Smoke ban tsunami may be irresistable
Pub Date: 3/1/2006
By Cole Boehler, Tavern Times Publisher
Back on Nov. 9, Washington state passed by a 63 percent majority a citizen's Initiative to ban all public smoking, including bars. It goes so far as to ban smoking within 25 feet of a doorway or vent.
Members of the Montana Tavern Association discussed the Washington ban at their December board meeting. The outcome seemed to bolster their leaders' views that such initiatives would have public support and that businesses would be vastly outspent on media campaigns.
In Washington, after attempts to broker a legislative compromise with exemptions for bars fell apart, anti-smoking forces sponsored Initiative 901 to outlaw public smoking and spent $1.38 million to pass the ban'; opponents (taverns) only mustered $12,000. They got crushed.
Undoubtedly that state's licensed businesses could have raised more much more but probably understood that no matter how much they spent, supporters would still outspend them by three-to-one, five-to-one or 10-to-one whatever it took to pass the measure. They could see the handwriting on the wall.
They must have felt like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
The American Cancer Society alone tossed $521,000 into the kitty. They would have done so in Montana, too, in a heartbeat.
But what happened in Montana is equally instructive. The folks on both sides of the issue decided to craft a legislative remedy rather than throw millions to the wind to achieve what is now perceived by many to be an inevitable end.
Here, anti-smoking forces got what they wanted: a total ban on indoor smoking albeit with a small percentage of businesses allowed to come into compliance a few years down the road while they saved much money and wear and tear on their resources.
Some taverns here have applied for and received their temporary exemptions, others have gone smoke free. But some kind of change was coming. It's much preferable and more fair to have ample time to make the necessary adjustments, rather than be summarily, instantly hammered into a new environment as they were in Washington.
Now, there is a byline at the top of this editorial. That's because it represents my personal opinion and not necessarily a consensus of our partners or staff.
And let me offer another disclaimer here: I am a smoker and I do not favor smoking bans. Rather, I favor personal responsibility and personal freedom. I believe once smoking is whipped, the health police will find another target. Soda pop and fast food companies are already under legal fire. You can guess where else they'll be headed.
I have been publishing and editing a monthly national publication for more than two years for adult beverage retailers that is similar to the Montana Tavern Times.
As such, I am exposed to daily news feeds from around the country. As much as I dislike what is happening, I have come to the conclusion that an anti-smoking tsunami is rolling over this country that cannot be stopped.
Millions and billions of dollars will be spent pushing and fighting bans. Many in the tavern business in other states are just beginning the journey down the long road we have traveled in Montana. They are fighting at the local and/or the state level.
They are in many cases optimistic. I am not. Regrettably, I've concluded that to resist the prohibitionist forces with their forced lifestyle agendas and their trainloads of money is a noble but futile cause. Small business owners might hold the fort for awhile, but eventually they'll be outgunned and overrun. The question is, what will have been spent wasted in the defense?
I believe Montana citizens and our businesses are actually well ahead of the national curve. That, I think, is because Montanans wanted to find a course that would work best for the most without tearing up our social fabric and squandering vast sums of money.
Licensed businesses here have the time to make the changes that are coming and are necessary. That is only reasonable. And that's far more than the brethren in Washington got, and more than they'll get in a lot of other states when the deals go down.
Incidentally, when I asked MTA counsel Mark Staples about where businesses are with the transitions, he said it appears most have either secured their exemptions and made the appropriate adjustments, or have gone smoke-free. Reasonable people on both sides are resisting the calls of the firebrands to force it to the ballot. Things appear to be working as intended and envisioned by those who crafted, passed and signed the law.
For once...for just this once, maybe the rest of the nation ought to admit it could take a lesson from Montana.
Source: Montana Tavern Times, March, 2006, published monthly by Continental Communications, 125 W. Granite St., Suite 102, Butte, MT 59701.