It may be another two months before the City Council emerges with a compromised smoking ban proposal. That’s because City Council members Jeff Longwell and Lavonta Williams are still out and about, meeting with bar and restaurant owners and reviewing what other cities have done. Longwell said it may be 45 to 60 days before a draft ordinance is ready. Despite the council’s apparent gridlock on the issue, Longwell said council members want the same thing. “Everybody wants to eliminate secondhand smoke,” he said. The question, he said, is whether to do that with a mandate or by asking businesses for some voluntary reductions in secondhand smoke or some combination.
Meanwhile, advocates on all sides of the issue have flooded the 30-minute public agenda at council meetings, mostly with repetitious arguments. (People get up to five minutes to speak in front of the council — and whoever is watching on cable Channel 7.) State officials also are considering a statewide ban, although its prospects in the legislative session are uncertain.
The American Lung Association just put out its State of Tobacco Control report and gave Kansas an “F.”
11 Comments
Yes. Wichita and Kansas each have a long way to go to catch up with the rest of the world. It’s about time to get started. In fact, we should have been started 10 years ago. The City Council should stop worrying about bar owners and start seeing to the interests of the MAJORITY who are supposed to steer legislation.
Yes, this is a public health issue, and asking bar and restaurant owners if they want to be included or not is ridiculous. Just ban smoking in all businesses and workplaces as other jurisdictions have done. It’s too bad that there are still so many politicians living in the past. And still so many politicians who put wealthy businesses ahead of the public interest.
Moms with asthmatic children claim they can’t go out to dinner because of second-hand smoke. What happens when they claim it’s because of cat hair? Will all of the cat owners be banned as well?? Those who smoke will do so, regardless of whatever ban is imposed. Legislating morality has never worked. Look at prohibition.
K, it’s not about prohibiting smoking all together. It’s about public health in public places.
And the last time I checked, you couldn’t bring a cat to a restaurant
Dear Editor,
There has never been a single study proving that exposure to the low levels of smoke found in bars and restaurants with decent modern ventilation and filtration systems kills or harms anyone.
As to the annoyance of smoking, a compromise between smokers and non-smokers can be reached, through setting a quality standard and the use of modern ventilation technology.
Air ventilation can easily create a comfortable environment that removes not just passive smoke, but also and especially the potentially serious contaminants that are from non-smoking sources.
Second Hand Smoke from tobacco is a statistically insignificant health risk.
Steve Hartwell Toronto, Canada http://www.ventilatedsmokingrooms.ca
Those who claim that their relatives have fought in wars to give them the right to harm others are wrong. Most speakers in favor of smoking are in poor health now. They’re nuts.
I don’t really care anymore. The government controls so much of our lives these days, that I have pretty much given up complaining or campaigning. They are going to do what they want. We need our elected babysitters.
Do all the non-smokers walk to the restaurants or are they just not concerned about the carbon monoxide pouring out of their tailpipes?
Colorado Has a state wide smoking ban..and it includes bars. I went out at night and came home with just the stinch of stale beer and no smoke. It wa great!!
We want to ban smoking in public but we’re okay with “Dr.” Tiller aborting babies in their third trimester. Do the citizens of this city really care about public health? Absurd.
Ban it in restaurants and allow it in bars. No one is in a bar for their health anyway.