Comments on: Don’t need no stinkin’ bans!

By: Cigars

Cigars — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 14:24:37 +0000

I'm in the middle of fighting the smoking ban in Indiana. So far I think my establishment may be able to work out a pardon… yea right

By: Smoking and Politics: Once More with Feeling | Virginia Tomorrow

Smoking and Politics: Once More with Feeling | Virginia Tomorrow — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 16:34:59 +0000

[...] They point to the fact that large numbers of restaurants and bars have implemented a no smoking poli… Places that still permit smoking have made a decison based on an understanding of their market and customer wishes. This is clearly a shrinking number of establishments. But there are bars that people frequent because smoking is permitted and is part of the larger atmosphere that they enjoy. [...]

By: Mark

Mark — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 14:48:16 +0000

Not to pile on, but the first time I went to a restaurant in California (1998) and asked for a non-smoking table, the hostess looked at me like I was crazy. Given that restaurants and bars had vehemently opposed any kind of ban for so long, citing loss of revenue, it had never occurred to me that an entire jurisdiction could ban it.

Only now that 1) it's obvious there's no loss of revenue to bar and restaurant owners; and 2) the general public (which has long been majority non-smoking) knows that smoking can be banned, would more than a handful of establishments move to ban smoking voluntarily.

By: Wayne

Wayne — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:50:10 +0000

I don't believe for a minute that this would have happened if not for other jurisdictions — nearby, in fact — mandating these bans. It's exactly this kind of enforced ban in one place that leads patrons to realize that they have a choice (and can choose to go to a smoke-free bar, because FINALLY one exists), and business owners to realize that all the talk about declining business (which inevitably surfaces whenever such laws are discussed) is total bunk. Thus, once the ball is rolling, owners realize that their downside is minimal, and in fact their upside is potentially large — because patrons have already realized that they prefer smokefree bars.

But in the absence of regulations altogether…? Let's see: People have complained about smoke in bars since the dawn of smoke and bars, yet somehow smokefree bars were essentially non-existent until some places started enforcing bans. Then, and only then, did this miraculous “gentle hand” effect work at all. Because prior to that point, patrons didn't have any choice, and owners didn't want to take any risks.

By: Cannoneo

Cannoneo — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 13:11:06 +0000

I would speculate that this trend could not have happened without smoking bans elsewhere. People of the class that has grown in Arlington have come to expect mainly smoke-free atmospheres indoors.

By: Bob

Bob — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 11:44:53 +0000

After seeing the movie “Valkyrie” it's easy to see why Germany repealed their ban, a law that depends on friends and neighbors snitching on each other. The ban worked against their efforts ot erase the memories of Hitler. Destroying his bunker was being overridden by the ban.