Is someone coming to their senses??
The smoking bans are choking our economy!
Posted on 02/09/2005 6:22:08 AM PST by kahoutek
HARTFORD -- A proposal to roll back Connecticut’s ban on smoking in bars, restaurants and bowling alleys barely a year after it took full effect encountered fierce opposition at a legislative hearing Tuesday.
But the bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Leonard C. Greene, R-Beacon Falls, and a several owners of bars and bowling alleys insisted that many establishments are losing business to private clubs and casinos where smoking remains legal.
"Why not allow a smoker a place to go if a business wants to cater to him?" Greene repeatedly asked witnesses at the hearing conducted by the legislature’s General Law Committee. "If the restaurant or bowling alley or bar wants to allow (smoking in a designated room or area), who are we hurting?"
Walter Williams, pastor of the Walk of Faith Church in New Haven and a spokesman for the anti-smoking MATCH Coalition, rejected Greene’s arguments and their exchange turned into a mini-debate.
Williams insisted that filtration systems and designated smoking areas simply don’t work in preventing non-smokers from being harmed by second-hand smoke. "There really is no safety area," Williams said. "We know all too well that some are more concerned with their wealth than with our health."
"I have data that says otherwise," Greene replied. He insisted that his bill also provides protections for employees of bars and restaurants. "Anyone who goes into that (designated) smoking area are putting themselves at risk, and there’s nothing wrong with that," Greene argued.
Nikki Palmieri of North Haven, who won the title of Miss Connecticut last year, cited polls showing that 85 percent of residents in this state support the statewide ban on smoking in public places.
Palmieri, 20, is also a member of the MATCH Coalition board and she said other states have begun to follow Connecticut’s lead by enacting similar bans. She urged lawmakers not to allow this state "to recede back into darkness when those about us are finally seeing the light."
To complaints that the current ban creates "an uneven playing field" because it doesn’t cover casinos and private clubs, Palmieri replied: "I think it should be universal across the board. ..Make the casinos go smoke free, make the private clubs go smoke free."
But Bill Dedomaincis, owner of a Torrington bowling center and a spokesman for the Connecticut Bowling Proprietors’ Association, said the smoking ban is "the most detrimental and destructive thing I’ve witnessed in my 35 years in this business."
Dedomaincis said that 47 percent of league bowlers, which he said are the core patrons of his industry, are smokers. "Our league bowling, which is 70 percent of our revenue, is down by 3 percent" since the ban took effect, he said.
However, smoking opponents cited studies in New York City and elsewhere showing that restaurants and bars were actually doing more business after smoking bans took effect.
Connecticut’s ban on smoking took effect for restaurants in October 2003 and for bars and bowling alleys in April 2004. Private clubs and Connecticut’s tribal casinos are not covered by the law.
©The Bristol Press 2005
Is someone coming to their senses??
The smoking bans are choking our economy!
Agreed. Especially when it comes to smoking. Miss Palmieri, why don't you campaign to get smoking outlawed instead of a partial restriction. What? Don't have guts enough? Imagine that.
Pity.
What is right for thee but not for me.
Thanks so much.
What is wrong with letting the business owner and his patrons decide? Why do we need government interference in a private business?
There should be equal accommodations for everyone.
Nope. What was WRONG for me is fine for you. Just don't bring me along for the ride.
Then you and your wife should take full advantage, and start frequenting LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of bars, restaurants, and bowling alleys in banned areas. Sounds like they're really hurting. And try to get some of your non-smoking friends to join you.
That's a crock. Business's all across the United States are suffering and have closed.
Lay-offs, closures. And don't forget about the trickle down effect. Less business, loss of revenue and this also affects the vendors that deliver to the business's. They too had to cut back.
amazing.... no one mentiones private property rights..
what does Miss whatever's plea about "public property" have to do with this bill? maybe she thinks private owned businesses belong to the gvt. ? normal socialist thinking..
*brainy* people with no respect of private property. they should be forced to take a remedial civics class..
Actually, we do not see the fall off in patronage that they are crying about. I think this is a straw dog. Some of these places have to turn people away on weekends due to potential fire code violations. I suspect that the businesses that are hurting were hurting before the ban, but now they have an excuse.
Businesses Harmed by Smoking Bans
Anti-smoking organizations insist that bans are somehow good for people in hospitality businesses. This chart shows otherwise. These businesses have lost a significant amount of business as a direct result of smoking bans. Many are closed. Many that are still open have told us they doubt they'll survive much longer.
Sources: 85-90% of the information on this list comes from news articles. Most of them are listed here. The rest comes from owners who have contacted me directly, usually through e-mail. Blank spaces represent data that is unavailable or that doesn't apply.
Note: Due to time commitments elsewhere, I'm no longer able to keep this list up to date. For the most up to date version, please click here. Many thanks to Samantha Philips for taking over this time consuming job.
An outright ban was the only thing considered.
Not bringing in the people most affected by by this ban was not only one sided, it invaded a business owner's right to run an establishment the way he/she wants.
If you, as a non smoker were warned that a place of business was a smoking establishment, you can make the decision whether or not to patronize the place.
As pointed out in the article, the casino's in CT are exempt.
This ban had nothing to do with health, it's pure politcs.
Maine: Six months on, opinion still split on smoking ban
Business at some establishments is down by 30 percent, especially at bars near the New Hampshire border.
"Business is off big time," Dick Grotton said. "The law continues to be a source of extreme irritation."
"I don't believe the health community ever grasped the financial impact of this," Grotton said. "The law brought forth great pain."
Have they ever even put one of these bans to a public referendum? People would probably vote for the ban, but at least the public would be the ones deciding. From what I've seen, it has all been decisions made from on high from at least the city council level if not state. Seems like its usually one rabid nazi that cows the rest into following along because they think there's no political downside to going along.
Follow the money: Delaware banned smoking in casinos which are located at the state's racetracks. Casino profits are used to enhance harness-racing purses. Purses fell over 30 percent after the smoking ban.
Lies, damn lies and statistics being used on one side (smoking nazis). Real-money examples on the other.
Let me correct that for you, It should read
"I am Conservative but only when it's convenient for me"
EDITORIAL: Smoke-free eating places need patrons March 7 -- March 13, 2002
It's time for some leadership.
Mayor Guerin, take your wife out to dinner in Haverhill.
City councilors, please do likewise.
Drs. Carl Rosenbloom and Gene Grillo and Victor LaBranche, as members of the Board of Health, you should eat out in Haverhill at least three times a week for the next three months for ordering all of Haverhill's restaurants to go smoke-free.
Seriously.
The city just joined Andover, Methuen and lots of other communities with rules that prohibit smoking in eating places. None of the city's top brass tried to prevent the Board of Health from putting this rule into effect, so they must tacitly support it, at least. They should serve as role models and patronize Haverhill restaurants, as should members of the city's anti-tobacco establishment who fought for the change. No more skulking off to the Loop in Methuen or Newburyport or Portsmouth, N.H.
Haverhill restaurateurs resisted the change, of course. They fear losing business to eating places in other communities where the first choice on the menu is still smoking or nonsmoking. What they really worry about is not enough business, period. Restaurants in Haverhill lead a rather precarious life, especially downtown.
We wish to report, however, that dining out in Haverhill can be very fulfilling. Not only are the quality and prices good, but you are liable to run into somebody you haven't seen in a very long time and the drive home takes only a few minutes. The downtown could be better lit but it is quite safe, and you will find a parking spot unless you insist it be right at the front door. Washington-Wingate streets are fairly close to becoming the entertainment district that some envision downtown--overlain upon the historic district, overlain upon the cyber district. What's important is that there really are people walking around downtown on some evenings, anyway.
There are a half dozen respectable dining establishments in other parts of the city, including up on the New Hampshire border.
Try them all, on weekdays as well as the weekend, early and often, now that you no longer have to risk inhaling second-hand smoke.
Take the whole family along.
I just don't go out anymore. I don't need to be out blowing money in those places anyway. They already made me quit drinking, not that I didn't need to.
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