Posted on 07/08/2002 4:10:24 PM PDT by Just another Joe
Anti-smoking campaign targets business
By THOMAS S. BROWN (tom.brown@news-jrnl.com)
Just about everyone agrees smoking is bad for your health.
But is it also bad for business?
Get ready for a barrage of arguments on that issue this summer as a statewide anti-smoking campaign moves into high gear.
Health advocates, led by the American Cancer Society and American Lung Association, have banded together to place a proposition on the November ballot that would ban smoking in nearly all Florida workplaces by next July 1. Only stand-alone taverns, tobacco shops and most home-based businesses would be exempted.
The Orlando-based anti-smoking coalition, calling itself Smoke-Free for Health, says Question 6, a state constitutional amendment, is necessary because 70,000 Florida businesses and 12,000 of its restaurants still permit smoking on their property. Coalition leaders estimate 5 million Florida workers are being exposed daily to unhealthy second-hand smoke exhaled by their colleagues.
But even before voters render a verdict in November, a small but growing number of area businesses have decided to snuff out cigarettes on their own.
Paula Czabo, executive director of the Lung Association's Spacecoast region, doesn't have a tally for the number of smoke-free workplaces in the Volusia-Flagler area but said the number is increasing steadily.
"We're getting more phone calls from employers all the time," Czabo said. "They want to know how to go about putting no-smoking policies into place or what smoking-cessation programs are available."
One of her most welcome phone calls in recent weeks came from the managers of the Sun Cruz Casino gambling boat in Ponce Inlet. General manager Paul Denton and marketing director Ken Berthiaume told her they wanted to experiment with offering smoke-free cruises and asked for the association's support. Czabo quickly agreed.
It was anything but sunny for the first day of Sun Cruz's experiment, but Berthiaume said the non-smokers turned out in force anyway. Despite heavy downpours and a choppy sea, the June 20 sailings drew 100 passengers for the morning cruise and 130 for the evening sailing.
"Those were better numbers than we get on some of our good-weather weekdays," Berthiaume said. "This is definitely something we're going to continue doing at least once a month, probably on Mondays."
A few of the cruise line's regular customers grumbled when they saw the "No Smoking" signs go up and the ash trays removed for the June 20 test, he said, "but the bickering wasn't as bad as we thought it was going to be."
Managers at Sun Cruz's five other ports in Florida are keeping close watch on the Ponce Inlet experiment and eventually may follow suit, Berthiaume said. "We kind of got snickered at by corporate when we first talked about this idea in our company conference call. Now it's not a joke anymore."
Another pioneer of the smoke-free movement within the hospitality industry is the Beachside Motel, a 33-unit Daytona Beach Shores property owned by the Fornari family, who also owns the adjacent Palm Plaza. Beachside has been a totally smoke-free facility since the spring of 2000.
"I believe we're the first motel, not only in our area, but in all of Florida to become smoke free both indoors and outdoors," said manager Larry Fornari. "We don't even allow smoking on the pool deck."
The policy was put in place shortly after he bought the motel and completely renovated it, Fornari said. "I decided I wanted to give it a unique feel. I knew there was growing demand for smoke-free accommodations and this was an ideal time to try it out."
The move proved to be a smart one, he said. The motel's repeat business has grown steadily as its no-smoking policy has become more widely known.
If a prospective guest prefers having freedom to smoke, Fornari sends them next door to the Palm Plaza, where smoking is still permitted in about 70 percent of the rooms.
In the restaurant industry, policies vary from one location to the next, but most dining rooms continue to allow smoking in limited areas, Lung Association officials said. Among the few that have banned it completely are the Avacado Kitchen and Angell & Phelps in Daytona Beach and Delcato's in Ormond Beach, along with some fast-food chains.
Restaurant owners in general dislike being told by the government how to run their operations, said Brian Hill, a DeLand restaurateur and past chairman of the Florida Restaurant Association.
"It's an extremely controversial issue for our association," Hill said. "Some of our members have gone to no smoking voluntarily and others have not. "
The Florida Clean Indoor Air Act already requires any restaurant, regardless of size, to place at least 65 percent of its seats in an area designated "no smoking." Smoking also is banned in restaurant lobbies and rest rooms.
Hill said some restaurants have decided, with those restrictions already in place, it's easier to operate totally smoke-free.
Other restaurants, however, say they must continue to permit smoking to survive economically, he said. They want to cater to the 30 percent of Americans who still smoke.
Hill is a non-smoker himself but considers Question 6 something that goes too far. He contends its passage could wreak havoc on sports bars and other restaurant-bar combinations where smoking is prevalent.
"No one is forcing non-smokers to go into restaurants that allow smoking," he said. "Let the free market take care of this."
At least on non-smoker gets it.
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