Michael Marlow, Ph.D.? Update…
The Economic Losers From Smoking Bans
June 11, 2010
Dr. Marlow testified at the Zeno’s trial as the expert economics witness.? Maurice Thompson was Dick Allen’s attorney.? Maurice is also our attorney, retained by Buckeye Liquor Permit Holders Association.? I forwarded information to Dr. Marlow that I had received as a result of several public records requests (received from Lance Himes, Ohio Department of Health).? Dr. Marlow’s study is titled The Economic Losers from Ohio’s Smoking Ban.? Marlow identifies complaints filed against businesses (as violations).? Note that Dr. Marlow identified ~ 14,000 NON BAR businesses as having been reported for violating the ban, however only 64 fines were levied against these businesses-see next paragraph).
I took Marlow’s study one step further.? I reviewed the ACTUAL FINES LEVIED AGAINST BUSINESSES IN OHIO provided by the Ohio Dept. of Health (see attached “DOH PR request as of 03_23_2010.xlsx).? I looked each and every businesses up on the Department of Commerce’s website to see if they had a liquor license.? What I found was staggering.? There were 1603 fines issued to 940 businesses totaling $1,291,950.?
BY FAR, the most fines issued to businesses were to bars (69.18%).? These SAME BARS incurred 73.19% of the costs of the fines.? WHAT IS MOST INTERESTING IS THAT ONLY 5.99% OF THE BUSINESSES FINED DO NOT HAVE LIQUOR PERMITS.? 94.01% OF THE BUSINESSES THE STATE OF OHIO HAS HARRASSED ARE BUSINESSES THAT CATER TO ADULTS AND WHO DEPEND ON SMOKERS TO SURVIVE!!!!! ?EVEN MORE OBVIOUS IS THAT THE STATE OF OHIO WOULD HAVE ONLY SPENT $191,680 TO ENFORCE THE SMOKING BAN AGAINST BUSINESSES WITHOUT LIQUOR PERMITS, RATHER THAN THE $3.2 MILLION SPENT. ?Nearly 4% of these businesses fined (35 of 940) are NO LONGER IN BUSINESS (liquor permits canceled).? They’ve CLOSED THEIR DOORS.
BY FAR, the most fines issued to businesses were to bars (69.18%).? These SAME BARS incurred 73.19% of the costs of the fines.? WHAT IS MOST INTERESTING IS THAT ONLY 5.99% OF THE BUSINESSES FINED DO NOT HAVE LIQUOR PERMITS.? 94.01% OF THE BUSINESSES THE STATE OF OHIO HAS HARRASSED ARE BUSINESSES THAT CATER TO ADULTS AND WHO DEPEND ON SMOKERS TO SURVIVE!!!!! ?EVEN MORE OBVIOUS IS THAT THE STATE OF OHIO WOULD HAVE ONLY SPENT $191,680 TO ENFORCE THE SMOKING BAN AGAINST BUSINESSES WITHOUT LIQUOR PERMITS, RATHER THAN THE $3.2 MILLION SPENT. ?Nearly 4% of these businesses fined (35 of 940) are NO LONGER IN BUSINESS (liquor permits canceled).? They’ve CLOSED THEIR DOORS.
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? |
# of Fines Issued
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# of Businesses Fined
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Cost of Fines Issued
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? |
% of # total fines issued
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% of total # of businesses fined
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% of cost of fines issued
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? |
? |
Total # of businesses fined
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Total # of fines
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Total Cost of Fines
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BARS
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1109
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637
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$945,600
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BARS
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69.18%
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67.77%
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73.19%
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? |
? |
940
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1603
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$1,291,950
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Restaurants w/o liquor
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4
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3
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$6,200
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Restaurants w/o liquor
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0.25%
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0.32%
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0.48%
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|||||
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Private Clubs
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398
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239
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$301,150
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Private Clubs
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24.83%
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25.43%
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23.31%
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|||||
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Other
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92
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61
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$39,000
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Other
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5.74%
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6.49%
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3.02%
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|||||
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Totals
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1603
|
940
|
$1,291,950
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Totals
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100.00%
|
100.00%
|
100.00%
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|||||
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$3,008,320
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to enforce against liquor permitted businesses (94.01% of $3.2 million)
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|||||||||||
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$191,680
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to enforce against restaurants & other businesses without liquor permits (5.99 % of $3.2 million)
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This is an OBVIOUS attack against liquor permit holders in the State of Ohio.? The American Cancer Society, aka SmokeFree Ohio, said the Smoking Ban would NOT HURT OUR BUSINESSES!!!? ?THEY LIED!!!? These statistics are the same from each and every state with a smoking ban.? Ohio is NOT UNIQUE.? Since the American Cancer Society is ALSO ANTI ALCOHOL, hiding losses to BARS (and other liquor permit holders) is NOTHING SHORT OF A BACKDOOR ATTEMPT AT PROHIBITION.? The State of Ohio’s role in their prohibition initiative is the “sugar daddy” who gets to shell out the money to force Ohio’s family owned bars and private clubs OUT OF BUSINESS.
An entire industry has been targeted for extinction.? Is the State of Ohio going to CONTINUE to back the people who KNEW this ban would put us out of business? ?Are they going to continue to spend money the State of Ohio does NOT have to put more of us out of business?
Pam Parker
Regional Director, Buckeye Liquor Permit Holders Association
Opponents of Ohio Bans
Read about our latest news here: http://opponentsofohiobans.com/news.aspx
Read the full?Report: The Economic Losers From Smoking Bans
Read Correspondence: AAPS Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons.
Pam Parker and Michael L. Marlow, ph.D.
More: OH Ban Damage
