Tobacco.org

As the smoke clears 

Alan Jilka describes his 2002 vote in favor of a partial ban on smoking in restaurants as the single most controversial vote in his 12 years on the Salina City Commission.

Monday, Kansas Gov. Mark Parkinson thanked the commissioners who supported that measure, saying it demonstrated that businesses could survive a public smoking ban, making it easier for lawmakers to enact a similar ban statewide.

"So whatever heat you took was worth it," Parkinson said. . . .

There are critics of the measure who still cite business owners' rights to make their own determination as to whether their customers should be allowed to smoke. A few more than a dozen protesters, some with signs, were lined up outside the health department Monday, waiting for Parkinson to arrive. Salina police officers were watching for any disturbances.

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