Smoking Ban in Charlotte

Posted on Mon, Mar. 28, 2005


Smoking ban smolders

A trip to California helped reignite drive for fume-free eateries and bars in Mecklenburg

MIKE STOBBE

Staff Writer


The movement to ban smoking in Mecklenburg restaurants and bars is a high-profile affair, involving national media coverage and a bill before the N.C. legislature.

But it began quietly, with four friends on a West Coast vacation.

The four Charlotte-area residents-- all in their 20s and early 30s -- spent nine days in California in June 2003. They started in San Diego and drove up to Los Angeles, Monterey, the Napa Valley and San Francisco.

They were very social, out for drinks and dinner every night. As they sipped imported beers and chewed domestic sushi, they noticed something: In every bar and restaurant, the air was clear.

"None of us are smokers," said one of the travelers, Linda Littlefield, who is now 24.

"And we would always say how nice it was that we could go out and not have to deal with cigarette smoke."

After they returned to Charlotte, two sent e-mails to local politicians, asking them to consider a California-like ban in Charlotte. Littlefield's e-mail was noticed by Susan Burgess, a Charlotte City Council member with a health background.

"I thought, `Gee whiz. I wish I'd thought of that.' I'm the one with the master's degree in public health,'" said Burgess, describing the moment that ignited a movement.

A smoky past

This isn't the first effort to restrict smoking in bars and restaurants in Charlotte.In fall 1987, city councilman Roy Williams asked city officials to research a possible ordinance requiring no-smoking sections in restaurants. The following spring, Mayor Sue Myrick (now a U.S. congresswoman) appointed a citizens committee to study the issue. The issue caught fire. When the Charlotte Observer asked readers for their opinions, 350 of 483 who responded supported the idea. Of those opposed, 30 were from a public relations firm representing the Philip Morris tobacco company.

But Myrick's task force voted against an ordinance. Instead, they adopted a resolution (proposed by restaurant owners) to ask restaurants to make accommodations for nonsmokers voluntarily.

The issued flared again two years later. Greensboro began requiring no-smoking sections in restaurants, inciting Charlotte anti-smoking advocates. They noted the percentage of Charlotte restaurants with no-smoking sections had increased only slightly in the two years since Myrick's task force.

But that effort ended in 1991 with another city-appointed task force recommending against no-smoking sections. Then, a state law iced local efforts to restrict smoking in restaurants.

The law, passed in 1993, set guidelines for no-smoking areas in state government buildings. But it also prevented N.C. counties and cities from enacting smoking restrictions of their own.

Even in Ireland

Meanwhile, armed with scientific studies showing the health hazards of tobacco smoke, advocates pushed for complete indoor smoking bans in restaurants and bars worldwide. Often, they've succeeded.

California adopted a restaurant smoking ban in 1995 and extended it to bars in 1998. Florida enacted a restaurant smoking ban in 2002. A New York City ban went into effect in 2003. Ireland banned smoking in taverns and restaurants last year. A Minneapolis ban takes effect this week.

New efforts are underway.

Georgia's legislature is considering a smoking ban that would apply to restaurants. Oregon and Colorado are considering statewide bans for bars and restaurants. So is New Jersey, which would also ban smoking in Atlantic City casinos.

"It literally is everywhere," said Skip Ward, who chairs Smoke Free Charlotte, a group pushing to ban smoking in local eateries.

"We aren't trying to plow any new ground here. We're trying to keep from being last."

The group's efforts have been covered heavily by Charlotte-area media, and were featured in a national Fox News Channel report last month.

Aided by the American Cancer Society, the group arranged for a poll of Mecklenburg residents. The results, announced this month, found 71 percent would support a smoking ban in restaurants and 55 percent would OK it in bars.

The group worked with county commissioners, who voted 6-1 in January to ask the state for an exemption from the 1993 state law. Last week, state Rep. Martha Alexander, D-Mecklenburg, filed a bill to grant that exemption and allow the county to create its own smoking ordinance.

If the bill passes, county commissioners could design their own ordinance. Smoke Free Charlotte members hope it would ban smoking from restaurants and bars that serve food.

Fighting against all this is Mohammad Jenatian, president of the Greater Charlotte Hospitality & Tourism Alliance.

Jenatian lobbies on behalf of hotels and restaurants. He has emerged as the most visible opponent of a smoking ban.

In an interview last week, Jenatian said he was not a smoker. He said his wife is a nurse, he has two young children, and he appreciates smoke-free environments.

But he and many of the restaurants he represents are opposed to government telling them how to run their business. They are afraid that such a ban would drive smokers away and cut revenue.

It would be better if Smoke Free Charlotte worked with his group to encourage more restaurants to ban smoking voluntarily, he said.

He also said a ban isn't needed. Restaurant owners have been responsive to smoke-hating customers, with the vast majority of local eateries now offering no-smoking sections, he said.

And nearly half of Charlotte's restaurants have banned indoor smoking entirely, he estimated.

(The Mecklenburg County Health Department, which now tracks restaurant accommodations for nonsmokers, has identified about 420 restaurants that are smoke-free. If the department is correct, only about 22 percent of the county's 1,800 restaurants are smoke-free.)

What about the bans enacted elsewhere?

"I don't care what they do in New York," he said. "I don't care what they do in California. I think it's demeaning the city of Charlotte for us to say `We have to do it because that's how they do it in other places.' "

Littlefield and friends

Some of his comments were echoed by Chris Norman, a 27-year-old Ballantyne man who was on the 2003 California trip.Norman, a project manager at Ingersoll-Rand in Davidson, describes himself as conservative. He believes restaurateurs should be able to conduct business with minimal government interference.

But he also is turned off by the smoke at some Charlotte eateries.

"I vote with my money, by going out or not going out. But it didn't seem like anybody was getting the message," Norman said.

When Norman and his friends returned from California, he immediately e-mailed 20 local officials, requesting a smoking ban in Charlotte. He got only one response, a simple acknowledgment of the message's receipt.

Linda Littlefield, a benefits coordinator at Ingersoll-Rand, didn't send her e-mails right away. She set the task aside until an unpleasant, smoky experience reminded her of the California trip.

Her e-mail took root with Burgess. The councilwoman researched the issue and hosted a series of meetings at her house that drew smoking-ban advocates and got the movement underway.

Littlefield, who hasn't been involved in the effort other than writing the e-mail, expressed surprise at the activity.

"I'm impressed. The council people really do listen to the constituents," she said

 

HORSESHIT.

 

That made me chuckle.

 

If I was a bar owner and knew the government was trying to take my paying customers away from me just because SOME people "dont like it," I would be fucking livid.

Restaraunts, Im a little more compassionate about, because with that, I could be understanding. I wouldnt mind it so much because I dont smoke while I shovel food into my mouth. But are you also going to ban alcohol from restaraunts. People drink in restaraunts also and then go get behind the wheel of a car and are 10x more hazardous to the health of people than fucking smoking.

Being a smoker, I feel like a helpless ****** in the 50's. Who the hell is the government to tell me where I can and cannot fucking smoke, drink, eat, or enjoy myself?

If the restaraunt/chain/bar owner does not want me to smoke in his restaraunt or bar, FINE. I'll either not smoke, or not fucking go there.

Non-smokers have the same fucking choice.

 

are there many totally non-smoking restaurants around? i know of 1 or 2. not much choice for non-smokers.

 

Supply and demand?

 

There arent any kid free, perfume free, ugly free, eyebrow pierced individuals free restarurants either.

Im just being the devils advocate here, I agree with both sides. I am a very considerate smoker and take into consideration my environment when I light up. However, there are some things that cause me angst about humans and their habits but I get the frick over it or dont put myself in a situation to be around them. I realize smoking is a different beast all together. If people would just be considerate of others, it would be a non issue.

 

Give me time. I'll make this my life's work.

 

Smokers - the Lepers of the 21st century.