Tobacco Documents Online

, fkHn_J>U _tftj ptTTSBURGH POST GAZETTE, Friday, March 26, 1993, Smoke si~nals The rnessage fi-orn tFfe ami-smoking lobbv is irItolerarlce n the continuing battle over smoker.c' )7espite this progress in dealing with a T pr,;tlege ts. non-smokers' nghts. the ;otown health hazard some members of ~~~, tyramtv oi the growtng smoke-free societv, in their zeal to eradicate smolanSY majmm' is beutg felt in numerous have show•n a mean streak of intolerance wa}s. and self-righteousness. (Just to clear the Building owners. rather than provide air, this editorial was written bc a non- lintited and dignified smolang areas, force smoker and rep.'esents t!e view of a r.earlv workers onto the curb to catch a few smokerless editorial board.t desnerate puffs at L•nch or during breaks. While heart disease, stress ana lack of The same nolicw was recently introduced at exerci.se also take their toll on the popula. Pittsburgh lnternattoaal A tport. and now tion, some law•makers and lobbyists are the inevitable cloud of smoke greets incom- obsessed with designing statutes that would ing patrons at the sidewalk. outlau• smoiong - and not merely restrict . [.egtslation, much of it ill-advtsed. tries to go aftcr a smoker's unhealthful habit in places or ways that the 'aw can't reach. State Rep. Peter Daley of Washington Countv, for i.tistance, has introduced an unenforceable biil that would outlaw smok- ing in 2ne's car when children are present. Ivo- the other chamber weit,*as in with an equally misgutded proposal fron. Sen Stew•• art Greenleaf of Montgomery Ctunty. This one would ban smoking from bars, theaters, museums, otfices, factories and aotels. It's not that we doubt the Enviro.mental Protection Agency's numbers on tte haz- ards of secrond hand smoke. It's not tlat we or regulate it - in restaurants, utfices. hote! rooms, stadiums and. now, cars and bars. Obvicuste, there is no such thing as second-hand heart discase, while there is second-hand smoke. But anti-smoldng cru- saders aren't content to k-p smoking confuted to designated areas, auac from nonsmokers (who are, ot cour:,e. the picture of heaitht They want it out on the cttrb As for the specifie.s oi the Grecnlenf bill, its one thing to require a restaurant to ofter a non-smoking section, but quite another to force a bar owner to ban smoking in hts establishment, particularly wfien dnnktng and smoktng, for much of his c•lten:eie, go hend in hand, dispute the surgeon general's desire tor a Why should a Holiday Inc rsl: losmg the smoke-free wortiplace. Smokzng ts un• patror.agc of smokers when it has worked healthful - and not just to those doing the out:ts own smokittg eonfllct by offering both puffing. snioking and non-smoh:ng rooms? Our point is that there are other, better W'h} shotild Heitu Hall be forced to go ways to combat smoldng iwhich for many .;moke fre, when the ventilation system has people is an addictioni. One is education, seen to it that not a wisp of smoke intrudes which should be early and intense. The from the iounges into the concert hall? other is taxation, at both the federal and Why shouidn't the cn'ners of these busi- state levels Combined w'lth the growing resses be frea to manage the tensions social sanction against smoldne. these hetweet smokers and non-smokec in their strategies are working. In 1965. ihe year matidual e.stab!tshments, and tt.ce the after the V S. surgeon general's historic contequences as they w•ou'.d witL+ any' other report lin}ang smoking to canc•e;,-]2 percent business decision? of Amen^_an adults smoked, compared to 26 0 pertent in 1990 Last w•eek, a nationwide Associated Press study. reported that taa revenues from toaacco products are down in 20 ,tates, u rre down in S t others before those states raised taces and are generallc static in the rematning states A West Virgima tax official told the .1P "Every time the ciga rette tax is increased, a few more xople say. 'It's tune to quit."' if the anti-smoldng lobby feels tobacco has bent;: e so harmful to tne general populabo;t that no accommodation should be allowed, it should make a case tcr outright ptoh:bitior.. t,s tt is, the Greetdeai measure is an overreaching plan that tram- pies personal frecdom and the autoi-arn)' of b sin_°ss frwnecs - and in a cause that it cn ita way to tiictory anyway. COMP A93(5