I smoke a pipe and an occasional cigar. To me, it is a relaxing
activity and sometimes, I enjoy smoking in a bar while having a drink.
Twenty
to 30 percent of the public enjoy this activity. Today, the only places
one can exercise this legal right is in his home, car, outdoors or in a
bar, casino or bingo hall.
My comments will focus on smoking in a bar, but I believe they are applicable to casinos and bingo halls.
It
is stated the (Ouachita Parish) smoking ban is being considered to
protect the health of employees. This assumes that employees have no
choice but to work in a bar.
This is not true. Employees to have a choice.
The
Yellow Pages has 340 pages of companies that employ workers. More
importantly, in Monroe and West Monroe, alone, there are 350 restaurants
listed. Many of these serve liquor. There are only eight bars listed.
As it stands now, a worker has much more choice in terms of employment
than a smoker has in terms of where to smoke.
This
ban would take away a legal right to smoke in a bar in which the owner
has elected to permit smoking. A bar is the only public place a smoker
can relax and socialize and have a drink.
One
employee serves an average of nine patrons. Thus to help one person,
who has the choice to leave, this ban eliminates any choice nine other
people have to frequent a bar and socialize.
Is this fair? Please remember, smokers are citizens of this parish too.
The
bar owner already has the freedom and legal right to ban smoking in his
bar. He does not need a new law to ban smoking. It is his private
business earned through investing and hard work. He should have the
right to permit smoking if he chooses to do so.
I believe it is wrong to tell a business owner he cannot offer a legal service.
I
do not think we need a law banning smoking in bars. Very few cities and
parishes have deemed it necessary to adopt a no-smoking ban. No one is
adversely affected because everyone has a viable choice if they do not
want to be in a bar that permits smoking.
This
is an issue of fairness and reasonableness. Twenty to 30 percent of
people smoke. There are only a few places that allow us to socialize.
Why prohibit a legal activity that many enjoy to protect a few that can
choose not to be there?
This situation does not require the government to intervene and further reduce the right of citizens to choose how they live.
