Albany, NY (AP) 09/09/03 - State Conservative Party Chairman Michael Long said state legislators should admit they made a mistake and ease the smoking ban.
Monday, Long released the results of a poll commissioned by the Conservative Party. The poll yielded information interpreted as meaning that most New Yorkers want any further regulation of smoking in bars and restaurants left up to the business owners.
Long warned that legislators might lose the Conservative endorsement by supporting what he calls the state's "inflexible" workplace smoking ban.
Russ Sciandra of the Center for a Tobacco Free New York derided the poll as full of loaded or leading questions. He said the Conservative Party's release of the survey was part of a strategy by smoking ban opponents to undo the prohibitions, perhaps as soon as September 16, when the Senate returns to Albany for a one-day session.
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