Effective Technology Could Help Prevent Smoking Ban

ThePublican ^ | Feb 5, 2004

[SheLion]

An air filtration system, new to the UK could help to avoid a smoking ban in pubs, restaurants and other public places in the UK, claims Dianne White MD of Essa air cleaners, which claim to be so effective that the need for smoking and no-smoking areas in pubs and restaurants could be eradicated, solving a number of issues highlighted in the current smoking in public places debate.

Already a number of leisure industry heavyweights have installed these air filtration units in their outlets nationwide. A spokesman for Thwaites Inns, the trading arm of Daniel Thwaites Brewery running 70 managed houses said, "We recognise that we have a duty of care to both our employees and customers and we take a proactive approach to this issue.

Essa air filters are proven to eliminate 99.9% of all smoke particles from the air, giving us peace of mind that our customers can relax in an unpolluted environment." That is why Essa were chosen to install their units into the 42 public houses, which were fully ventilated before but had no existing air filtration system or only had obsolete electrostatic units."

Essa air filtration units were the brainchild of Robert Gibbs who developed the first ever polarising electronic filters during his time at the forefront of research and development into how Legionnaires disease was transmitted.

A technological advancement from conventional HEPA or Electrostatic filters which are found in most air cleaners, Essa air cleaners attract airborne particles and polarise them, leaving nothing to block the filter or pollute the air which means the longer the filter runs the more effective it becomes. The filters also remove chemical pollutants and other particles that the eye cannot see by virtue of the polarisation of the particles.

As the ban on smoking debate continues Dianne White MD of Essa EU believes that a total smoking ban in the UK would be extremely damaging for the leisure industry and would lead to the loss of thousands of jobs. Dianne believes that the leisure industry should remain self-regulatory. However, she has accused the leisure and hospitality trade of being "too passive" on this issue and believes that the time has come for them to find their voice.

"The hospitality and leisure industry have sat back for far too long and let anti-smoking organizations lead the debate. The public has a very one-sided view on this subject thanks to the hospitality trades negligence on tackling this issue head on."

Dianne calls for owners of businesses in the hospitality sector to take more responsibility for their customers and employees health and she believes that it is the duty of the leisure industry to seize the initiative and to lobby the Government to impose stricter rules on adequate air cleaning equipment.

[SheLion]

"The hospitality and leisure industry have sat back for far too long and let anti-smoking organizations lead the debate. The public has a very one-sided view on this subject thanks to the hospitality trades negligence on tackling this issue head on."

The hospitality and leisure industry have sat back for far too long..................

[SheLion]

Puff

[End Times Sentinel]

Admittedly, I just skimmed the article, but this new technology is going to create a new group of people for liberals and busybodies to hector and persecute?

Owl_Eagle

"Guns Before Butter."

Admittedly, I just skimmed the article, but this new technology is going to create a new group of people for liberals and busybodies to hector and persecute?

[ErnBatavia]

A few years back I saw some thing on TV about the technology used in Las Vegas casinos....I think it was Steve Wynn talking about how effective it all was, but very expensive.

I know one thing, those big Vegas rooms do NOT have that "smoke filled" appearance.

[-YYZ-]

Anti anti-smoking crew doesn't care how clean the air is in the bars and restaurants, as long as nobody's smoking. The air could be full of likely equally cancer-causing chemicals from an open grill and the anti-smoking types wouldn't bat an eyelash. But let just one person light a cigarette, while standing directly under a ventilation/filtration unit, and they'll all start hacking and coughing.

I come to this conclusion for two reasons: first, noone has ever defined what is a safe or unsafe level of environmental tobacco smoke. Second, I've never heard of a jurisdiction that took ventilation and/or filtration of the air into account when concocting their anti-smoking laws. Heck, a lot of them won't even allow smoking in a separate, ventilated room where the only people who ever enter it are smokers. Conclusion: the health of the public or even employees is not the sole driver behind the smoking bans, despite what they constantly claim. They want to make smokers' lives so inconvenient that it'll force us to give up smoking. In reality what they find is that some of us will continue smoking and give up going to bars and restaurants. (I like to have a smoke when I go to a restaurant, but I can get through a meal without one. There's no way, however, that I'm going to pay good money to drink overpriced beer in a bar where I can't enjoy a cigarette with my beer.)

[SheLion]

Admittedly, I just skimmed the article, but this new technology is going to create a new group of people for liberals and busybodies to hector and persecute?

Something needs to be done and someone needs to do something, before the whole leisure scene is wiped from the face.........

[SheLion]

I know one thing, those big Vegas rooms do NOT have that "smoke filled" appearance.

They sure don't! You have to "look" to see if anyone is smoking. You can't smell smoke or see it.

The Tavern downtown is using the same air cleaners. And you really have to look to see if anyone is smoking. Not like the old days when you walked into a tavern all you smelt was stale beer and cigarettes. The air cleaners are wonderful.

I use several in my home.

[Protagoras]

No technology will change the debate for long, because it's not about smoking per se. It's about power.

[swarthyguy]

This has been around and some systems that were installed in Dallas bars were so effective that a wall of air created an impermeable barrier, so much so, that standing a couple of feet away from a smoker, you couldn't even smell the smoke.

Of course, that meant the Anti Business Taliban of America were actually interested in solutions and not prohibition and exerting social control and dominance towards private business they would never even frequent.

BTW, you can see their true agenda at work, because, never do they express remorse for the bars and nightclubs that close, or the employees who lose their jobs, not to mention the quality of life to those of us who enjoy frequenting and socialising in these establishments. Their glee is all too evident as they see the purveyors of liquor, and their patrons, laughing and enjoying themselves.

They want all bars closed; American nightlife to mimic Kabul during the Taliban era.

A pox on them and theirs.

One years after the town of Saugus passed a ban, ostensibly to even the level playing field with neighboring towns and Boston, a 5K capacity nightclub multiplex just closed. In addition to many, many others.

Thank You., American Taliban, may your daughters fall in love with a Saudi.

[swarthyguy]

>>There's no way, however, that I'm going to pay good money to drink overpriced beer in a bar where I can't enjoy a cigarette with my beer.)



BUMP. Sometimes meeting friends you make exceptions, since they are fewer alternatives every day. But, doesn't make it fun. Last bar, I whined so much, I got bought drinks for free from the nonsmoking buds.

However slender, a silver lining.

[SheLion]

No technology will change the debate for long, because it's not about smoking per se. It's about power.

And don't we all know it!

[CSM]

"Anti anti-smoking crew doesn't care how clean the air is in the bars and restaurants, as long as nobody's smoking. The air could be full of likely equally cancer-causing chemicals from an open grill and the anti-smoking types wouldn't bat an eyelash."

I have a funny true life story that relates to this. I was on a patio at a bar and they were bbq'ing. The only table available was near the grill. Well, when I lit up the idiots at the next table asked me to put it out. I needed further clarification so I asked if they meant the bbq grill or the cig. They then realized the ignorance in their question and withdrew the question. I ordered them some more kool aid.

You are right. It's not about health it is about control!

[Gabz]

"The hospitality and leisure industry have sat back for far too long and let anti-smoking organizations lead the debate. The public has a very one-sided view on this subject thanks to the hospitality trades negligence on tackling this issue head on."

This statement is so very true.

I watched it happen first hand in Delaware when one after another sports bar owner caved in and accepted the smoking ban as long as it included the taverns instead of fighting against the whole thing for everyone.

The problem is that the hospitality trade associations are controlled by the big chains and the fast food joints - they've got the power of the big corporate conglomerate behind them to cover payroll, etc for the initial down turn following the smoking ban. They know the small businesses and the mom and pop joints won't be able to withstand the loss of business for long and they will finally be the only "choice" in town.

[Gabz]

It's all a backdoor means of a return to prohibition - of both tobacco and alcohol.

[metesky]

Geez, when I was a young man, Rt 1 in Saugus was wall to wall night clubs, gin mills, strip joints and restaurants.

[IYAS9YAS]

You're spot on with your Vegas observation. My wife and I stay in Reno a lot on our way to visit relatives. Most of the newer and some of the older casinos have good air handlers. The only time I smell smoke is when I'm sitting right near it (usually within 5-10 feet). Otherwise, you can actually see it being pulled up and out of the area in places of heavy use.

[-YYZ-]

I hate to admit it, but those of us here who smoke have also been complacent. We've just been saying "it's the owner's choice to allow smoking or not, and if they do and you don't like it, you're free to not come in." This is correct and proper, but the realities of politics suggests that we might have gotten further with the non-smoking public by arguing science and proposing real alternatives to smoking bans.

What we really need are standards for indoor air quality that include tobacco smoke, and then places could be tested and either pass or fail, and it'd be up to them to improve the quality if they failed. Yes, I know, this shouldn't be necessary in a putatively free country where private property owners should be free to do as they please with their property, but the reality is we can only do what the majority will accept, and most of them don't smoke and don't care overly much about our rights.

[IYAS9YAS]

Like your tagline. I always heard the former part of the phrase, but never the latter...until I read "From a Buick 8".

[Old Professer]

Essa air filtration units were the brainchild of Robert Gibbs who developed the first ever polarising electronic filters during his time at the forefront of research and development into how Legionnaires disease was transmitted.

The idea probably came to him during a thunderstorm.