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Banning Smoking In Bars Is Not Only Stupid, Research Shows It Is Dangerous
STEVELACKNER.COM ^ | June 20, 2008 | Steven W. Lackner

Posted on 06/20/2008 12:31:19 AM PDT by stevelackner

I know there are people out there who may disagree with me on this one. But here I go anyway. Mind you this is not an issue that affects me personally as I am not a smoker.

First and foremost, because any article dealing with smoking must add in a few caveats I will take this opportunity to state what should already be obvious. I obviously believe that those addicted to smoking should try their harderst to quit. No doubt about that. You will not hear arguments from me disputing the dangers of cigarette addiction.

Now that I got that out of the way I can get to the issue at hand. Smoking bans have started becoming popular as cities decide where smokers can and cannot engage in their vice. I understand the rationale behind banning smoking in certain places of work. For example, an office setting with a bunch of cubicles is not a place for smoking. I tend to think that in today's day and age big companies would themselves ban smoking without the government forcing them to do so. In general I do not like government meddling in what is none of their business. I do not like the idea of the government telling a business owner how to run his or her business. Cigarettes are a legal and heavily taxed product (a tax which hurts working class people who smoke more than anyone else). But truthfully I will not get terribly vexed if the ban is not overly draconian, where it is banned in places that make at least some sense. I am generally opposed to smoking bans but I would nonetheless be willing to look at individual city bans and judge them independently and fairly as to whether the law is excessive.

One of the popular places for cities to ban smoking these days is bars. This is one of those bans that makes little sense to me. Bars are not health food stores. They are in the business of selling alcohol. When you enter a pub you should not be expecting for the same aura as 24 hour fitness. If a bar owner decides he wants to allow smoking in his bar I see no reason why he and his customers should not be allowed to smoke. If enough people do not like the environment created or are discomforted by the smoke then non-smoking bars should open up for them. But no one is being forced to go to a bar in the first place. The only rationale people give for this ban is that the bartenders are subjected to second-hand smoke. Truthfully, I do not think bartenders in smoking bars are dropping dead right and left from lung cancer. If they do not like the environment that many bars offer by allowing smoking then maybe bartending is not the greatest business for them. Nobody forces anyone to become a bartender. I am sure there will always be no shortage of bartenders willing to work in a smokey bar. The fact is that a bar is private property and smoking is a legal activity. Patrons can decide whether they want to support a smoking bar or not. I have always felt this way about banning smoking in bars. Recently a new study was done that validates my opinion but for a whole new reason.

The new study claims that banning smoking in bars is not only sort of stupid, it is actually dangerous. Two researchers from the University of Wisconsin named Scott Adams and Chad Cotti published their findings through the Journal of Public Economics this month. The two researchers claimed that while "using geographic variation in local and state smoke-free bar laws in the US, we observe an increase in fatal accidents involving alcohol following bans on smoking in bars that is not observed in places without bans. Although an increased accident risk might seem surprising at first, two strands of literature on consumer behavior suggest potential explanations — smokers driving longer distances to a bordering jurisdiction that allows smoking in bars and smokers driving longer distances within their jurisdiction to bars that still allow smoking, perhaps through non-compliance or outdoor seating. We find evidence consistent with both explanations. The increased miles driven by drivers wishing to smoke and drink offsets any reduction in driving from smokers choosing to stay home following a ban, resulting in increased alcohol-related accidents. This result proves durable, as we subject it to an extensive battery of robustness checks." In other words, bar smoking bans are actually dangerous. Let me now ask you one question:

What's worse, some smoke in a bar or a drunk driver plowing into another vehicle?


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: ban; bar; cigarettes; health; publichealth; pufflist; smoking
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To: Figment

Man, the addicts are itchy tonight.


61 posted on 06/20/2008 7:48:02 PM PDT by Soliton (Investigate, educate, then opinionate.)
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To: Soliton

“Man, the addicts are itchy tonight”

and the social engineering nazis are out in force


62 posted on 06/20/2008 8:01:36 PM PDT by Figment ("A communist is someone who reads Marx.An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx" R Reagan)
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To: Figment
and the social engineering nazis are out in force

Name one

63 posted on 06/20/2008 8:08:02 PM PDT by Soliton (Investigate, educate, then opinionate.)
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To: Soliton

you


64 posted on 06/20/2008 8:20:54 PM PDT by Figment ("A communist is someone who reads Marx.An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx" R Reagan)
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To: Soliton

Class of ‘77 here, bud. I stopped going to bars decades ago. I now play in Vegas, where no one is whining and complaining and everyone is happy. It’s nice being around people like that.


65 posted on 06/20/2008 8:21:46 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: Soliton

Using your reasoning, a dog craps in your yard, ban dog ownership.


66 posted on 06/20/2008 8:23:20 PM PDT by Figment ("A communist is someone who reads Marx.An anti-communist is someone who understands Marx" R Reagan)
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To: Soliton

A bar is private property. It is not public property.


67 posted on 06/20/2008 8:24:09 PM PDT by Nik Naym (If Republicans are your problem, Democrats aren't the answer!)
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To: TheMom; Eaker
Banning Smoking In Bars Is Not Only Stupid, Research Shows It Is Dangerous

Yes, for one, it might make you accidentally skip out on the tab.

68 posted on 06/20/2008 8:24:38 PM PDT by Allegra (If you lived here, you'd be home by now.)
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To: stevelackner

Answer: Getting drunk drivers off roads. A lady with whom I worked buried her father-in-law a couple of weeks ago as a result of an accident caused by a person on his fourth DUI. Her sister-in-law was also severely injured.


69 posted on 06/20/2008 8:45:59 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: Soliton

B.S. strawman.


70 posted on 06/20/2008 8:59:28 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: R. Scott
Yes, “drinking establishments” have existed for thousands of years before tobacco was introduced to our society. “Bars” as we know them are a relatively recent creation.

Huh?

71 posted on 06/20/2008 9:01:35 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: Soliton
Why do you suppose so many countries have banned it so many times? I suggest it was because it was offensive to others. They have also banned spitting on the sidewalk and letting your dog take a dump in my yard.

And now your world is perfect.

72 posted on 06/20/2008 9:03:31 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: WellyP
Even here in Chile we have a smoking ban in bars and restaurants. The best thing that could have happened!Banning smoking in bars has allowed me to again have a social life and interact with people when and where I wish to.

Smoking bans are a back door to alcohol prohibition.

Whatever will you do when they ban drinking in bars? That is next.

73 posted on 06/20/2008 9:06:25 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: Soliton
It is both a place of public accomodation and a place of employment As such, it is subject to immense regulation

The last refuge and best tool of the fascist.

74 posted on 06/20/2008 9:08:20 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: Soliton
Man, the addicts are itchy tonight.

Not near as itchy as the control freaks.

Pretty soon, the itchiness is going to gravitate to folks' trigger fingers.

What will you do then?

75 posted on 06/20/2008 9:13:07 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: GOP_Lady

Define “drunk”.


76 posted on 06/20/2008 9:14:11 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: elkfersupper

Good evening, elk. The drunk driver I was referring to in my prior post (I was told) had a blood alcohol limit of 4 times over the legal limit. How would you define “drunk?” Not being in control of oneself? That would make it different per individual.


77 posted on 06/20/2008 9:23:10 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: GOP_Lady
How would you define “drunk?”

One is drunk when one admits one is drunk.

In any event, there would be plenty of reasons to take one off the road prior to that conclusion without creating a whole new series of crimes.

78 posted on 06/20/2008 9:30:50 PM PDT by elkfersupper
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To: elkfersupper

Yes, indeed.


79 posted on 06/20/2008 9:31:56 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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To: elkfersupper

You are much better at words than I am.


80 posted on 06/20/2008 9:44:46 PM PDT by GOP_Lady
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