Jim at SnoozeButtonDreams is literally having a cow because Gwinnette County (GA) is enacting an indoor smoking ban in all public building effective this April. This includes bars, pubs and restaurants.
I though I’d weigh in on the subject...
...since I live and work in the great state of Delaware. Delaware enacted a state-wide indoor smoking ban a little over a year ago. And this included bars, pubs and restaurants. Yes, as you’d expect, smokers and bar/pub/restaurant owners went nuts and lost their minds over the ban. It was fought, refuted and even ignored in some instances in the beginning. As an aside, I read an interesting speech by Michael Crichton which calls into question (among other things) the dangers of second hand smoke
As a smoker, I too was quite upset. I mean, drinking a beer at a bar and NOT smoking a cigarette? Finishing a spectacular meal and not lighting up? Just exactly how insane is our esteemed Governor???
Trust me Jim, I know and agree with every one of your arguments.
Here’s what life is like in Delaware now that the ban has been in effect for over a year. A couple of bars closed. Not many as far as I can tell. Most adapted. Most have created outdoor shelters complete with heat (It is 12 degrees outside right now) that are attached to the bar / restaurant. A couple of restaurants closed too, but in Wilmington that happens all the time anyway and I seriously doubt that the smoking ban had much to do with it. People really bent on having a ciggie-butt while drinking a beer now drive to Maryland, Pennsylvania or New Jersey - Delaware is a small state after all. Again, I don’t have any numbers, but I suspect that the majority of these folks all live within 5 miles of a border so they were likely to have frequented the out-of-state bar before the ban.
And I quit smoking. And I actually like the ban now. If I walk into a bar / restaurant and smell a cigarette it gives me pause and I actually look around (usually to come to the realization that I’m on Pennsylvania).
Don’t get me wrong, I’m still opposed to the ban on principle. I don’t want a nanny state. I can take care of myself and be responsible for myself. If I don’t want to eat or drink in a smoke filled room, then I can go somewhere else. Likewise, I don’t have to work in one either. (Someone who has an issue with breathing second hand smoke wouldn’t choose to be a waitress or bartender – I mean, come-on, really!)
Anyway, the point I’ve been trying to get too is this. Despite all the opposition and fighting in the beginning, Delaware is now a non-smoking state. And it’s not likely to change. You see, one of the problems with a democracy is that over time it can become a mobocracy and in this case the mob [majority] is non-smoking. The poor minority smokers are screwed.
Posted by Clancy at January 16, 2004 1:24 PM