Bowling proprietors hope St. Louis County smoking ban will bring back customers
The Greater St. Louis Bowling Proprietors Association, which campaigned against the ban on smoking in indoor public places that St. Louis County voters approved on Tuesday, has conceded defeat. It hopes non-smokers will come to their bowling centers when the ban takes effect on Jan. 2, 2011.
“We know in the campaign there is opposition to smoking and some of our centers have talked about making their centers no smoking before the Jan. 2, 2011, deadline,” Gary Voss, the association’s executive director, said in a statement.
“For those non-smokers who voted with their pocketbook and stopped bowling because of smoking, we’re inviting them to vote with their pocketbook and return to bowling when we do become non-smoking facilities,” he said.
The association will continue to oppose exemptions for casino floors, some bars and the airport, because “it’s unfair for them to benefit at the expense of others, especially bowling centers,” Voss said.
The bowling proprietors are independent of other groups, but they are not alone in trying to close the exemptions in the ban.
My colleague Margaret Gillerman found that the regional chapter of the American Cancer Society, which had fought for a stronger smoking ban, is now continuing its call for the county to tighten its ban and plug exemptions through additional legislation.
“While it’s clear that Proposition N does not deliver smoke-free protections to all workers, voters in St. Louis County have overwhelmingly voiced their support for smoke-free indoor air,” the cancer society said in a statement.
“The passage of this measure confirms that smoke-free laws are uniformly popular with the vast majority of the public and brings critical momentum toward achieving meaningful health protection from secondhand smoke for all people who live and work in St. Louis County,” the society said.
“Bars and casinos in St. Louis County still exposed people to second-hand smoke, especially the employees,” the group said. “The American Cancer Society is strongly committed to the hard work that remains to give everyone in the St. Louis region smoke-free protection.”
The cancer society’s position has been shared all along with the American Lung Association and American Heart Association chapters here. At first the groups sharply criticized the ordinance on the ballot, but later moved to the sidelines to remain neutral and pick up the fight for a tougher law after the election.
Martin Pion, president of Mo GASP (Group Against Smoking Pollution), has been fighting the fight against second-hand smoke since the early 1980s. Because of the strong public vote for a ban, “we can go back to the county and say, ‘look, you heard from the voters. Now it’s up to you to do your job and remove the exemptions. It’s not fair to the people still being exposed to second-and smoke.’”
County Citizens for Cleaner Air, the campaign committee backing the smoking ban, on Tuesday filed a notice with the Missouri Ethics Commission that it had received on Monday a $5,000 donation frpm Express Scripts, a prescription drug insurance management company. State law requires candidates and campaign committees to report within 24 hours donations of more than $250 within 11 days of an election.
County residents favor a smoking ban in restaurants and don’t favor one in bars and cocktail lounges. We believed the bar exemption in Councilman Fraser’s ordinance would make it harder to beat the County smoking ban in an election. I can remember one of our members cursing when he heard about the bar exemption.
Ha-nonsmokers are too smart to be bowlers.
In the 2007 Missouri Department of Senior Services survey, only 30 percent of County residents favored a ban on smoking in “bars and cocktail lounges” while 59 percent favor a ban in restaurants. The law passed because it coincided with what County residents want: a ban on smoking in restaurants but not adult venues.
Very funny, Gooby! LOL!
BTW I lived in Calif. when they voted this in and all it did was INCREASE BUSINESS, much to everyone’s surprise. That’s because many many people don’t like to have wash the smoke out of their hair and get clothes drycleaned from spending 30 minutes going out to eat. Lots more people will go out and spend more money. I stay home a lot, because I don’t want to breathe and smell the smoke or get cancer from secondhand smoke. Missouri is really behind in the times, waiting this long to ban smoking.
Bill Hannegan keeps dredging up stats to frighten people about the economic losses, challenging any study that doesn’t agree with his conclusions no matter how reputable, and invariably ignores the financial costs to society of death and disease from secondhand smoke exposure.
Nor does he care that this is a health and welfare issue, first and foremost, which affects many millions of Americans in their everyday lives, not to mention it’s discriminatory impact on those with respiratory disabilities caused or exacerbated by secondhand smoke. None of this matters to Hannegan. His purpose is to block this public health issue by any means possible. One day he’ll wake up to reality and find some purpose in his life other than acting as a surrogate for one of the most reprehensible and unethical industries around: the tobacco industry and those who depend on exploiting its addictive and deadly product.
Martin Pion, President, Missouri GASP
http://www.mogasp.wordpress.com
We called 350 County bars and restaurants just prior to the vote. Opposition to the smoking ban seemed universal. I’d like to see a poll of County bar and restaurant staff concerning a smoking ban.
A vain hope, bowlers! This year Monarch Restaurant in Maplewood tried to attact new customers by banning smoking in its bar. Non-smokers applauded loudly on the Post website, promised to reward Monarch’s smoke-free plunge with their patronage, but never showed up. After a few months of lost bar business, Monarch installed air filtration in the bar and allowed smoking again.
An attorney we consulted believes the Greater St. Louis Bowling Proprietors Association should ask the County that bowling centers be classed as drinking establishments with food sales of less that 25 percent. He thought the law was written loosely and vaguely enough for such a request to prevail.
HELLO HELLO Has anyone read this ordinance? It only applies to places that meet it’s specific definition of “Enclosed”. Whoever the bright guy was who wrote it did so such that it only applies to places that are “enclsoed by doors”. OPEN YOUR DOORS AND DO WHAT YOU WANT.
Bill H. -
Wouldn’t that be like asking an employee of Harrah’s how they feel about smoking in their workplace? Did Harrah’s not pay employees to ride to St. Louis County Council Chambers a few years ago to protest the Clean Air Ordinance then?
It would need to be a confidential poll and I’m not sure how you’d accomplish it. I wouldn’t want it in your hands anyway.
This is once again socialism at its best. This is the government trying to get more and more into peoples lives…Why dont people just switch to this…www.Crown7.com!