State Update
Letter to CO and all bar owners
October 17, 2005
Dear Colorado Bar Owners,
It has come to my attention that several cities in the metro Denver area, and the state of Colorado might be considering smoking bans in the near future. I own a bar in Hennepin County and the city of Minneapolis and have first hand experience in the damage these bans cause. I strongly suggest you do not make the same mistakes made in our city and county. Let me share a few of our stories.
Before the ban was passed bar owners predicted what would happen if a local ban was passed, we were ignored. The well funded anti smoking advocates assured us all the nonsmokers would flock through our doors, yet another promise that never happened. I provided hundreds of testimonials from across the nation on the damage to small businesses after a smoking ban, which I will be happy to provide for you as well. Many bar owners foolishly believed a smoking ban would not damage their business, sadly they were very wrong.
OSHA, the federal agency who regulates the workplace, regulates our businesses. OSHA has no policy on SHS because it was determined the permissible levels of exposure could not reach levels dangerous enough to need a policy. Testing done in bars before the smoking ban in our very own St. Louis Park MN showed their 19 bars tested well below OSHA safety limits.
I provided proof the studies used to support these bans were misleading and inaccurate. I provided a copy of the American Lung Association stating the science on SHS was an “inexact science.” Unfortunately no one bothered to read any of the above. In hindsight, many have told me they wish they would have, they were shocked to see the deception the anti smoking advocates called science. No one, not even some of the bar owners, ever expected the ban to be as devastating as it has been.
Hennepin County has the largest population of any county in the state of Minnesota. It includes the cities of Minneapolis and Bloomington (think Mall of America and airport). Effective March 31, 2005, the city and county passed the toughest smoking bans in the state. The County was assured other communities would follow with similar bans and then the state would follow. This never happened. Ramsey, Baltrami and Meeker County’s passed smoking bans all with exceptions for bars. Hennepin County remains the only county in the state banning smoking everywhere including bars. All other counties declined to pass a ban, some refused to even discuss it. The state smoking ban never made it out of committee.
Bloomington City Council refused to amend their ban in August 2005. The following week every bar on the fourth floor (the entertainment area) of the Mall of America closed except Hooter’s. As published in the Tribune, the smoking ban was a deciding factor. Hooter’s reports business is down over 25%, while the Mall has the highest customer counts and occupancy in its history.
Bloomington released a study of the economic impact on their city and also called it “inconclusive.” The study showed liquor taxes collected to be -8.38% in the first 3 months of the ban. Compared to an increase of .72% the year before. Sports bars were -23.64% and private clubs were -9.05%. Food sales remained flat. It wasn’t inconclusive to the bar owners.
The Minnesota Charitable Gambling Board Provide the following information. In the first two months of the ban in Minneapolis showed charitable gambling revenues were -$1,894,586.00 and Hennepin County charitable gambling revenues were down a whopping -$6,797,296.00. In just two months.
Hennepin County released their Impact Statement on the first 3 months of the smoking ban. Also determining the study was inconclusive. Showing the lowest percentage of growth in the 7 county metro area Hennepin County showed a .15% growth in liquor sales. Below the metro area’s average increase of 1.6% and below Hennepin County’s 3.5% increase the year before. These numbers included liquor stores. Anoka County (no ban) had a 7.2% gain in liquor sales comparing 2004 to 2005. Ramsey County (a partial ban) showed a .5% increase. Food sales grew in all counties. Ironically this report showed Bloomington to be down 6.71%. I repeat, not inconclusive to the small business owners.
Bar owners are aware of the anti smoking advocates tendency to blame lost revenue statistics, lost jobs and closed businesses on any other issue except a smoking ban, we specifically pushed to have the study done as quickly as possible to prevent those types of accusations. The numbers quoted above are for the first three months of the ban, April, May and June of 2005. High gas prices, .08 legislation and the minimum wage increase did not take effect until August 1, 2005. The negative economic impact from the smoking ban will only decline further as we compound the ban damage with the new legislation, high gas prices and of course snow and cold weather close the outdoor seating areas.
To date we have 35 closed businesses with another 50-60 barely hanging on. The Minneapolis Hospitality Association can document lost revenues of over a million dollars a month compared the year before. We can document over 2000 lost jobs. The heartbreaking stories of lost jobs, revenues and businesses can be read at smokersclubinc.com, click on Diary of a Disaster to read our story.
I would be happy to provide additional information. I cannot stress enough the damage these bans cause. The studies are junk science, just read one of them (or send me one and I will tell you what was omitted in their effort to scare you). Property rights, personal choice and freedoms, the economic damages and lost jobs, and the use of a legal product should prevent these bans from being passed. Thanks to the internet and owners like me sharing our painful stories, we are finally turning some of these bans around and preventing them from happening in the first place.
I often say the fraud surrounding SHS will go down in history as one of the greatest scams ever perpetuated on the general public. Many of us have stopped donating to the American Cancer Society believing those organizations should be using our generous donations and grant money to finding a cure for cancer or reducing the rate of smoking, especially our kids.
Worst of all, no one is any healthier. The admirable goal of getting people to quit or not to start is lost in the shuffle. The teen smoking rate is 29% and the 18-24 year olds 39%. People still eat and drink to much, drive to fast, don’t wear a seatbelt, don’t get enough exercise and refuse to eat their vegetables. In spite of billions of dollars allocated to help people quit smoking or never start still a quarter of our population smokes.
Bar owners, don’t make the mistake of thinking it can’t happen there, don’t make the mistake of thinking your politicians are any smarter, they aren’t. Don’t make the mistake to think a smoking ban won’t harm your business. Think I am wrong, give me a call and I can share many heartbreaking stories with you.
Sue Jeffers
Stub and Herb’s Bar and Restaurant
Smoking limits singed
Senate change restricts ban to restaurants
April 28, 2005
By Mark P. Couch
Denver Post Staff Writer
Colorado lawmakers gutted a proposed statewide smoking ban Wednesday by making the restriction apply only to restaurants.
Smokers could still puff in bars and bowling alleys, bingo parlors and casinos under the limited ban initially approved by the Colorado Senate on a voice vote.
Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, watched in dismay as a majority of senators approved the far-reaching change to his bill, dubbed the Colorado Indoor Clean Air Act.
“I wish I could say that I am now asking enthusiastically for your adoption,” Grossman said. “I can’t be enthusiastic, but I think this bill needs to go forward. I think the discussion needs to continue.”
For six weeks, the discussion has hinged on whether Grossman could persuade his fellow Democrats to join him in supporting the bill because Senate Republicans refused to budge on the issue.
Senate Minority Leader Mark Hillman, R-Burlington, said his 17-member caucus would not support the ban, citing the property rights of business owners.
Democrats hold a one-vote lead in the Senate.
Already, backers of the smoking ban say they will ask state representatives to roll back the Senate amendment if the bill wins final approval in the Senate. A final vote is scheduled today, and the bill must then get through the House.
“We’ll keep fighting on when this goes to the House to get it re-amended,” said R.J. Ours, director of government relations for the American Cancer Society. “The health of workers in Colorado should not be compromised just because they work in a bar, a bingo hall or a casino.”
Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, the house sponsor, said he will attempt to return the bill to its original form. Failing that, he said it might include a provision allowing smoking in bars.
“What we’re trying to do is return the focus to a health issue, not special interests” Larson said.
During Wednesday’s Senate debate, Senate Bill 207 ignited several huffy exchanges.
Grossman, who hopes to run for state attorney general, and Hillman traded jabs over legal rights.
“Bills like this and so many others we have seen this year are transforming the land of the free and the home of the brave into the land of the overregulated and the home of the hypersensitive,” said Hillman.
Grossman retorted: “Sen. Hillman, I certainly don’t want to trammel upon your God-given and constitutional right to use your property to kill patrons and employees.”
Hillman blasted back: “Sen. Grossman, don’t put words in my mouth when I talk about what people’s rights are. If you’re not familiar with the 5th and 14th Amendments, both of them say you shall not be deprived of your right to life, liberty or property.”
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
Senate tentatively approves statewide smoking ban for restaurants
April 27, 2005
written by: Paola Farer (Web Producer)
reported by: Chris Vanderveen (9NEWS Reporter)
DENVER – A statewide smoking ban got preliminary approval in the state Senate Wednesday but the measure still faces some stiff opposition before it becomes law. It is also less restrictive than its proponents might like.
The proposal would ban smoking in most restaurants. But when it was originally proposed it would have banned smoking in bars and office buildings as well.
Supporters like Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, say the measure that passed is a step in the right direction. He said he wants all restaurants in the state to compete under the same rules, pointing out that smoking is already banned in public places by at least 13 local governments.
“What we have today in Colorado is a patchwork of regulation. Businesses that are affected by this, whether it be a county ordinance or a municipal ordinance, are crying foul. They say they were put at a competitive disadvantage because the county next door or the city next door does not have the same regulation,” Grossman said.
Opponents say the measure is too much regulation “Bills like these and so many others we have seen this year are turning the land of the free and the home of the brave into the land of the overregulated and the home of the hypersensitive,” said Sen. Mark Hillman, R-Burlington.
Opponents say under current law individual business owners can always ban smoking at their own establishment if they care to.
The measure still faces another Senate vote before it goes to the House, where supporters said they will try to restore the ban to include bars and casinos.
Grossman said government needs to be “heavy-handed” in some areas, including public health.
“This bill represents active government,” he said.
If the measure doesn’t get enough votes to pass the Legislature, it could end up on the ballot. But the soonest that would happen would be November 2006.
STATE SMOKING BAN HEADED TO SENATE
Passed Committee Monday
by News 13 Team
4/12/2005
A PROPOSAL TO BAN SMOKING IN BARS AND RESTAURANTS IN COLORADO IS ON ITS WAY TO THE STATE SENATE FOR A VOTE.
A SENATE COMMITTEE BACKED THE MEASURE YESTERDAY AFTER HEARING FROM A 52-YEAR-OLD MAN WHO SAYS HE’S DYING OF CANCER CAUSED BY SECOND-HAND SMOKE.
THE BAN IS BACKED BY HEALTH GROUPS AS WELL AS THE COLORADO RESTAURANT ASSOCIATION WHO SAYS IT WILL LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD ACROSS THE STATE.
SOME BAR OWNERS AS WELL AS A TRADE GROUP REPRESENTING SMALL BARS AND TAVERNS TESTIFIED AGAINST THE BILL.
http://www.krdotv.com/DisplayStory.asp?id=9273
Smoking ban pushing some to cross party lines
GOP senator says constituents want him to support bill
By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News
April 7, 2005
A Douglas County Republican might buck his caucus and vote to ban smoking statewide.
Sen. John Evans said he has been contacted by a number of restaurant owners in his district who have asked for his support because they say the current patchwork of smoking regulations hurts business.
“That’s a good sound Republican argument for why you want to step in and do regulation, when the marketplace is being impacted by a whole series of uneven regulations,” Evans said.
The Parker resident hasn’t decided what to do yet, but he has a switched from a solid “no” vote to a “maybe.”
He knows that won’t make Republicans happy, but he said he has to consider his constituents’ needs.
Senate Minority Leader Mark Hillman, of Burlington, earlier had lined up all 17 Republicans to vote against Senate Bill 207, which bans smoking indoors, including in restaurants, bars and offices.
That was before Evans started hearing from restaurant owners.
The Colorado Restaurant Association supports the statewide smoking ban. Owners complain they lose customers to nearby businesses in different jurisdictions when local governments impose smoking regulations.
Evans has time to make up his mind since a committee hearing for the bill has not been scheduled yet.
The measure is expected to receive committee approval, but it faces a tough hearing on the Senate floor.
Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, needs 18 votes to get his bill over to the House, where it is being sponsored by Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez.
So far, at least two of the 18 Democrats don’t like Grossman’s bill.
Sen. Lois Tochtrop, D-Westminster, said she can’t approve the bill unless it carves out exemptions for bingo parlors and casinos because so many players smoke.
The bill offers only a few exemptions, including an individual’s own car and home, 25 percent of a hotel’s rooms and firms with four employees or fewer.
“In schools, band boosters organize bingo games to make money,” Tochtrop said. “If you eliminate smoking from bingo halls you might as well close them down.”
And Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, said he believes local governments should decide their own smoking restrictions.
But Hagedorn said he would approve the measure if it were sent to the voters to decide. The bill currently would go to Gov. Bill Owens for his consideration if it passed.
Tochtrop smokes. Hagedorn smokes an “occasional cigar or pipe.”
Many Senate Republicans say their mail is running “about 50-50” on the smoking ban.
Sen. Norma Anderson, R-Lakewood, said she isn’t about to change her mind. She believes local government and not lawmakers should make smoking laws.
“We’re getting to be like the federal government down here where we think we have to control everything,” she said. “Last time I checked, cigarettes were legal.”
Bill banning indoor smoking appears dead
Mar. 31, 2005
By KYLE HENLEY THE GAZETTE
DENVER – A statewide smoking ban in bars, restaurants, offices and other public places appears doomed before lawmakers utter a syllable of debate.
It’s already clear that a majority of senators oppose Senate Bill 207, introduced Tuesday, which would dramatically curtail smokers’ ability to light up anywhere indoors in Colorado.
The Colorado Clean Indoor Air Act would ban smoking indoors. Exemptions would be granted to private homes, personal cars (not if the vehicle is used to transport children), 25 percent of the rooms at a hotel and tobacco shops.
Secondhand smoke “is a known health risk, and we have an obligation to stop it,” said Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, the House sponsor of the bill.
But SB207 is not likely to reach the House.
Most Republicans and a handful of Democrats are opposed to it.
“It’s a property rights issue,” said Sen. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs. “People should be able to do with their own property or their own business what they want to.”
Besides, Lamborn added, “the effects of secondhand smoke have in some cases been exaggerated.”
Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, doesn’t think the effects of secondhand smoke are exaggerated – his mother died of lung cancer – but that doesn’t mean he’s going to support SB207.
He believes the issue should be referred to the ballot, so that all Coloradans can vote on the matter.
“I don’t believe this is the scope of issue that is simply decided by 100 legislators and the governor,” he said. “This is the type of issue I think should be a referendum.”
With the Senate narrowly split – the parties are divided 18-17, advantage Democrats – it’s easy for a piece of legislation to be defeated if one party opposes it and a handful of lawmakers from the other side of the aisle feel the same way.
That appears to be the case with SB207.
Larson contends the proposed statewide smoking ban is wildly popular with the public, and lawmakers who are opposed to it will eventually change their minds when they feel the weight of public pressure.
“I don’t think it is doomed,” he said. “We are just building steam.”
He pointed out that, several years ago, lawmakers defeated a bill creating a telemarketing no-call list.
The public reacted strongly to that decision, and a few weeks later, similar legislation was passed by lawmakers. Larson rejected placing a smoking ban on the ballot.
“I don’t believe it is an option because it is a known public health risk,” he said.
CONTACT THE WRITER:
1-303-837-0613 or khenley@gazette.com
http://www.gazette.com/display.php?id=1306690&secid;=1
Senate bill to ban smoking in public places introduced
March 30, 2005
A bill that would ban smoking statewide in public places such as restaurants, bars and casinos was introduced in the Senate on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, held a news conference to unveil it.
Also Tuesday, the Denver City Council voted 10-1 to support the legislation to ban indoor smoking.
Grossman said he was pushing ahead in the Senate even though the chamber’s 17 Republicans have said they are against it. Senate Minority Leader Mark Hillman, R-Burlington, said his caucus remained opposed to Senate Bill 207. Grossman would need all 18 Democrats to support his bill for it to survive on the floor. Sen. Bob Hagedorn, D-Aurora, said he would probably vote against it unless it is changed to allow voters to decide in a referendum.
http://www.denverpost.com/
GOP digs in against smoking ban
By Colleen Slevin, Associated Press
April 1, 2005
DENVER – When Louisville banned smoking in public places, Outback Steakhouse partner Tom Flanagan watched dozens of customers flock to the chain’s restaurants in nearby Lafayette, where they could light up without concern. It took a year and a half to attract enough new customers to get sales back to normal.
“We can deal with that but a lot of the mom-and-pop restaurants probably can’t,” said Flanagan, among a group that owns all 19 Outback restaurants in Colorado.
Local smoking bans have gained momentum in recent years and are now in place in about a dozen Colorado communities. Restaurant owners like Flanagan fear a patchwork of local bans could drive some of them out of business and they’ve reluctantly joined a coalition of health group backing a statewide ban.
However, they’re facing an odd partisan standoff at the state Capitol, where smoking was allowed on the third floor until this year: Senate Republicans have dug in their heels against the proposal despite the support of business groups, traditional GOP allies.
Minority Leader Mark Hillman, who lined up caucus members against the bill, says the proposal is an attempt by majority Democrats to impose their “nanny-state morality” on Coloradans, rather than letting them decide for themselves whether they want to smoke or where they want to eat.
“I think it explodes the myth that Republicans are in the pocket of big business if big business thinks it’s a good idea,” said Hillman, who doesn’t smoke.
Hillman said his position isn’t influenced by contributions from the tobacco industry and pointed out that he’s also gotten money from two supporters of the ban — the Colorado Restaurant Association and the Colorado Medical Society. The Colorado Association of Commerce and Industry, the statewide chamber of commerce, also backs the bill.
Colorado State University political science professor John Straayer said the smoking ban could be a chance for Republicans to be united on an issue after losing control of both houses of the Legislature in the November election. Senate GOP members are split over the deal Gov. Bill Owens struck with Democrats to ask voters for more money to solve Colorado’s fiscal crisis.
The GOP’s stance on the smoking ban appears to be a mixture of both principle and politics, Straayer said.
“For some, it’s probably a genuine concern to limit the reach of government. For others, it’s probably an attempt to seek political advantage by characterizing the Democrats as being interested in excessive government control,” he said.
Republican Sen. Jim Dyer said the proposed ban is also a property rights issue and it should be left up to each restaurant owner to decide whether to outlaw smoking.
“If they’re willing to stand on their convictions, they don’t have to allow smoking,” he said.
Pete Meersman, president and CEO of the restaurant association, said his group has long argued that individual owners should decide whether they want to be smoke free, but the reality is that businesses are losing money as customers leave them for others that don’t have a ban.
“I can make the free market argument all day long but that argument doesn’t fly with the city councils that have passed local smoking bans,” he said.
Polling by the group shows that support among restaurant owners has grown over the last two years, but Meersman admits it was a difficult decision to back the statewide ban since some members are in cities that would likely never see any restrictions.
The GOP has found a few allies on the smoking ban among the majority Democrats, including Sen. Bob Hagedorn of Aurora. A pipe and cigar smoker, he said he opposes the ban because he thinks voters should decide whether a statewide ban is needed.
However, he said he’s torn because he recognizes the dangers of second-hand smoke. He said he is not sure why Republicans would want to make a united stand against a smoking ban in a state where only 19 percent of people smoke.
“You run the risk of running afoul of that 80 percent who don’t smoke,” he said.
Sen. Brandon Shaffer, D-Longmont, supports the ban and doesn’t think the debate should just be about people’s right to smoke.
“If they want to smoke in their house, their car or in a park away from other people, that’s their right,” he said. “When you’re at work or in a public place, I’m not sure if they do have the right to expose other people to second-hand smoke.”
Smoking ban: Where do we draw line?
Guest Commentary
March 24, 2005
PERSONALLY, I VIEW the proposed statewide ban on smoking, which will include public parks, unquestionably a continuing violation of personal rights and a total lack of common sense.
I believe that we smokers have become more than accommodating to our nonsmoking counterparts by enduring, at times, unfriendly comments, adverse weather and a lack of outdoor seating. In reality, do some nonsmokers actually believe that they themselves are without fault? I certainly hope not.
How far does the “politically correct establishment” feel they need to take this no- smoking thing to realize that smoking, like any other habit, good or bad, is each individual’s personal choice to make? I smoke, but I don’t drink, and I find drinking and getting drunk equally disgusting to me as smoking is to a nonsmoker. So where does one draw a line to distinguish whose habit impacts society, and to what extent, the most?
Where do we find a stopping point and decide that we can not totally protect ourselves from each other? Do we ban automobiles because we die in car crashes, not to mention the pollution in the air caused by the exhaust of too many cars and trucks on our streets? Do we ban public places because we contract colds and flu from breathing other people’s air? Do we ban virtually every type of food, including milk, eggs, cookies, etc., because it seems that everything causes something “harmful” to somebody? Do we ban the keeping of pets to avoid allergies? Of course we don’t. The banning of everything deemed “bad” for us might as well lead each of us to live under a rock to avoid all contact with each other, which would eliminate the very spirit of our existence.
Yes, I realize and understand very well that the rising costs of health care affect all of us. Some would like us to believe that smoking and its related health issues are the single major cause for these constant increases. There is, however, a much wider picture once the blinders are removed that focuses everyone’s attention on tobacco use. A few reasons include the high cost of medications because of the expensive development processes incurred by the drug companies; there is the necessary and astronomical costs of liability and malpractice insurance our doctors require to protect themselves and their practices; there is the high cost of health insurance, for those of us fortunate to have it, and it is we, our insurance policies and state and federal governments, through the taxes we pay, who must absorb the costs of medical care for those without health insurance or the resources to pay their own way for the same.
Before one decides to be so critical or self-righteous, or if one really feels the need to push an agenda that will positively affect mankind, perhaps that person should channel his/her time, energy and money into fighting the escalating problem of illegal drugs in our country, or demand better educational opportunities for all of our children so they learn to use better judgment of the values and virtues that will defeat the ever-increasing membership in gangs, or help re-educate or push for stiffer fines for those whose driving habits have become totally unacceptable for our crowded streets and highways.
Yes, I agree that nonsmokers have endured an uncomfortable environment for a lot of years. We who smoke have begrudgingly allowed ourselves to be pushed outside for your comfort; the least you can do is show some semblance of understanding toward smokers and allow some dignity to those whose choices are different from yours.
Wes Holbrook is a 55-year-old Greeley native who has been retired since 1996 because of a battle with multiple sclerosis and epilepsy.
Smoking ban may be snuffed
March 23, 2005
By Mark P. Couch
Denver Post Staff Writer
Republicans in the Colorado Senate have stalled – at least temporarily – the effort to ban smoking in public places statewide.
Senate Minority Leader Mark Hillman of Burlington said all 17 Republican senators are opposing the bill because it infringes on personal freedom and property rights.
“I don’t smoke, and I think it’s disgusting,” Hillman said. “But I’m sick and tired of all these nannies running around telling people what to do.”
The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Dan Grossman, D-Denver, said he has delayed his plan to introduce the bill.
“I don’t want to paint myself into a corner by introducing it in the Senate and making it a partisan issue,” Grossman said Tuesday.
Grossman called a news conference on the steps of the Capitol on March 16 to announce his plans to introduce a measure that would ban smoking in public places statewide. He expected to introduce it that afternoon.
A week later, the bill has yet to join the list of proposals that will be considered by the legislature.
The only way to pass the bill out of the Senate is for Grossman to corral all 18 Democratic votes, and he acknowledged that a few Democrats have told him they have reservations about the bill.
“I don’t think we jumped the gun,” Grossman said of last week’s announcement. “We just underestimated the opposition.”
The bill’s sponsors lined up several key industry groups, including the Colorado Restaurant Association, to support the measure.
Sarah Davis, senior program director for the American Lung Association, said the bill has widespread support, and lawmakers should be willing to vote for it to promote better public health.
“We make sure that food is prepared to a certain temperature, that a restaurant has a certain number of fire exits, that employees wash their hands after going to the bathroom,” Davis said. “We don’t let the marketplace decide those matters of public health.”
Davis suggested that Hillman is swaying votes because he has previously accepted money from the tobacco industry.
According to a report compiled by Common Cause, Hillman received $2,000 from the tobacco industry between 1996 and 2002.
The report also says Hillman received an additional $4,700 from tobacco subsidiaries and “allies.” The same report shows Grossman received $2,200 from subsidiaries and allies, but nothing from the industry.
Hillman dismissed the claim that the contributions affect his decision.
“They ought to spend more time defending their stupid bill instead of impugning the motives of people who want to allow adults to make adult decisions,” Hillman said.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or at mcouch@denverpost.com.
http://www.denverpost.com/Stories/0,1413,36~61~2776832,00.html
Lawmakers To Discuss Statewide Smoking Ban
March 16, 2005
DENVER — State lawmakers on Wednesday are considering imposing a new state-wide smoking ban.
The legislation to be introduced in the state senate would ban smoking in public places like bars and restaurants. Its sponsor said a state-wide ban would ensure “a level playing field” for Colorado businesses.
Opponents of local smoking bans have argued that they force customers who want to smoke to take their business to a neighboring city where no smoking ban exists.
Several cities and counties across Colorado have already enacted smoking bans, but a statewide ban would supersede all of them.
Democratic Senator Dan Grossman is spearheading the effort but he’s also winning support from other Democratic and Republican lawmakers, and business leaders.
Fort Collins, Greeley, Pueblo, Alamosa, Arvada, Aspen, Boulder, Longmont, Louisville, Montrose, Snowmass, Superior, Telluride and unincorporated Boulder County already have similar bans. Some groups have been trying to ban smoking in Denver for years.
http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/4290173/detail.html
