While traveling south recently with my wife and son for a vacation to my wife’s hometown, Pensacola, FL, (where I lived also from 1983-1986) we stopped in Athens, AL at a Cracker Barrel restaurant for a break from our drive. As I approached the podium I requested of the hostess, “ Three, non-smoking, please”. She responded, “Our entire restaurant is smoke free”. Two days later, in Pensacola, I attended a musical event at Seville Quarter, a well-known local entertainment establishment. My wife and I enjoyed some jazz and a cocktail, once again, to our surprise, in a completely smoke free environment. And yet again, we dined at Jerry’s, a popular local burger and seafood place (not the national chain). It was packed, with its usual long wait to be seated. Jerry’s had gone completely smoke free, too. In both Florida and Alabama smoking is banned in most public places.
As a jazz pianist for 30 years, I have spent too much time in smoky bars and restaurants. I, along with countless other musicians, waiters, waitresses, bussers, hostesses and bartenders, have been forced to breathe carcinogens from the burning ends of cigarettes of those who are compelled to smoke.
The argument is made locally in Cincinnati that a smoking ban would hurt businesses, that people would stop coming out to dine and drink, and that revenue would be lost. I believe to the contrary – that businesses would boom, as those who have been repulsed by the smoke would return to enjoy all of the pleasant aspects dining out and socializing. We saw that on our trip south. Restaurants and bars were operating at full capacity.
We must vote Yes on Issue 5, which bans smoking in public places in Ohio. The answer, ultimately, is for there to be enacted a regional ban on smoking that will include businesses in both Ohio and Kentucky. This would eliminate the highly suspect argument that restaurant patrons will abandon Cincinnati for Covington and Newport. This is a case where a regional initiative involving lawmakers cooperating across state borders could positively affect the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of citizens on both sides of the river. Smoking in public establishments has already been banned in New York and California, among other states. The state of California has even gone so far as to classify second-hand smoke (ETS –environmental tobacco smoke) as a toxic contaminant.
Everybody knows that smoking is a destructive and lethal habit. Second-hand smoke exposes non-smokers to emphysema and lung cancer. I have known many musicians, including Dee Felice, Alex Cirin, Bugsy Brandenburg, and Kenny Poole, who have succumbed to smoking related cancer. Cigarette smoke makes clothing stink and causes headaches and nausea to those with allergies. It is as appealing as mold and mildew. Tobacco and nicotine are highly addictive substances and the addicted resist the discomfort of changing their routines, of fighting their demons. I stopped smoking 25 years ago. It wasn’t easy! For me, it comes down to this: if the operators and management of establishments that allow smoking don’t care about my health, I don’t care about the survival of their businesses either.
Please vote Yes on Issue 5. Vote No on Issue 4, the issue supported by pro-smoking forces and funded by tobacco companies. A vote for Issue 4 will overrule a Yes for Issue 5.
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