This letter to the editor appeared in Chicago's Daily Herald today - thought it was worth repeating:

Look at other side of smoking ban

To the anti-smoking folks writing letters to the media: There seem to be two major themes coming through loud and clear.

First is a patent hatred of people who smoke. These are your friends, relatives, co-workers, employers and employees, not to mention perfect strangers who have done you no harm. Somewhere between 60 and 90 million of us … depending on who is counting.

It takes a special kind of hate and heartlessness to force people from all walks of life, race, economic status, age, disability, etc. out into the cold to smoke. And outdoor smoking areas --no more than three walls mind you -- can't serve drinks, food, entertainment, TV, heat? This is America?

The second notion is that somehow smokers are forcing you to inhale their smoke. Can someone cite one instance where a smoker forced a non-smoker into an establishment that allows (excuse me, allowed) smoking? Maybe it's just me, but if there is something about a place I don't like, I don't go there. What is so difficult about this concept? A cigar bar? Why then Mr. and Ms. Non-smoker, don't go there if it offends you. But rather the attitude of these people seems to be "change the world to suit me". After all, isn't it "all about me"? No compromise? Again, this is America?

The most successful propaganda is based on the theory that the biggest lie repeated often enough sinks into the subconscious. Then, it becomes religion-like.

Spencer Hendron
Lake Barrington

Staunton's Depot Grille went to a smoke-free environment 18 months ago, and Manager Erin Smith said the response has been positive.

"A lot of customers wanted it," Smith said Monday.

The restaurant had previously only allowed smoking at its bar.

Gov. Timothy M. Kaine renewed his legislative request Monday for a statewide ban on smoking in Virginia restaurants, including public and private clubs.

The ban would include any area of public or private clubs where food is available and includes the restaurant areas where the food is prepared, served or consumed. The ban would be indoors only.

Kaine, whose proposal was defeated in the General Assembly a year ago, said the health risks associated with secondhand smoke offer convincing evidence for the ban.

"Recognizing the negative health effects and high public costs of secondhand smoke, Virginia must act to protect the workers and consumers in its restaurants," Kaine said.

The Virginia Department of Health estimates that 1,700 deaths a year are caused by secondhand smoke in the commonwealth.

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids says Virginia spends $124.9 million a year on health-care expenditures related to secondhand smoke exposure.

Smith said the Depot's smoke-free environment attracted employees who wanted to get away from cigarette smoke.

Another Staunton restaurant owner, Jennifer Lynch of the Baja Bean, said operating a bar without smoking would be tricky.

She said such a prohibition could lead to smokers cutting back on cigarette consumption. But it could also affect bar business at her restaurant.

"A lot of people who smoke do so when they drink," she said. Lynch said many of her employees are smokers.

Area legislators don't favor the Kaine bill.

Del. Chris Saxman, R-Staunton, said he prefers a smoke-free environment in a restaurant, but does not think all restaurants should have a smoking ban.

"I don't support a ban on every place. I'm a bigger fan of someone's liberty to smoke," he said.

Saxman said it is a case of government going too far.

"If I don't like something on TV, I don't watch it. I rent the movies and watch the movies I want to," he said.

Both Saxman and Del. Steve Landes said they voted against the legislation a year ago and will do so again.

Landes, R-Weyers Cave, said while many restaurants are voluntarily elminating smoking, they should have the option to allow it.

"If a business wants to cater to smokers, shouldn't they be able to do it?" Landes said.

Gordon Hickey, Kaine's press secretary, said the restaurant industry is already heavily regulated.

And he said none of the 25 states that have already insituted a similar ban on restaurant smoking has repealed it.

"It [smoking ban] has been done quite a lot around the country and no one has regretted or repealed it," he said.

UK - PUB owners have suffered a 7.3% slump in sales since the smoking ban, according to a new poll.

But a startling 25% drop in takings was seen at some traditional pubs and working men’s clubs, which do not rely on food sales, the survey of more than 2,700 licensees found.

Some 58% said smokers were paying fewer visits to their pubs and 73% said customers who smoked were spending less time inside their pubs.

And although a quarter of respondents said more non-smokers were visiting their premises, they had seen an overall drop since the smoking ban came into force in Wales on April 2.

The poll was carried out by the Federation of Licensed Victuallers’ Associations (FLVA) and the BII (formerly British Institute of Innkeeping) who surveyed 2,708 licensees in Wales and England.

The BII predicts that around 5,000 pubs will close in the next three or four years accelerated by the ban.

The Welsh secretary of the FLVA is adamant the drops are due to the smoking ban.

John Price who runs the Bush Hotel, in Clydach Vale in the Rhondda said, “My takings are down 25%. A lot of my friends’ pubs are losing a lot, other pubs are losing a lot of money.

“The pub up the road from me is losing £1,500 per week and thinking of closing and takings at the local club, known as The Top Club, have fallen drastically.

“People are staying in and going to supermarkets to buy their alcohol because they can smoke at home. The worst thing about that is youngsters get the chance to get a beer from the fridge and drink it in the house.”

Miles Vaughan, chairman of the BII Wales, said sales at his pub have also plummeted.

He said, “I’m the tenant here at the Royal Victoria in Prestatyn and sales have gone down at least 25% if not 30% since the ban. It was predicted that pubs wouldn’t suffer because the people that didn’t smoke would go out and enjoy the atmosphere in public houses but this hasn’t happened.

“At a recent council meeting at the Churchill’s Hotel in Cardiff, there were 12 council members representing 20 pubs and only one said they had gained a new customer since the ban. Pub sales have been going down 5% every year over the last few years but the smoking ban was really the nail in the coffin for many.”

Mr Vaughan said that even those people that came out spent most of the night sitting outside so they didn’t drink that much.

The FLVA’s chief executive Tony Payne said 89% of survey respondents wanted rate relief for licensees who had lost business as a result of the smoking ban.

But ASH Wales, a voluntary organisation tackling tobacco use, said the ban was worth the benefit to public health.

Spokesperson Daniel Clayton said, “We know there’s been a fall in sales in pubs but the decrease is to do with the wet summer we’ve had and in part, due to the health message about drinking that’s in the news at present.

He added that in Scotland, 12 months after the ban, there had been no decrease in pub takings.