Posted on 10/20/2007 1:52:53 PM PDT by Wheee The People
Poll: Two-thirds of Wyoming voters support statewide smoking ban
CHEYENNE, Wyo. - A statewide poll shows that two-thirds of Wyoming voters support a ban on smoking in public places, including restaurants and bars.
The poll, commissioned by the American Cancer Society in Wyoming and other health organizations, also found that 74 percent of registered voters believe the right of customers and employees to breathe clean air outweighs smokers' right to light up indoors.
"It shows that the people of Wyoming would absolutely support a smoke-free Wyoming," said Loretta Wolf, spokeswoman for the American Cancer Society in Wyoming. The American Cancer Society and the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, a national group that supports smoke-free legislation, also helped pay for the poll.
Harstad Strategic Research Inc. of Boulder, Colo. conducted the poll between Sept. 26 and Oct 1. They contacted 504 registered voters across the state. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 4.4 percent.
A poll commissioned last year by the Casper Star-Tribune found 57 percent of Wyoming voters supported a comprehensive, indoor smoking ban. That poll, conducted by Mason-Dixon Polling & Research, Inc., surveyed 625 Wyoming voters and had a margin of error of plus or minus 4 percentage points.
The new American Cancer Society poll found that 92 percent of voters say they would go to restaurants more frequently or at least as frequently as they currently do if smoking were prohibited in them.
Only 6 percent of voters said they would go to restaurants less frequently if indoor smoking were outlawed, while 8 percent said they would be less likely to frequent bars.
While 66 percent of voters supported a statewide smoking ban, the American Cancer Society poll found 32 percent opposed it. Democrats and Republicans supported the ban at about the same level, 67 percent and 68 percent, respectively.
Support for the ban also remained constant among people of different ages, with support only varying a few percentage points between voters aged 18 to those 60 or older.
The poll found that 70 percent of women supported a smoking ban compared to 61 percent of men.
More than 70 percent responded that they believe exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke is harmful to people's health. Twenty-seven percent of voters surveyed said that exposure to secondhand smoke is "just somewhat" or "not at all" harmful.
The poll results were released while a legislative committee is considering whether to introduce smoke-free legislation at the upcoming budget session in February.
Wolf, of the American Cancer Society, said her group is pushing for a comprehensive bill that includes a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants or other businesses. About 27 states have adopted smoke-free laws but the restrictions vary.
Sen. Charles Scott, R-Casper, chairman of the Labor, Health and Social Services Committee, has said he only intends to introduce the bill in next year's budget session if a majority of the committee members supports it.
Rep. Dan Zwonitzer, R-Cheyenne, sponsored a similar bill in the last session, but it failed to make it to the House floor for a first-reading vote. Lawmakers anticipate a tough fight in the coming session if the bill moves forward.
Dan Hatanelas, manager of a bar in Cheyenne, opposed a citywide smoking ordinance that became law last year. He said he would also oppose statewide legislation.
However, Hatanelas said that a statewide ban might be more fair to businesses in Cheyenne that now must compete against nearby Laramie County businesses that are exempt from the local ban. He said his bar saw a 19-percent drop in revenue during the first 12 months of the local ban, which took effect in August 2006.
"I'd hate to see anything happen, but maybe on a statewide basis it would be less traumatic for us," Hatanelas said.
In addition to Cheyenne, the cities of Laramie and Evanston have adopted their own smoke-free ordinances. The Rock Springs City Council is considering a similar ordinance. Voters in Casper rejected a proposed ban in 2000.
Information from: Star-Tribune, http://www.casperstartribune.net
The Marlboro man died of lung cancer.
Absolutely.
I raised that position while at a dinner, in a smoking-permitted restaurant with 9 others. One of the group was still eating when the person sitting next to him started to light up. When I stated it was impolite to light up while someone was still eating, the person looked directly at me and queried "Are you buying dinner, or am I?" My response was simply "I guess I am."
He waited to light up until the other person finished eating.
That was 1992. Both the person who started to light up and the person still eating were tobacco industry lobbyists and the purpose of the dinner was strategy about a smoking ban in restaurants in Delaware.
My entire point was a lack of manners creating the problem and my point was taken. I wasn't an industry lobbyist, but I did work with (not for) many of them because even back then the owners and smokers were being left out of the discussion.
.
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BTW, in the end I did NOT pay for dinner :)
I think in a free society folks are more prone to be mannerly and considerate. Where there is no choice, there is resentment if you are forced to do something that you would normally do out of the goodness of your heart as a free person. Am I wrong about that?
Why do you Nanny-staters give a damn as to how a private business allows their clients to conduct their behavior. If you don't like smoke, DON'T GO FOR A DRINK THERE!
If there is one group of people I would like to whack with a baseball bat to the head, it is the yuppie faggot "health Nazis." I hate these folks more than Muslim terrorists.
Maybe you could whack some Indians pitchers with that same bat, too.
Thanks for the ping!
My guess... about 1 nano second after they find out you are growing it.
So I’ll assume he was impotent after that.
/Salute and God Bless
If you want me to side with you regarding smoking in restaurants and bars, I’m sorry but I can’t.
I’m 56 years old. I’ve spent most of my life going out to restaurants and bars in smoke filled rooms. Even when smoking and non-smoking sections were set up, the smoke would waft over into the non-smoking area.
Do I think there is a real danger of people inhaling second hand smoke coming down with cancer? Let’s just say I’m not convinced of that at all. What I am convinced of is that I couldn’t really enjoy the evening out having to endure someone else’s smoke and knowing I’d stink to high heavens upon returning home.
I’ve gone home from work thousands of times, taken a shower, put on a new set of clean clothes and gone out to eat or to a bar. Three or so hours later I’d return home with clothes that stunk so much I could smell them from two rooms away.
After hanging those clothes out to air for two to four days, I generally had to have them cleaned again. It was a real pain in the ass.
I don’t blame smokers for not liking the new laws. And it is getting to the point that I am angry at some of the new laws that are being considered.
Smoking outside should be okay. Smoking in your own care should be okay. Smoking in your own home should be okay.
If you want my vote to support you in those areas, you’ve got it. I try not to be unreasonable about this, but I’m sure smokers think I’m very unreasonable. I understand that.
You take care.
I hope they also enjoy the higher unemployment and raise in taxes that will come along with it.
Of course, not to mention all the rest of the infringements that follow, once they get their foot in the door.
I’m amazed how easily Democrats and Republicans give up their liberty today.
That’s what complacency brings with it.
Typical. It says “MANY men played the Marlboro man,” yet lists only two that died of lung cancer, one at age 73.
How did the rest die, if they have?
Seems to some non-smokers died of lung cancer in their 40’s. Who gets the blame there?
I am a 40 year smoker. I have no problem with not smoking in indoor public places. It’s when they limit the outside areas that p*sses me off!
You think Wyomings’ bad-take a look over here at Australia!!Its practically illegal already!!One state even bans smoking in cars-for heavens sake-when was the last time you heard of someone being arrested for driving under the influence of cigarettes!!Oh please!!
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