COLUMN -- Smoking ban is properly local issue

Pioneer Press
Sep. 22, 2004

Excerpt --

[T]he most important reason to keep smoking policy local is creating local government accountability. If a locally imposed smoking ban damages specific businesses, it is fair and reasonable to expect local taxpayers to compensate those businesses — as they must when government condemns private property for "public benefit."

And smoking bans do adversely affect certain types of bar and restaurant businesses. . . .

. . . In jurisdictions with smoking bans, small taverns and restaurants have seen their revenue decline 25 to 80 percent. Fewer customers spend less time ordering fewer drinks and less food. Many small businesses have closed their doors.

Read the column . . . .

PREVIOUSLY IN THE PIONEER PRESS

Editorial — Taking a step back on public health
www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/opinion/9494989.htm

Westover — Secondhand smoke not a "public" health issue
www.twincities.com/mld/pioneerpress/news/opinion/9546688.htm

Editorial — State must bring some uniformity to smoking bans
www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/news/editorial/9672821.htm