Vote Yes on Proposition N.
About 60 percent of Americans - 175 million people - now live in communities that restrict smoking in public places.
On Nov. 3, voters in St. Louis County can add the county’s nearly 1 million residents to the list by voting for Proposition N. That would protect the right of nonsmokers to breathe clean air in enclosed public spaces, including restaurants and bars.
Approval would trigger a similar ban in the city of St. Louis. The city’s Board of Aldermen approved the ordinance Friday, contingent on passage of the county ban.
The smoking restrictions could cause some economic hardship and dislocation. But regardless of what opponents may argue, there is indisputable scientific evidence that secondhand tobacco smoke is a serious public health threat.
Most recently, the Institute of Medicine, part of the National Academies of Science, reported Oct. 15 that exposure to secondhand smoke increases the risk of heart attack. Clean indoor air laws significantly reduce that risk, the Institute found.
The report confirms what the U.S. surgeon general and scores of peer-reviewed studies have concluded: Clean indoor air laws reduce the incidence of heart disease and heart attacks.
That’s the overwhelming reason to Vote Yes on Proposition N.
People who own smoke shops, some bowling alleys and restaurants are opposing Proposition N. It’s only natural that small-business owners would be concerned about the potential economic impact. The tobacco industry has spent years - and millions of dollars - fanning those fears.
An association of bowling center owners worries, in particular, about the “double standard” inherent in the ordinance. Bowling alleys would have to restrict smoking in their establishments, but large casinos that are their competitors are exempted.
We agree. Just because big casinos have more political clout than bowling centers, they shouldn’t get a pass.
The good news for worried restaurant and bar owners is that scores of peer-reviewed economic analyses show clean indoor air laws have minimal adverse economic impact. That certainly has been the case in Ballwin and Arnold.
Some opponents say Proposition N would infringe on the rights of business owners, who should be able to decide whether smoking is allowed. Should we also allow them to serve tainted food from unsanitary kitchens or block fire exits or disable fire sprinklers?
Secondhand smoke is a public health threat, just like unsanitary restaurant kitchens or unsafe stores.
For workers who spend their days and nights in smoke-filled bars and restaurants, the danger is magnified.
They include many young people working at their first jobs. Often, those workers aren’t offered health insurance and aren’t in an economic position to quit.
People shouldn’t be forced to risk their health just to earn a living.
Proposition N is less comprehensive than clean air laws in Illinois or Kansas City, which means it’s not as strong as it should be. But it’s much better than the current state of affairs.
More than 75 percent of St. Louis County residents are nonsmokers. Their health shouldn’t be held hostage to the minority’s tobacco addiction.
Here in Florida, smoking is not allowed in eating establishments but VFW, Am. Legion, Elks, etc. all allow smoking at the bar. No smoking in public places and most private offices do not allow smoking. It’s really nice to be able to eat and not have someone blow smoke at you. It’s warm just about all of the time, and restruants have outside dining for those who choose to smoke during dinner. Works well down here.
Almost all the “scores of peer-reviewed economic analyses” mentioned have been conducted by public health people, peer-reviewed by other public health people, and published in medical and public health journals. Almost every study concerning the economic effects of smoking bans conducted by real economists and published in economics journals have found that smoking bans cause economic harm to bars and restaurants.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/06/04/economic-impact-bars-restaurants-opinions-contributors-smoking-ban.html
The Institute of Medicine study looked at the effect of smoking bans on a few cherry picked US communities. A truly comprehensive national study by researchers from the Rand Corporation, the Congressional Budget Office, the University of Wisconsin, and Stanford University, “CHANGES IN U.S. HOSPITALIZATION AND MORTALITY RATES FOLLOWING SMOKING BANS”, finds that smoking bans have had no effect on hospitalizaton, heart attack or mortality rates in communities that impose them. The researchers found that heart attack rates naturally fluctuate from year to year. Smoking bans had no influence on the fluctuation!
http://keepstlouisfree.blogspot.com/2009/09/smoking-bans-have-no-effect-on-heat.html
Federal Reserve economists have determined that smoking bans cut bar revenues in Columbia, Missouri 11 percent and Illinois casino revenues over 20 percent. Why shouldn’t St. Louis County businesses worry?
http://research.stlouisfed.org/econ/pakko/mpbans.html
I enjoyed meeting with you guys Thursday, but I hoped you would come up with something better that this!
What the hell do we need private property for in the “new normal”?
I assume restaurant and bar bailouts are in the offing.
Can you just think a bit? Second hand smoke is not more harmful than the person smoking. In another room or a table far away, no way your rights are being taking away. Tell me you can smell the smoke and not hear others talking, now theres an idea, outlaw people talking, I can hear them, are they not getting in to my space?
Just a reminder of the sources of the bans, the RWJ Foundation, owned by big pharma, and the coalitions, more concerned with “social change” than the bans themselves:
http://www.rwjf.org/pr/product.jsp?ia=143&id=14912
And what the 99 million dollars was going to. Note on page seven the “inside -out”, provision going for patios later, AFTER business owners spend thousands of dollars to build them to accommodate their smoking customers, clearly showing that the tobacco control activists have ABSOLUTLY NO CONCERN about local issues or businesses. You may need to CTRL and scoll to enlarge it.
http://www.no-smoke.org/pdf/CIA_Fundamentals.pdf
Be careful of the fine print on the ballot. The tax exempt American Cancer Society tricked the voters of Ohio into voting for a ban with exemptions, only to have them removed AFTER they were voter approved. If they got away with it once, you know they will do it again. Thank you American Cancer Society, we never knew all you do. The private vets clubs of Ohio who thought they were exempt according to the ballot learned what they do. I’m sure they are remembering them with with their donations and estate plans.
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2007/04/30/smoking.html
Almon, perfume, farts, burps, [hoax] cell phone radiation… All potential targets for control. Swedes are gunning for carbon content within food http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/23/world/europe/23degrees.html?_r=1. From a statist’s perspective, what you eat is a threat to them.