Restaurant Press Releases

Sudden Surge In Smoke-Free Restaurants

CONTACT:
Paul McIntyre or
Anne Naughton
(916) 780-0226
Immediate Release: June 23, 2003

A national survey of independent restaurants and state restaurant associations just released by the nonprofit group Kids Involuntarily Inhaling Secondhand Smoke (KIISS) indicates that compared to last year, the number of smoke-free independent restaurants has doubled.

This year, 33 percent of independent restaurateurs responding to the survey said their restaurants are now completely smoke free as compared to only 17 percent who said so last year.

These numbers are borne out by a surge in new smoke-free workplace legislation during the past two years, which has seen the percentage of the U.S. population covered by smoke-free restaurant laws jump from 13.4 percent in 2001 to 31.45 percent in 2003.

Furthermore, in 2002, 73 percent of state restaurant association executives responding to the KIISS survey said smoking would never be banned in all restaurants in their state. In 2003, that number dropped to only 33 percent who thought it would never be banned.

KIISS President and CEO Paul McIntyre said, "The pace of recent progress in smoke-free restaurant and workplace legislation can in large part be attributed to New York City." While smaller cities like Tempe, Arizona and El Paso, Texas went smoke free in early 2002, it was really New York City, at the end of last year, passing 100 percent smoke free legislation for restaurants and bars, that ignited the movement nationwide.

Other large cities such as Boston, Massachusetts and Austin, Texas have also gone 100 percent smoke-free in restaurants and bars too. They have since been joined by the entire states of New York, Connecticut, Delaware, and Maine. California was the first state to go smoke free in 1994.

Among the major cities that have banned smoking in restaurants, but exempted stand-alone bars are Dallas, Texas and Honolulu, Hawaii. States having restaurant, but not bar bans, include Florida, Oregon, Utah and Vermont.

Also, improved ventilation systems often touted as the remedy for workplace smoking appears to be losing its support as a solution. McIntyre said, "The survey indicates only 50 percent of restaurant association executives and eight percent of independent restaurateurs now see ventilation as the answer to solving secondhand smoke issues." These numbers compare to 73 percent of restaurant association executives and 25 percent of independent restaurateurs who saw ventilation as the solution just a year ago.

KIISS was founded in 2000 by those influential in passing California's workplace smoking ban, AB 13, enacted in 1995. Anyone interested in more information on helping restaurants become smoke free can obtain videos, pamphlets or decals at www.kiiss.org.