Ban on smoking in Va. restaurants passes key test

robmo35 and plm68: sorry if you missed my earlier posts but let me clarify, I am NOT a smoker and never have been and can’t stand being near those who are. That said, I do have a problem with restaurants being told that they have to go smoke free when the market can dictate to a large extent without government intervening. Restaurants are far cleaner than they were 30 years ago (so yes, plm68, I will still plan to be here in 30 years!) without the govt. mandating everyone being smoke free. I do understand the the profit margin is very narrow for a restaurant owner and the fear that the owner would lose regular customers is not lost on me (no, I am not bored with the argument, but it was getting old when people used it as a reason to ban smoking—-to boost profits). But good business is made on calculated risk-taking and if there is a chance to make money by going smoke free then let the bold business owner do it and let the meek keep the staus quo. I am a libertarian at heart, so I have a difficult time with the govt. mandating morality. But I don’t believe all laws regulate personal behavior and I don’t believe the market can solve all problems—this one, however, I believe the market can take care of.

My last post, I was trying to concede a point to 10krunner, that smokers would still be able to go outside, but that might produce an unintended consequence of imposing on those who were never part of the smoking/non-smoking equation in the first place—quite literally the innocent bystander and the people walking by. Never having lived in CA or NY, I cannot speak from experience, so I was just raising the question not trying to score a point. So I do appreciate the personal anecdote (really, I did).

easy there yeti37
A.I find it hard to believe that smokers are suddenly going to be littering the cities sidewalks spewing concentrated smoke in passerbys faces, I’m not saying that it is impossible, but having lived in California, and as a frequent visitor to New York and D.C., all smoke free areas, I have never encountered this issue.
B. This is not a slippery slope argument. If you look at anti-smoking legislation passed in other states, with the exception of the strange and unfortunate case of Boulder, they aren’t ramping it up each year in an effort to marginalize smokers even further. This is an attempt to aid in the health of restaurant employees, very few of which have health insurance, and make dining more enjoyable and healthier for those who don’t want tar and carbon monoxide in their diet. Remember Virginia is beholden to cigarette manufacturers.
c. As far as the choice to be non smoking being an economic windfall, and your apparent boredom with this argument, let may this. Restaurant owners in general are terrified of angering their regular clientele. They don’t want to go non smoking because of a fear of losing customers. If everyone is non smoking, a legal compulsion to be non smoking, they stand to not lose many customers, and probably gain new ones who didn’t like how smokey the environment was.

10krunner brought up an interesting unintended consequence from banning smoking in restaurants—what if the smokers moved outside. Then while smoking outside, they would infringe on the passersby who neither wanted to go into the restaurant or be near smokers. The people walking by who chose not to go the restaurant and are merely shopping are being imposed upon by smokers driven outside by the non-smoking ban. So, instead of choosing not to go to a restaurant that by choice allowed smoking (making my voice heard with my wallet), the GA wants them to be pushed outside so now I will have to avoid an entire area to avoid smokers instead of the one establishment. And how about the business located next to the bar/restaurant that now has smokers outside its door that are not its patrons? It has to deal with people who may avoid the store entrance to avoid the smoking. All this could be solved if the restaurant decided for ITSELF to go smoke free or not. Yes, business is often better for places when they go smoke free, no one debates that point (so stop making that point readers) but it should be the market making that decision and the pursuit of profits rather than the GA making the decision for us.

I suppose the next logical step would be to ban ALL smoking in Richmond except for in your home or car. If you think that is not possible then you have never been to the People’s Republic of Boulder where they banned smoking except at home, car, or the one tobacco shop in town.

Hey richmondusa, a ridiculous comeback. The two are totally different. I have a choice to enter or not a smoking establishment. I have no choice when hit by a drunk driver. Maybe you should spend more time applying your high intellect to real problems.

Hey SCinRich, sorry for your asthma condition. However why should I have to limit my choices because of you? Just like I do not go to smoking places, you have the same choices. Stop trying to put your personal preferences on the rest of us.