Smoking ban clears House

Aquaman asked, "Mr. McFadden, you live in Philly dont you? Have you ever talked to cocktail waitresses and bartenders in bars in NC?"

Yes I have Aquaman. I was down there for a conference last summer and talked to tenders and waitstaff in about a half dozen bar/restaurants in NC. Of the dozen or so I talked to, *TWO* were somewhat supportive of a government-imposed ban, and both of them seemed supportive only because they'd bought the story that it was "inevitable" so they might as well go along with it.

I noticed you had no answer to the 1,000% increase in pub closures in Britain or concern about the 2,000% tax on smokers so poor they're forced to roll cigarettes from shreds of tobacco and scraps of paper.

I also find it odd that you wouldn't support the idea of holding the antismoking groups and pro-ban politicians legally responsible for footing the bill for losses. After all, according to the survey you cited (er... wanna share who PAID for that survey btw?) they wouldn't be taking any risk, right?

Let them vote a ban in *IF* they believe strongly enough that it won't hurt business that they put *THEIR* money on the line.

How could anyone object to that?

Michael J. McFadden
Author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"

Mr. McFadden, you live in Philly dont you? Have you ever talked to cocktail waitresses and bartenders in bars in NC? If you had you would know that smoke-free is popular here in NC. A Elon University poll last month found about two-thirds of North Carolinians backed a ban on indoor public smoking. Eight in 10 said they consider secondhand smoke a threat to their health.

cant wait for FDA regulation so we can see EXACTLY the ingredients of cigarettes.

Aquaman asked, "aren't bars workplaces for thousands of North Carolinians?? I guess they dont have the right to breathe clean air while on the job."

Aquaman, how would you feel about a ban based on a survey of those workers? You'll find that that is something that is NEVER proposed by the antismoking lobby because they know perfectly well that those workers would vote en masse against a ban.

First of all many of them, probably even MOST of them, smoke themselves and have gone into that line of work partly because of the freedom to smoke there. And even those that don't smoke went into the business knowing and expecting that there would be smoking allowed.

And finally, more of them than you may suspect have looked around at places with bans and have heard from others in the business what the REAL effects of smoking bans are to the bar/pub/restaurant trade. In Britain pubs had a fairly steady closure rate of 2 to 4 pubs per week before their ban.

The ban came in and that closure rate shot to 27, then 36, and now FORTY TWO per week... an increase in closures and job losses of ONE THOUSAND PERCENT. Think about what it does to those workers lives and the lives and health of their families when they're rendered jobless and/or their life savings invested in a business are lost.

Think the antismoking groups or the legislators voting for a ban are willing to guarantee against those losses?

How about it legislators? Are you willing to put YOUR incomes and bank accounts and homes on the line for this vote? Or do you just want to leave other people holding the bag?

How about the Senate adding an Amendment offering such a legally binding stop-loss guarantee? It could be coupled with the pledge to cover statewide annual fine totals over $500 (which one Rep assured us wouldn't exist today) or to pay for any overtime or extra staff needed for enforcement (which we were ALSO assured wouldn't exist today.)

Make it legally binding... so it won't be like Obama's "pledge" not to raise taxes on folks earning under $250,000 while then turning around and slapping a 2,000% tax increase on the poor folks who have to roll their own cigarettes from shreds of tobacco and scraps of paper.

If you believe what you're saying, if you're not lying, THEN STAND BEHIND YOUR WORDS AND YOUR VOTE!

Or find a job where your "vote" won't hurt so many other people.

Michael J. McFadden
Author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"

Funny thing...

Just as the smoking ban is lifted for the G20 summit to supposedly solve the world's economic crisis, North Carolina tries to push through a smoking ban in tobacco country.

G20 exempt from smoking ban
Thursday, March 12 12:48 pm
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/14/20090312/tpl-g20-exempt-from-smoking-ban-81c5b50.html

Who's this idiot who needs "protection" from secondhand smoke? The bogus health scare has been debunked repeatedly and very publicly by everyone from governemnts to science journals to the popular media. I guess some North Carolinians just take longer to catch up. This guy's so worried about bartenders' health...but doesn't care that they have a much better chance of losing their job in a post-ban economy and certainly doesn't care about the real dangers that such employees face everyday.

North Carolina should be ashamed.

I won't loose any sleep over it if it passes. I'm not a rabid non smoker but if a place is too smokey, I don't patronize it. If it gets too smokey, I leave. If you choose to work in a smokey pool hall or bar thats your choice.

I can understand the owner's view. Smokers are generally better tippers.

aren't bars workplaces for thousands of North Carolinians?? I guess they dont have the right to breathe clean air while on the job. With the Cole amendment exempting bars some of the workers most at risk for health effects of second hand smoke will NOT be protected. I hope the Senate eliminates the language exempting bars. Virginia and Maryland's smoking bans include nightclubs, brew pubs, taverns, etc.