It’s time to clear the air in Charleston’s bars and restaurants
By Bill Settlemyer
Executive Publisher
Earlier this year, my wife and I had dinner at one of downtown Charleston’s many upscale restaurants. The food was fantastic, but the smoke from the nearby bar was not. I went home with a scratchy throat that didn’t clear up until later the following day.
I haven’t said anything to the staff or owners of the restaurant, but I won’t be going back there until the place is 100% smoke-free.
My story is likely being repeated across the Lowcountry, a silent killer of bar and restaurant business.
How do we know that?
A recent poll conducted by the University of South Carolina’s Institute for Public Service and Policy Research makes it clear that the citizens of Charleston recognize the hazards of secondhand smoke to workers and customers in bars and restaurants and want to dine and drink in smoke-free environments.
Here are some key results of the poll of 618 Charleston residents:
Asked “If Charleston passes an ordinance making all restaurants and bars smoke-free, would you go out to bars and restaurants more often, less often or about the same amount as you do now,” 63.3% said “about the same,” 24.4% said “more often,” and 9.8% said “less often.”
In other words, substantially more people would go out more often than would go out less often.
Translation: Business would increase, not decrease.
By a nearly three-to-one margin (70% to 24%), Charleston residents would support a city ordinance prohibiting smoking inside all workplaces, including restaurants and bars. Eight out of 10 think that exposure to secondhand smoke is a serious (61%) or moderate (23%) health hazard.
Eighty-seven percent agree that all Charleston workers should be protected from exposure to secondhand smoke in the workplace.
And by a margin of 81% to 11%, they agree that the right of customers and employees to breathe clean air in restaurants and bars is more important than the right of smokers to smoke in these places.
And what about the politics of smoke-free ordinances?
The poll found that 44% of Charleston residents would be more likely to vote for a candidate who supported a smoke-free workplace law, while 13% said they would be less likely to vote for such a candidate.
Taking a stand
I am a member of the board of Trident United Way, and last year, I asked the board to take a stand on this issue.
Those of you familiar with Trident United Way’s board know the board is a who’s who of the region’s top business and civic leaders.
I’m proud to say they gave a “thumbs up” to the following statement:
In the interest of protecting and improving the health of all area residents...it is the public policy position of Trident United Way that county and municipal governments should enact smoke-free ordinances that prohibit indoor smoking in workplaces and other indoor locations accessible to the public.
As you might expect, there was some lively debate before the vote in favor of the position.
I think what really turned the tide was an anecdote told by board member Charles Patrick, a prominent Charleston attorney well known for his participation in national litigation against the tobacco industry.
According to Patrick, his firm had recently hosted a legal conference related to tobacco issues, and he was dining out at a Charleston area restaurant with a New York lawyer representing one of the major tobacco companies.
After a while, the lawyer seemed a bit agitated. He complained that the tobacco smoke in the restaurant was annoying him.
The attorney expressed amazement that Charleston, unlike New York City, didn’t ban smoking in bars and restaurants.
Let’s upgrade our hospitality
New York City is one of the country’s top tourist destinations. In 2003, the city banned smoking in all workplaces, including bars and restaurants.
One year later, a report issued by the city concluded, “The city’s bar and restaurant industry is thriving, and its workers are breathing cleaner and safer air.”
The report cited a Zagat 2004 survey in which 23% of respondents said they would patronize bars and nightclubs more often after passage of the law, while 65% said they would go out as often as before, and 14% said they would go out less.
Study after study has confirmed that smoke-free ordinances do not harm bar and restaurant business, and more often than not, the ordinances lead to an increase in business.
On the health side of the issue, the findings regarding secondhand smoke are damning.
Exposure increases the risk of lung, breast and cervical cancer, as well as heart attacks and strokes. That’s bad news not only for the young college students who work in Charleston’s bars and restaurants, but also for those who make a career choice to work in our hospitality industry.
Secondhand smoke is deadly, even more so for workers who are exposed to smoke hour after hour, day after day.
Major tourist and convention destinations like New York, Boston and San Francisco protect visitors and residents alike from toxic air in bars and restaurants.
It’s time that the city of Charleston stepped up to the plate to join these other leading destinations in doing what is not only the right thing, but the best thing for business.
Let’s work together to clear the air.
The entire tri-county region needs smoke-free ordinances, but the city of Charleston ought to take the lead.
Once that happens, it will quickly become obvious that the small number of smokers taking their business elsewhere will be fighting a tide of appreciative customers heading into the city to spend their dollars in bars and restaurants where both patrons and workers are protected from the scourge of secondhand smoke.
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