench.
When I was in S. Korea, a couple of months ago, the joss sticks were burning brightly. The kimchee was brewing up nicely. The dung fires' clouds of smoke made for a beautiful sunset. I couldn't tell if folks were smoking cigarettes or not.
You should be grateful that you live in such an enlightened land as the US of A.
/john
Yeah, though there's only one I go to really regularly (karaoke one day a week, probably gone there 40 times in the last year). Actually started going there because I liked the food and the people there, then got into karaoke when I happened to be there when the KJ was setting up (normally I'd have been out of there before then, but I was running late). I've liked singing for many years, and karaoke seems as good an outlet as any.
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