Posted on 05/01/2003 4:47:09 AM PDT by SheLion
Some lawmakers, including Gov. John Baldacci, are posed to outlaw smoking in bars. If they do, Maine could be the fifth state to ban smoking in bars.
Earlier this month the Legislative Health and Human Services Committee voted 12-1 to ban smoking in bars effective Jan. 1. The only exception would be off-track betting parlors.
The same committee also voted 10-3 to ban smoking at bingo and Beano games.
The committee’s recommendations will be considered by the full House and Senate when the bills reach the floors for votes. That is expected in the next few weeks.
“If the bill reaches his desk, he more than likely will sign it,” Lee Umphrey, Baldacci’s director of communications said Monday. Having smoking banned in bars “clearly reflects his interest in a healthy Maine,” Umphrey said.
Sponsor Sen. Karl Turner, R-Cumberland, said he wants to protect bartenders, waiters and waitresses and others from secondhand smoke. Given the fact that secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency as a Class A carcinogen, and is a known cause of lung cancer, asthma and other diseases, Turner asked how can the state allow a workplace to exist where workers are exposed? “The evidence is overwhelming,” he said.
There are excellent paying jobs in bars and taverns, but people should not be subjected to something that could hurt them to earn a living, Turner said. Nor should any employer or manager feel comfortable exposing workers “to something that causes disease.”
Others on the committee, including Rep. Margaret Craven, D-Lewiston, and Rep. Will Walcott, D-Lewiston, agreed.
“I’m concerned about workers, people in there who don’t smoke,” Walcott said. Many bars are small, and the second-hand smoke is concentrated. “Secondhand smoke is a killer.” Banning smoking in bars “is the right thing to do,” Walcott said. Less secondhand smoke would help lower health care costs in Maine, he said.
While some say banning smoking would hurt bars by keeping smoking patrons away, Craven said the Ramada Inn in Lewiston is smoke free. “They lost a few patrons in the beginning, but new patrons have come in,” she said.
That was confirmed Monday by Gary Adams, owner of the Ramada Inn. His lounge has been smoke-free for two years, and his entire complex became smoke-free recently with no guestrooms designated for smokers. “We did it on customer request,” Adams said. Complaints about secondhand smoke have become more prevalent, he said. Banning smoking in the bar did mean that some regulars stopped coming, but others who stayed away because of the smoke have become new patrons, Adams said. “And it will be easier when it is universal, versus selective” lounges that have gone smoke free, he said.
Other establishments, such as J’s Oyster in Portland, have told lawmakers they’re opposed to the bill and worry that the bill could put them and other bars out of business.
Craven, Walcott and Turner predicted the bill will pass and be signed by the governor. Dr. Dora Mills, director of the Bureau of Health, testified for the bill, an indication the governor favors the bill.
But Rep. Edward Dugay, D-Cherryfield, the lone committee vote against, said Monday he “doesn’t buy” the argument that the bill is all about protecting bar workers.
Bartenders and wait staff don’t have to work in bars and lounges, they can work someplace else, Dugay said. He’s spoken to several bars in his district where the owners have spent thousands on equipment to have smoke removed. It would be unfair to them to change the rules, Dugay said. Instead of a statewide smoking ban in bars, he’d favor more regional or municipal bans.
Dugay predicted the bill will not pass. “I know the vote is 12-1 in committee, but I think I can turn this around when it gets to the floor,” he said.
bwashuk@sunjournal.com
Who are THEY to go into a private business and tell them how to run it!
PROVE IT JERK! Show me ONE death certificate that states just ONE person died from second hand smoke...........then maybe I might .........just MIGHT believe it.
Gosh, 25 years ago I used to hang out there, smoking and drinking, in the "Kit Kat Lounge."
In 1999, the asinine Board of Health along with the lawmakers, passed that ASININE bill to make all restaurants smoke free. The Par and Grill, which was called Pat's Pizza back then, were forced to go smoke free. For a whole year, we never stepped foot back into that place, although it broke my heart. It's my favorite place in all of Aroostook County.
Within a year, the owner was going broke. She was going to close the doors, when she decided to buy a very expensive liquor license. And that is what allowed her to once again, open up her smoking section. We couldn't WAIT to get back there!!!!!!!!
Now, here we go again. I am sick and tired of "little nazi's" sitting in our state house and lording over us. I think it's time to CLEAN HOUSE!
Gov. Baldacci caters to the Somali's in Lewiston, Maine, but he sure wants to stick it to his own Mainers just because they smoke. Where is the justice!
I KNEW his true colors would emerge sooner or later!
But oh boy! Does he ever want that Tobacco Settlement Money! To WHICH the Maine smokers are paying for!
Lewiston is over run with Somali's.
A bar is a bar is a bar, but in Maine, a LOT of our bars serve food! I don't go to the Par and Grill to DRINK! I go there for a good meal, cups of coffee, to relax and smoke. They get my money and I tip good.
This place almost closed back in 2000 because of the smoking ban. The manager told me that if this passes, he may as well close down now, because that's what it will come to anyway.
Maine.......poorest state in the Union. And it's no wonder with all the DemocRATS AND RINO'S in the STATE House.........
Real cute! You sure your in the right forum? I hear the Liberal forum is looking for you!
Then they ought to outlaw or severely regulate and tax unhealthy foods.
Then there should be legislative 'incentives' to 'encourage' people to have an active fitness program with quantifiable results.
There should also be a law and taxes regulating the amount of television (in any form) and the amount of time on the computer one spends.
Hey, if people cannot or will not take care of themselves properly, it is the duty of the government to take care of people and make them refrain from what might be harmful, and require them to do what may be beneficial ala the War on(Some)Drugs.
/sarcastic rant
Funny how people don't give a damn about infringements on freedoms until it is their freedoms that are in danger.
ARE YOU CALLING ME "RIFF RAFF???????????" Sounds like the ABUSE BUTTON is in order here!
I don't care if they DO show you a death certificate. As far as the EPA is concerned, after doubling the margin of error to 10%, still only finding one study, then delving into pure sham-science "meta-analysis"...oh, they've "proven" it.
I've seen the numbers. I *know* the lengths they went to in order to fabricate the second-hand-smoke baloney in order to tell *you* that *you* can't smoke because it's not good for "someone else" -- instead of not just good for you.
Utter BS. Just give me ONE politician to stand up on run on this issue...and *win* on it...and we will start having people run scared. They're sheep. The won't want to touch an issue that could make them lose the campaign. But why has no one TRIED to organize the dang smokers? And the small business owners affected? Why? Do the Health Nazis goose-step unopposed?
Elitist SOBs. They'll also show you polls showing people support the ban on smoking in bars/restaurants. They won't shwo you polls, however, of *just* restaurant and ESPECIALLY bar *patrons* and *owners*. People in Ivory Towers telling me what's good for me. Grrrrrr...
Oh listen! The lawmakers sit in their little cocoons and are WELL protected from losing ANY of their rights. They sit on their high seat and let the power hungry control take over to "stick it to the little people."
"Funny how ^some^ people don't give a damn about infringements on freedoms until it is their freedoms that are in danger."
Don't generalize, now. ;-)
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