Tobacco.org

Smoking stays ... for now 

The Pennsylvania State Senate’s defeat of a bill that would ban smoking in state restaurants, bars and casinos is seen as a victory for taverns in the state.

Jim Christman, owner and operator of the Roads End Pub and Club in West Hazleton and the immediate past vice president of the Pennsylvania Tavern Owners Association, said the bill would have effectively shut down several taverns that don’t sell a lot of food.

“If the state had passed the smoking ban, 20 to 40 percent of taverns would have gone out of business in the first two years of the law. That’s how it’s happened historically,” Christman said.

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