Wednesday, April 4, 2007
Smoking bad for health
In the recent Casper Star Tribune article, “Gillette explores smoking ban,” Gillette is thinking about banning smoking in restaurants, bars, and public places. So far, Laramie, Cheyenne and Evanston are the only places in Wyoming that have enacted smoking bands. The residents in Gillette had opposing view points on the ban: some think that it would improve the community’s health, while others believe the government should not tell business owners what to do.The City Council in Gillette decided to bring the issue banning smoking after the statewide ban failed the state Legislature this winter. From a business point of view enforcing a complete ban on smoking in public areas such as restaurants or bars would cause many angry and frustrated customers. While smokers are free to harm their heath, the health of others should also be considered. Second hand smoke harms even in small amounts. I believe that Gillette should ban smoking in restaurants, bars, and other public places. We can start town by town and maybe soon enough we will have all of Wyoming participating.
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5 comments:
I think you did a good job of atating both sides of the argument without giving a personal opinion at first. I personally think Wyoming as a whole should inact the smoking ban law because while it is a personal choice to smoke it is not a personal choice to make others inhale your second hand smoke for instance: while a family is trying to enjoy a meal, especially when young children are involved.
Dominique,
I agree with you that those people who do not smoke should not have to deal with those who do. It is a choice for a smoker to harm his/her body, but it is not fair for a nonsmoker to suffer the consequences of smoking.
It is very true that non smokers have the right to be in a smoke free environment. But I think that a statewide smoking ban is completely unnecessary because there are a great variety of non smoking establishments to go to because business owners strive to meet the demand of the majority, which is for non smoking businesses.
In a recent Star Tribune article, Ed vanscoy, the owner of the Chophouse restaurant in Gillette, stated that he thinks the public should have the say. He points out that choosing between a restaurant with smoke and one without is like a vote.
Many businesses have switched to non smoking with no loss of customers. The Wonder Bar and Old Chicago in Casper have switched to non smoking policies and their businesses are still thriving. Most restaurants in Wyoming are already deciding to be smoke free because it causes less damage to paint and curtains and such, requires less cleaning, and because many people prefer smoke free establishments.
Therefore there are already plenty of smoke free places of all types in Wyoming. If a business owner wants to allow smoking, he or she is taking advantage of the niche market of smokers who chose a restaurant based upon being allowed to smoke inside. These are becoming fewer and fewer every day, and so allowing smoking can be a good strategy for some business owners. A statewide ban would limit the freedom of business owners to provide what the majority of their customers want.
Non-smokers can chose to only go to businesses which are smoke free. If smoking is allowed in a particular restaurant or bar, there is probably a similar one that is smoke free that they can chose instead. Consumers have great power in deciding where to spend their money.
I think that business owners should have the right to chose, and the public will chose which places they wish to support.
I think you did a great job with your web log. I really like that you included pictures and other information helpful to your opinion. Although you did a great job I'd have to disagree with your opinion. I think it's better to have a smoking or non-smoking section is places of business rather than banning smoking all together. Bars are the worst place to ban smoking becasue smoking and drinking go hand in hand and if people have to go outside to smoke (especially out in the cold like Laramie) than maybe fewer people will stop going out. It's better to allow businesses to choose if they want their place to be a smoking or non-smoking place rather than placing a law out saying every place has to be nonsmoking. That's just my opinion though :) Great job presenting yours!
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