January 13, 2004
TO YOUR HEALTH
The New York Times runs a story today on an
href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/13/nyregion/13waiver.html">upstate
bar that was granted a waiver from the smoking ban the state
enacted last year in imitation of the one that Mayor Bloomberg put in
place in New York City. Ostensibly, the ban was meant to protect the
health of bar employees, who were exposed to the
href="http://www.junkscience.com/news2/zion.htm">non-existent
threat of second-hand smoke. With the phantom menace vanquished,
many former hospitality workers are unable to afford more quotidian
concerns like health insurance and their rent. Many establishment
owners are shuttering their bars as business went up in smoke:
"I got killed," said Mr. Damon, 69, a retired engineer.
"I didn't just lose the smokers; I lost the friends of the smokers, the
nonsmokers, who didn't want to hang out without them."
I can't say I'm uniformly against the ban. It's nice to be able to go
out at night without leaving with your clothes stinking of smoke, but
it's a luxury bought at the price of the liveliehoods of waitstaff,
bartenders, and bar owners--the alleged beneficiaries of the smoking
ban. It's unfair to kid ourselves otherwise. Tagged:
Posted by Lexiphane at January 13, 2004 12:53 PM
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