EDITORIAL: It’s time to ban smoking in bars, restaurants and other public spaces
By Bill Settlemyer
Executive Publisher
Cigarette smoking is the most preventable cause of illness and death in the United States. About 440,000 people die every year from illnesses caused by smoking. People who smoke die earlier than those who do not smoke.
This is not recent news. I remember my father telling me that while he was in the service during World War II everyone referred to cigarettes as “coffin nails.” Ironically, back then tobacco companies were allowed to distribute free cigarettes in hospitals for the comfort and convenience of patients.
We’ve come a long way, but not far enough. People continue to smoke because nicotine is a powerful addictive drug (again, not recent news) and because the sale of cigarettes continues to be legal. A good argument can be made that this should change, because cigarettes, like cocaine or heroin, serve no useful purpose other than to satisfy the cruel addiction they foster.
That’s not to say that I have no sympathy for smokers. Most were enticed to begin using a legal product at an early age, and quitting smoking is one of the toughest challenges anyone can undertake. That said, the more we do as a society to discourage or prevent smoking, the better.
Last year New York City, the Big Apple, where everyone wants to visit, extended its ban on smoking in public places to bars as well as restaurants. The ban caused some disruption, but credible surveys show a drop in the percentage of smokers in the city and no significant drop in the revenue of bars and restaurants. (The drop in the number of smokers is also attributed to a $1.50 per pack increase in cigarette taxes.)
Following the city’s lead, the state of New York enacted an even tougher law that applies throughout the state. More recently an entire country, Ireland, banned smoking in public buildings, this despite the long history and tradition of smoking in pubs.
Here in the Lowcountry, the city of Charleston has cautiously and very slowly toyed with the idea of a smoking ban that would extend to bars and restaurants. They should quit toying and take action. More importantly, we should encourage all of our counties and cities in the region to do the same.
Evidence mounts…
Aside from making it more difficult for smokers to smoke, such a ban would protect those who otherwise inhale secondhand smoke, which has been proven to be a health care risk in its own right.
There’s an amazing story out of the small town of Helena, Mont., where smoking was banned in bars and restaurants. Following the ban, local hospital admissions for heart attacks dropped 58%. Some months later, the ban was repealed by the state legislature under pressure from the Montana Tavern Association and tobacco lobbyists. Guess what happened next? The heart attack admission rate went right back up. Coffin nails? Yep.
Consider these findings from Canadian health authorities:
– Two-thirds of the smoke from a cigarette is not inhaled, but enters the air around the smoker.
– Second-hand smoke has at least twice the nicotine and tar as the smoke inhaled by the smoker.
– Regular exposure to second-hand smoke increases the chances of contracting lung disease by 25% and heart disease by 10%.
It is estimated that each pack of cigarettes smoked generates an additional seven dollars in health care costs for society as a whole. For those who believe this is a matter for “the free market,” adding a seven dollar a pack “health tax” so smokers can pay their share of the social cost of tobacco-related illnesses would make a lot of sense. While smokers themselves pay a terrible price for smoking, it’s expensive for the rest of us too.
I am currently involved in a region-wide effort to promote health and wellness. This initiative, if successful, will make our workers more productive, lower our health care costs and make our region more competitive as a place to establish, relocate or grow a business. Healthier workers and lower group health care costs offer a great payoff for community and business-based wellness efforts.
Cigarette smoking is not the only problem, of course. We need to teach and motivate our citizens to eat a healthy diet, exercise more, seek preventive care and health screenings and work with their physicians to manage chronic diseases like high blood pressure and diabetes. But success on those fronts without efforts to limit and discourage smoking will cause us to fall far short of our goal.
I recently asked a local restaurant owner about the impact of a smoking ban. His response was that it’s fine with him as long as there’s “a level playing field.” In other words, the ban should not have a lot of exceptions and needs to cover a wide geographic area. But that shouldn’t dissuade the city of Charleston or any other local city or county from taking the first step. My guess is that others will fall in line when it becomes apparent that the smoking ban is not going to do serious economic harm to restaurant and bar owners.
It’s personal…
Years ago, I received a call from my uncle, who lived in North Carolina. He’d been a lifelong smoker and now lay dying of lung cancer. Never one to mince words, he observed that, “this is a lousy way to die.” A few weeks later, he was gone.
This spring, I had a surprise visit from a friend and mentor who had owned a business publication in another state. We had met from time to time at our trade association meetings and it was obvious that she was a heavy smoker. I often worried about whether it would catch up with her. It did. During her brief visit she described her battle with lung cancer and her concern that she wasn’t out of the woods despite extensive medical treatment. A few months later I received the sad news that she had died.
I don’t blame smokers for smoking. It’s a powerful addiction and one of the most difficult habits to break. But we do have some collective blame to shoulder if we fail to do everything in our power to discourage smoking and help people quit. We also need to recognize the adverse health impact of allowing people to be exposed to second-hand smoke in public buildings, including restaurants and bars.
The city of Charleston should proceed with a ban on smoking in public buildings, and other cities and counties in the region should follow suit.
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