More on the proposed statewide smoking ban in today’s Sun-Times.
State Sen. John Cullerton (D-Chicago) said Thursday he’s going to push for a smoking ban in all Illinois workplaces — including bars and restaurants — to begin in January 2008. His bill, if passed, would supersede Chicago’s smoking ban, which currently gives bars until July 2008 to go smoke-free.
“There’s simply no reason why, in this year, hospitality workers such as waitresses, servers and bartenders shouldn’t have the same health protection that exists in office buildings where most of us work,” Cullerton said.
If lawmakers approve Cullerton’s proposal, Illinois would become the 17th state to pass a statewide smoking ban. “We need to play catch-up with the rest of the world and adopt a comprehensive law that protects everyone,” he said.
Cullerton was prompted to work for a smoke-free Illinois after learning of a June 2005 U.S. surgeon general’s report that concluded that any amount of secondhand smoke can cause health problems.
And the SJ-R has the other side of the story.
…Steve Riedl, executive director of the Illinois Licensed Beverage Association, said supporters of smoking bans have contended all along they would improve business, not hurt it, so there should be no reason to level the playing field.
“Obviously, they were lying,” he said.
A statewide ban “takes one wrong and multiplies it into a number of wrongs,” Riedl said, adding that banning smoking amounts to one group of people trying to force their beliefs on everyone else.
The same complaint came up during the debate over whether to Harry Kelley, a lobbyist for the Illinois Association of Tobacco and Candy Distributors, pointed to The Curve Inn, a bar in Southern View. Because it is not subject to the smoking ban, the bar is so busy it has started to impose a cover charge on Friday and Saturday nights, he said.