Cincinnati Compromises on Smoking Ban Bill and Exempts Bars [04/07-1]

Excerpts from: Smoke ban deal set

By Kevin Osborne The Cincinnati Post [04/06/05]


At the urging of a hospitality industry group, a Cincinnati official is proposing a compromise smoking ban on public indoor spaces that would allow exemptions in bars, bowling alleys and bingo halls.

The proposal, modeled after a bill now before the state Legislature that would enact a similar ban across Ohio, would prohibit smoking in restaurants unless owners wanted to provide separate areas for smokers.

Cincinnati City Council Member David Crowley and the Greater Cincinnati Hospitality Coalition unveiled the proposal this morning at the Montgomery Inn Boat House on the riverfront.

The coalition includes nearly 160 restaurant and bar owners who oppose a push by anti-smoking groups to impose a ban on smoking in all public places.

"It's a workable proposal that takes into consideration some of the concerns on both sides of the issue," said Crowley, an ex-smoker whose family owns a pub in Mount Adams.

"It's important that this has the backing of the industry behind it. They are the ones who will have to live with a smoking ban."

The proposed indoor ban imposes signage requirements on businesses, and imposes fines and even jail time for violators.

Crowley, Mayor Charlie Luken and some city officials oppose a ban on indoor smoking in public places. That's being promoted in a series of billboard and radio ads by anti-smoking groups.

The debate has focused on issues of public health versus private property rights.

The ban is being pushed by the Clean Indoor Air Coalition, a group formed using money from the federal government's tobacco company settlement.

Ban supporters noted that second-hand smoke is the third-leading preventable cause of death in the nation. There is no safe level of exposure to it, they said, and each year 53,000 people die from it.

Because hospitality industry workers are disproportionately exposed, they suffer from higher rates of heart disease and lung cancer than other workers.

Backers of the limited ban, however, countered that a regional or statewide approach is needed to prevent smoking customers from going to Northern Kentucky and lighting up.

Otherwise, the choice to go smoke-free should remain with business owners, said supporters of the limited ban..

City Council's health committee will discuss Crowley's proposal, as well as other options including a total ban, at an April 12 meeting at City Hall. The full Council could make a decision either April 13 or April 20.

In December, a 30-member advisory panel made up of residents, business owners, health officials and others issued a report examining the dangers of second-hand smoke on workers and customers. But the panel, divided over a ban's economic impact, didn't recommend if Cincinnati should enact it.

Vice Mayor Alicia Reece, who heads City Council's health committee, proposed the advisory panel in June after she was approached by the Clean Indoor Air Coalition.

A similar coalition of Northern Kentucky health advocates wants smoking prohibited in Campbell County workplaces, but so far, there hasn't been a push for bans in Kenton and Boone counties.

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