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Bill would snuff out Nevada's smoking ban in bars
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The Associated Press
Nevada lawmakers have introduced a bill to lift the ban on smoking in bars that serve food.
Updated: May 21, 2011 | 9:40 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Lawmakers have introduced a surprise bill to lift the ban on smoking in bars that serve food, a move that might have generated more buzz Friday night if many taverns weren't already breaking the law.
Inside the Tap House in Las Vegas, which cheerfully declares itself "smoker friendly!" on its façade, smokers and nonsmokers already sit side-by-side near patrons eating dinner.
"If I wanted clean air and kids around I'd go to a bookstore," said Kenny Stevens, 36, who doesn't smoke but still was pleased by the news.
Such statements were the norm in 2006, when voters approved the Clean Indoor Air Act, the measure that banned smoking in many businesses, including bars, taverns and saloons that serve food. Friday's measure would repeal the restrictions on bars, but not on restaurants, slot-machine areas of grocery stores, schools and day-care centers.
Despite smokers' nonchalance, the lawmakers' action drew immediate condemnation from health advocates and applause from the tavern industry.
One Clark County commissioner said the casino industry was pressing lawmakers for the change to repay tavern owners for supporting restrictions on Dotty's and other small-gaming establishments.
The Ways and Means Committee introduced Assembly Bill 571 so lawmakers can debate whether to repeal the ban for places that serve people who are 21 or older, said Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks, the panel's chairwoman.
She said bar owners, especially in Southern Nevada, have complained that the smoking ban has hurt business at a time when the economy is slumping.
"The tavern owners say they have suffered very serious business losses and people have lost their jobs because of the ban," Smith said in an interview Friday.
Smith said she was reserving judgment on the bill, which will get a committee hearing Monday.
The ban is more contentious in Southern Nevada where taverns are competing with businesses such as Dotty's that have no kitchens and cater to smokers who play slots. In Washoe County, there are fewer problems with the ban, Smith said.
The late introduction of the bill in the final two weeks of the session suggests some Democratic leaders back it.
It would probably get bipartisan support if it's cast as a jobs-saver, and if big gaming gets behind the effort -- increasing the chance of it passing.
Assemblyman Mark Sherwood, R-Henderson, decried the original ban and blamed "anti-smoking Nazis" for helping push voters to approve it in the first place.
"It's been horrible for business," Sherwood said when asked about the smoking restrictions, which he said were too harsh. "There are ways to do this without being draconian."
But the American Lung Association in Nevada lambasted the effort to restore smoking in pubs that sell food.
The group noted that 310,000 people voted to forbid smoking near food. And in the same election, voters defeated a competing measure the industry proposed that would have weakened existing state laws on smoking in public places.
"There's no safe level of secondhand smoke," said Allison Newlon Moser, the lung association's executive director.
It not only goes against the will of the public, Moser said, but it imperils the health of employees who must work in smoky settings. Working eight hours in a place with heavy secondhand smoke can be tantamount to puffing a pack of cigarettes, she said.
Nevadans already have a higher rate of emphysema than the national average, largely because of tobacco and air pollution, Moser said.
"The tavern owners talk about the jobs that are lost," she said. If the bill passes, "it would only increase jobs for health care workers."
Some bars and taverns complied with the ban, erecting walls between their restaurant and bar areas. But many business appeared to do little or nothing to comply with the effort. At the Tap House Friday evening, patrons smoked and drank at the bar, while others ate dinner just a few feet away.
Ken Kotora and his wife, Jaennette , have been visiting the bar since they moved to Las Vegas in 1996. They're nonsmokers, and they were eating just a few feet away from smokers.
Ken Kotora, 65, voted in favor of the ban -- but on accident. He said the language of the petition was misleading. He favors legislators repealing the ban.
"Don't stop a bar from smoking," he said. "Smokers have rights too."
The couple said they noticed fewer customers at the Tap House just after the ban took effect, but business has returned to normal since.
One pub owner cheered when he heard of the legislative effort to overturn the ban.
Those who pursued the ban claimed that it would increase foot traffic in bars because more people would be attracted to smoke-free venues, but the opposite proved true, said Joe Wilcock, owner of the Brewery Bar and Grill and past president of the Nevada Tavern Association.
"That's a fallacy -- it never happened," said Wilcock, who estimates his sales dropped by 25 percent.
No one can deny that smoking is unhealthy, Wilcock said. But people who don't want to breathe secondhand smoke should not work or hang out in places where smoking is allowed, he said.
Wilcock noted that casinos are exempt from the smoking ban, calling it "hypocritical."
County Commissioner Tom Collins, a former assemblyman, said he heard that big casinos cut a deal with the tavern owners; if the taverns backed restrictions on Dotty's, the casinos would support lifting the smoking ban.
"That's politics," Collins said.
Gaming operators complained that it was unfair that they pay a percentage of their gambling revenue, while small establishments pay a flat fee, Collins said.
In April, commissioners approved new rules for Dotty's and similar venues that include a requirement to embed eight gaming machines in bars instead of propping the machines atop bars. These businesses must comply within two years.
Also, any new place operating as a tavern must have 2,500 square feet of public space, a kitchen open at least 12 hours a day and be 2,000 feet away from another tavern.
Virginia Valentine, president of the Nevada Resort Association, declined to comment about the bill, saying she had just learned about it.
Jennifer Sizemore, Southern Nevada Health District spokeswoman, said the bill is no surprise.
Health officials began hearing rumblings during the Dotty's uproar that the tavern industry would try to reverse the smoking ban, she said. Although the bill would forbid smoking if minors are on the premises, there are concerns about patrons and workers inhaling cigarette fumes, she said.
"As a public health agency, our goal is to protect as many people as possible from the dangers of secondhand smoke," Sizemore said.
Contact reporter Scott Wyland at swyland@reviewjournal.com or 702-455-4519. Contact reporter Laura Myers at lmyers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2919. Review-Journal reporter Lawrence Mower contributed to this report.
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@PrezPalin2012...good rebuttal, but you still sound like a blowhard, making yourself sound important.
VegasHeat, that's very true, and it's one of the reasons I've been fighting these things for so long: they divide people and turn them against each other. - MJM
The smoking ban on taverns that serve food was politically charged by the NRA and really had nothing to do with public health concerns. If so, the hotels would have followed suit. This reversal is only for taverns who serve food and SHOULD serve food anywhere alcohol is served. Back in 2005, before law dictated someones rights over the other, we all seemed to get along. Gambling,drinking and smoking are all addictive to some people. Some smoke three smokes a day, others 3 packs. Some gamble more than they can afford, others 10 bucks a week. A casino or a bar/tavern is open to anyone over 21 years old (legal adult) 24 hrs a day here in Las Vegas. Use you choices wisely people, while you still have them.
Jack Webb: you're correct in your evaluation of PSU. He claims the Free Choice proponents use emotional arguments, but if you look at his responses to folks throughout this thread you'll see it's largely the other way around. There's no data out there supporting any need for outdoor bans, and even the data supporting indoor bans in places like bars is weak, self-contradictory, and disputable.
Most people have very little idea what the science actually shows: they haven't read the studies, just the hyped-up news stories based on press releases designed to promote particular interpretations of the studies. E.G. the WHO's multi-national ETS study of 1998, touted as being the "definitive" study before the results came in, studied ETS exposure at home, at work, in social settings, and by children across a dozen countries. The final figures however found only ONE scientifically significant result: the children of smokers got adult lung cancer 22% *LESS* often than matched children of nonsmokers.
Despite that finding, the WHO's official press release was headlined "Second Hand Smoke DOES Cause Lung Cancer!" and played up the nonsignificant findings for home and workplaces, ignored the nonfindings for social exposure, and flat out lied about the findings for children by saying the results simply showed "no association."
You can see more of the tricks they use in "The Lies Behind The Smoking Bans." It's available for free to read, download, and print out for sharing at:
http://kuneman.smokersclub.com/PASAN/StilettoGenv5h.pdf
It's done in big print Tom Paine style for quick reading in dimly lit bars, but its facts are accurate and their presentation is honest. If PSU or anyone else has any specific criticisms of it feel free to share them here.
- MJM (posted after signing in - I think the previous attempt was lost in the sign-in process)
Hey Sam Nettles. How much do you cough in the morning? How winded do you get walking up a flight of stairs? How brown and decayed are your teeth? How much has your lung function been affected. The BEST you can hjope for as a smoking addict is a negatively affected lung function. I hope that is the extent for you Sam. I really do. Personally I tend to listen to Medical Doctors rather than the irrational thought patterns of an addict. By all means keep smoking if you wish. It is legal and I think it should continue to be legal. Prohibition is a terrible idea. But smoking cannot be done safely inside. Just curious Sam - How many times have you tried to quit smoking? Would you truly wish to be a nonsmoker? If a loved one of yours came up to you and asked you if you thought it was a good idea for them to pick up smoking? Would you say "Heck Yeah! Smoking is a Great idea!" Its a horrible habit. Of course you wouldn't wish it on a loved one. In a modern society you should not be able to force smoke on anyone inside a public setting. Stick to the experts Sam. You are an Addict. You don't think rationally.
EVERY legal activity has restrictions attached to it. The point of these restrictions occur when your participation in a legal activity negatively affect someone NOT participating in that legal activity. The ONLY legal activity that you can negatively affect someone and get away with it is smoking. We have been dealing with your smoking affecting us for too long. You smokers think you have the right to smoke in a place open to the public?? Too Bad. We are and will continue to stand up for OUR rights. The number of people with smoker's attitudes is dwindling while the nonsmokers are growing. Guess what that means? Sooner than later you will have to take your Happy Tails outside to light up. You can whine and whine all you like but the Comprehensive Indoor Smoking Ban is coming whether you like it or not! You are all addicts and have the rational of addicts. We tried to let you have some exceptions to the smoking ban but you acted like spoiled children. Tick-Tock, Tick-Tock. Its coming you little brats. You WILL take your filthy addiction OUTSIDE!!!!!
I've been a heavy smoker for 65 years and find smoking bans to be a lying propaganda tool for the self-righteous and money-power manipulators. The junk science second hand smoke research smells worse to smokers than cigarettes do to non-smokers. Scientific Method has been lost to ignorance and stupidity and the entire world is suffering as a result. I've been writing about this since 2000 in my Real Texas Freedom blog and as a former resident of Las Vegas, I am saddened by the government action in Nevada. Hopefully, the entire ban will be reversed or ignored.
Z_WHITE_KNIGHT: My Dad's a whale, I'm not, and never said I was. My point was, and still is; A) My pensions provide more money than I'll ever be able to spend, my wife has passed and kids are well off and on their own-no one to be responsible for but myself, a few hundred dollars a few times a week-in and out my accounts, is no big deal. B) Since I financially support candidates and causes I demand to be heard by them, most people blindly give money to a cause and think that's all there is to it. Would you give a waitress $50 and just say "Bring me something to eat"? Of course not, you specify what you want and what you're paying for. C) The service staff people who daily take my money understand that it's a business relationship and provide the services I enjoy and have come to know what I expect.
THIS TOWN was built by guys like me; people with influence who use it to help our decision-makers do what's best for this community.
I DON'T know what's in your mind, or why you felt compelled to respond to my previous post, but if you don't like or agree with what I am saying, either don't read what I write, or kiss my fat pale #ss!
Wait just a darn minute here! There's a law on the books right now that prohibits smoking in taverns that serve food? Wow, who knew? I guess that wasn't smoke I was choking on.
smokers do not have rights---they have no right to poison people. they are a dirty kind of people who dont care about themselves or others.