[SheLion]

if a bar owner wants a profitable smoke free building, he needs to lobby government to ban it everywhere. we recently had this problem in my county, just the county was going to ban smoking. altho all the owners i know don't smoke, and would like smoke free bars, they knew that many people would go the extra couple miles past county lines to go somewhere to smoke. owners said make it statewide or forget it.

Why of course!  If a restaurant/bar that I like to go to went smoke free and the one across the street stayed open for smokers, that is exactly where I would go to spend my money.  Surely, you don't think that I will patronize a smoke free joint spending good money when they refuse to accommodate me?!

You are talking about a level playing field.  And you are also saying that all business's must be made smoke free so this one business doesn't loose money.  Well, excuse me.  But all the rest that go non smoking will also lose a lot of revenue.  We just don't "go there anymore."

And why would the business lose money?  I thought smoke free is what everyone is screaming for!

[absolootezer0]

You are talking about a level playing field. And you are also saying that all business's must be made smoke free so this one business doesn't loose money. Well, excuse me. But all the rest that go non smoking will also lose a lot of revenue. We just don't "go there anymore."

i'm saying that that's what the owners were saying. they were making the point that you can't just make one small area smoke free. many of them fight against statewide bans as well because they don't want to lose the business. as a smoker and a bartender i know that many would not bother coming to the bars anymore if they couldn't smoke.
also what must be considered is the impact to HVAC companies. if all public places went smoke free how much business would be lost for them if they lose an entire product line that they can sell, install and service?
going to non-smoking would be bad for all involved, even the whiney people who would get their way, who like to goto bars would be negatively impacted. higher prices, smaller inventories, and fewer patrons would make their trip to the bar less fun.

[Garnet Dawn]

Hi, I was published in the University of IL's Newspaper last week and I never knew it......
______________________________
Garnet Dawn - The Smoker's Club, Inc. - Midwest Regional Director
The United Pro Choice Smokers Rights Newsletter - http://www.smokersclubinc.com
Illinois Smokers Rights - http://www.illinoissmokersrights.com/
mailto:garnetdawn@comcast.net - Respect Freedom of Choice!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.chicagoflame.com/media/paper519/news/2005/10/17/Opinions/Letters.To.The.Editor-1022176.shtml

A fair playing field
Michaelia Fosses' editorial, "If you can't take the smoke get out of the bar" was excellent. In addition, the restaurateurs in Chicago who are promoting a smoking ban because they are already smoke-free and claim business is booming, will loose their competitive advantage if a city-wide hospitality smoking ban becomes reality. Chicago will loose overall local resident business, tourist trade and conventions till these clueless entrepreneurs find their profits nose-diving, along with all the other restaurants and bars in the city. The Health Industry lobby's next approach will have to be to propose a state-wide smoking ban. Can't Chicago smoke-free proponents read the news and learn from recent New York, Wisconsin and Minnesota hospitality tragedies from smoking bans? Level playing field arguments clearly support why governmental regulation of smoking policies in the hospitality industry do not work.