Smoking ban – its time has come

After years of debate, Rhode Island will soon have in place a law that bans smoking from virtually all places of public gathering – including restaurants and bars.


 


This may even happen in a matter of weeks. Similar bills have passed both Senate and House committees. The two branches are expected to come up with a compromise bill (the Senate version now exempts video-slot facilities, while the House version exempts them also, but only temporarily). A vote of the full General Assembly is expected before this legislative session closes.


Connecticut already has such a smoking ban. Massachusetts is on the verge of implementing one.


 


For years – decades, really – many restaurant and bar owners have argued against such a ban. Let the patrons decide for themselves if they want to frequent a business where smoking is allowed, they would say.


But the evidence that says secondhand smoke is harmful – deadly harmful – has continued to mount.


 


For the first time in its history, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned people at risk of heart disease to avoid all buildings and gathering places that allow indoor smoking. The CDC, in a report, said that just 30 minutes of exposure to secondhand smoke could have a serious – even lethal – effect.


 


That CDC report does not stand alone. One scientific study after another has documented a direct link between secondhand smoke and diseases such as cancer, emphysema, as well as heart attack and stroke.


 


Margaret Kane, executive director of the American Lung Association of Rhode Island, remembers testifying at the State House many years ago. Back then the warnings and sobering statistics fell on mostly deaf ears. It was a different time. People smoked at their desks. They smoked on airplanes. In fact, when she would visit the State House years ago, many legislators made their feelings known by lighting up.


 


But the climate has changed. People have become educated.


Kane and others who support a smoking ban now have more friends than enemies at the State House. Legislative leaders – like House Majority Leader Gordon Fox and senators Susan Sosnowski and Elizabeth Roberts – support the ban.


 


The Rhode Island Hospitality and Tourism Association, which has historically opposed the ban, is no longer fighting against it.


 


All of this should not be seen as bad news for business owners. In fact, there is reason to believe that their businesses will not only survive a smoking ban, but ultimately, prosper.


 


Bob Burke, who owns Pot au Feu and the Federal Reserve downtown, has been a proponent of smoke-free restaurants for nearly 20 years. Never, he says, has such an approach been bad for business.


 


“Any business that thinks that making their customers or their employees sick is a wise decision … they have missed the basics of business management,” he says.


 


That is the message Burke delivers now in helping groups like the Campaign for a Healthy Rhode Island lobby for a smoke-free workplace.


 


It has become a wise business decision to ban smoking, he says.


Class-action lawsuits are beginning to pop up around the country. People disabled as a result of lung cancer or stroke are turning to former or present employers in assigning responsibility.


 


If you own a restaurant, says Burke, then you know how costly a cut finger or injured back can be. Just imagine, he says, the price tag attached to lung cancer, asthma or emphysema.


 


It may sound funny, but Burke, whose restaurants feature white linen tablecloths along with its exquisite meals, knew the smoke-free movement made a breakthrough when a few years back Dunkin’ Donuts – and later, McDonald’s and Burger King – banned smoking.


 


Those outfits, Burke points out, spare no expense when it comes to research. You can bet, he says, that they had teams of lawyers, marketing specialists and experts in risk management study the matter closely.


 


“They (Dunkin’ Donuts) were the smokiest places in the industry,” says Burke. “But what they saw was a danger … and that a ban wasn’t bad for business.”


California was the first state to enact a comprehensive smoke-free workplace law. There, smoking was banned in restaurants in 1995 and bars in 1998. Since that time, the industry has flourished. By the end of 2001, revenues from restaurants and bars in California had jumped to $36.8 billion, up from $25.5 billion in 1995. Also, at the end of that five-year period, more restaurants and bars were operating in California than before smoke-free laws took effect.


 


Smoke-free laws should not scare business owners, says Burke. He points to a National Fire Association statistic that shows that 28 percent of all restaurant fires are started by the improper disposal of an article of smoking. And he mentions the expenses that are tied to repairing smoke or cigarette-damaged carpets or upholstery.


 


Once a smoking ban is passed, says Burke, insurance carriers should be required by the state Department of Business Regulation to reduce premiums for all restaurants.


 


So, you see, this smoking ban is not something to be afraid of – even if you own a restaurant or bar.


 


The smart thing to do now is work to see how it can play in your favor.