I am in favor of amending, not rescinding the Hennepin County and Minneapolis smoking bans. I am favor of forcing all bar and restaurant owners to provide a totally smoke free environment to their patrons and employees. My only objection to the bans, as written, is that they do not specifically allow bars and restaurants to set up separately ventilated indoor smoking lounges.
On the other hand, the organized bar and restaurant owners who oppose the ban want to rescind, not amend the smoking bans. For a majority of bar and restaurant owners, setting up a separately ventilated and heated room in order to provide an indoor smoking lounge may be impractical, or a big investment, and possibly a money losing investment. And there may be a way around a complete ban on indoor smoking for some bars and restaurants, such as building a patio enclosure and designating it as a smoking lounge. Other Economic Impacts Overall, the business done by bars and restaurants is likely to fall off due to the loss of business from cigarette smoking patrons, at least in the short run, especially when smokers have to step outside to smoke when the air temperature is below zero. On the other hand, with all bars and restaurants providing totally smoke-free environments, there is a possibility that much of the lost trade will be made up by nonsmokers. Some nonsmokers cannot tolerate second hand smoke, and others simply prefer a totally smoke-free environment. -Doug Mann, King Field REMINDERS: 1. Be civil! Please read the NEW RULES at http://www.e-democracy.org/rules. If you think a member is in violation, contact the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A Civil City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:mpls@mnforum.org Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
