Restaurants
Smoke-Free Restaurant FAQs
- Cigarettes are a legal product - so why does there need to be government regulation?
- If you don't want to work in a smoky restaurant, then you should work somewhere else!
- Why don't restaurants and bars install ventilation systems to take care of the smoke?
- Why can't you just accommodate everyone and have smoking and nonsmoking sections?
- If there's a smoking ban, restaurants and bars will lose a lot of money and could go out of business.
- If there's a smoking ban, then all the foreign tourists, who smoke heavily, will go to other states that allow smoking.
- Smokers will stop eating out and going to bars, because they can't go that long without a cigarette.
- First you want to eliminate smoking - what's next?! Fatty food?! Alcohol?!
- If people don't like to smell the smoke then why don't they just eat or drink somewhere else?
Cigarettes are a legal product - so why does there need to be government regulation?
There are many indoor air pollutants, like asbestos, that remain legal. Yet, most would agree that the government plays a vital role in regulating these health hazards. The same goes for outdoor air pollution. We do not say that if is someone is bothered by industrial air pollution they should just move somewhere else where the air is cleaner. Instead we try to address the source.
Government's role in the health and safety of restaurants could not be more important. They regulate food quality through inspections that ensure food supplies are free of insect and rodent infestation, that food is properly refrigerated, that employees wash their hands before touching food, that cutting boards are free of contamination, etc. We do not tell customers that it is their choice to accept the risks that food poisoning may be part of their dining experience.
Alcoholic beverages are legal too. But we set blood alcohol limits how much liquor a customer can consume, and those who serve them more than the law allows are held responsible. We do not say that this is a market driven decision that should be determined by whether or not the customer wants another drink.
If you don't want to work in a smoky restaurant, then you should work somewhere else!
The restaurant industry is the nation's largest private sector employer, reaching 11.7 million employees in 2003 and representing nearly 9 percent of total U.S. employment. The restaurant industry is the a prime job market for a lot of young people - nearly half of all employees are under 25 years of age. In addition, 18 percent of employees at eating and drinking places are of Hispanic origin, compared to only 10 percent in all other industries. The industry has a larger proportion of Asian employees, compared to the work force in other industries. It is also the largest private sector employer of women and minorities. You wouldn't tell a doctor, banker or accountant to go find another profession if they don't like smoke in the workplace. Why should restaurant and bar workers have to make that choice?
Why don't restaurants and bars install ventilation systems to take care of the smoke?
While ventilation systems have come a long way in eliminating the smell of cigarette smoke, they are still not capable of getting rid of the carcinogens. Even ventilation manufacturers and cigarette makers themselves will not claim they can do this. "While not shown to address the health effects of secondhand smoke, ventilation can help improve the air quality of an establishment by reducing the sight and smell of smoke and by controlling smoke drift." Philip Morris, USA
Why can't you just accommodate everyone and have smoking and nonsmoking sections?
Employees who work in the smoking section are still exposed to secondhand smoke. Plus it drifts to customers in the nonsmoking section. Containing cigarette smoke in its own section is not possible - it's kind-of like rationalizing that you'll only pee in the deep end of the pool where kids aren't swimming. It just doesn't work.
If this were true, with the industry's thin profit margins, then there would be no restaurants and bars left in California. But these businesses have been thriving since the ban was implemented in 1995 for restaurants and 1998 for bars. In fact, there was a 4 to 11 percent increase in restaurant and bar business in California in the first five years after the smoke-free law was enacted. There have also been a number of studies nationwide, all of which, when conducted by credible, peer reviewed sources, have shown that smoking bans do not hurt business.
California and New York City are two of the most popular tourist sites, and tourists did not stop visiting these places when they went smoke-free in restaurants in 1995. Instead, they continued to come in droves. Now the nation's other two major tourist markets, Florida and Hawaii, are smoke-free in restaurants too.
Smokers will stop eating out and going to bars, because they can't go that long without a cigarette.
People said the same thing when the airlines and movie theatres went smoke-free. But smokers haven't stopped flying or going to movies. And, airplane flights and movies usually last longer than the average restaurant meal or bar visit.
First you want to eliminate smoking - what's next?! Fatty food?! Alcohol?!
Getting rid of secondhand smoke is not about prohibition. It is about protecting workers from involuntary exposure to the chemicals found in cigarette smoke. You can go to a restaurant and eat too many fat laden hamburgers and fries, but that only hurts you. The health of the person next to you is not any worse because you ate too much fatty food. But, this is not true if you light up a cigarette, because when you do, you are causing others nearby to inhale the same dangerous chemicals. The smoker doesn't only endanger their own life, but the lives of everyone around them.
If people don't like to smell the smoke then why don't they just eat or drink somewhere else?
It's not a matter of comfort or preference; it's a matter of health and safety. With 200 poisons and 43 cancer-causing chemicals in secondhand cigarette smoke, it is certainly a hazard that no one should be exposed to unwillingly.