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OUR OPINION: SMOKING BAN Time to end restaurant smoking
The day will come, and it's not far, when smoking will be banned in all of Minnesota's restaurants.
People will look back and marvel that smokers were allowed to exhale secondhand smoke in enclosed areas where families ate, just as we now reflect at how odd it now seems that smokers were allowed to puff away in offices, airplanes and movie theaters.
The Minnesota Legislature could have made that day come a little sooner if it hadn't been for the likely defeat of a bill calling for a statewide ban on smoking in restaurants. The bill stalled in committee earlier this month. The bill was far from radical -- it would have allowed smoking to continue in bars and private clubs.
In an ideal world no person who wanted to avoid breathing secondhand smoke in a public place would be subjected to it. Bars will likely someday have to ban smoking in their establishments also, but for now, a restaurant smoking ban would be a good start.
A restaurant ban is the very least that should be considered by the Legislature since young children with little say in the matter are among the customers. Another group with little choice but to breathe the cigarette smoke are restaurant workers, some of whom have limited job options. They would also benefit from a restaurant smoking ban and, truth be told, many restaurant owners would love to rid themselves of the mess and dirtiness smoking brings to an establishment.
Establishing a statewide ban on restaurant smoking would eliminate much of the patchwork regulation that exists now. The activism of cities and counties on this issue is another indication that Minnesotans are concerned about their health and are ready to enforce stricter regulations. The larger the geographic area the better when it comes to a restaurant smoking ban, with a statewide ban being the best option.
There's a chance the ban on restaurant smoking will surface again in the Legislature and if it does lawmakers should support it. Businesses have and will continue to adjust health regulations for the good of all but once non-smoker's health is affected by tobacco smoke, the damage is often permanent.
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