Tobacco.org

EDITORIAL: Don’t push smokers into neighborhoods  

Rep. Ted Speliotis of Danvers has filed a bill that would ban smoking within 25 feet of entrances and windows of public places. Speliotis said this would better protect the public from secondhand smoke.

But if you push smokers too far away from where they are eating or drinking, you could push them into residential areas, which would be a worse result. . . .

Some bar and restaurant owners are claiming that any more restrictions on their patrons will hurt business, but they always say that. When the law banning indoor smoking in workplaces, including bars and restaurants, was passed five years ago, they claimed it would put some of them out of business. No such thing happened. In fact, there is evidence that it helped businesses because people who avoided smoke were able to go into any bar or restaurant and not worry about smelling like smoke or, worse, breathing in secondhand smoke.

Good businesses should work with their neighbors to make life easier for all concerned. We don’t need any new laws to protect the public in this case. We just need common sense, good business sense and more consideration from smokers.

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