Smoke 'em if you got 'em, Maryland
Smoking Ban hits Baltimore
Nicola McQuiston
Issue date: 1/22/08 Section: News
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The effective date, originally slated for Jan. 1, was postponed in order to coincide with the effective date of the Clean Indoor Air Act of 2007 signed by Governor Martin O'Malley on May 17, which introduces state-wide smoking prohibition.
Beginning next month, Baltimore will join many other major U.S. cities, such as New York and Washington, D.C., to enforce a law that "Prohibits a person from smoking tobacco products in indoor areas open to the public and indoor places of employment except under specified circumstances" according to an O'Malley press release.
Exempt from these rulings are tobacco shops as well as businesses granted "hardship waivers" by local health authorities if they are able to prove after two months that sales of food and beverage have declined by at least 15 percent. These non-renewable waivers expire in 2011.
Baltimore City Council President Stephanie Rawlings-Blake expressed her elation when members passed the Baltimore Smoking Ban on Feb. 26.
"I am energized by this evening's vote, and am proud to be the president of a city council that takes the health of Baltimoreans so seriously," she said in a press release made public that evening.
The ban has received criticism from the Restaurant Association of Maryland in years past, which in 2005 presented data to lawmakers demonstrating losses in sales for restaurants owning liquor licenses.
The ban, however, may be beneficial to restaurateurs in other ways.
"[The smoking ban] might help cost-wise with the air-purifier that we have to keep running. We can run it less often. Insurance costs might go down, too, because it will reduce the fire risk," Brian "Brooklyn" Sheridan, a bartender at Swallow at the Hollow Restaurant on York Road, said.
For now, restaurant owners remain unaware of how the Clean Air Act will affect business.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Gil
posted 1/26/08 @ 4:51 PM EST
The downfall of the Private Bar Business is at stake,a 15% reduction in business will hit most all mom and pop bars,how many will receive 3 yr extensions? And will the first two months of the ban hurt them too much financially to even apply for an extension? Look for bankruptcy increases in bar businesses. (Continued…)
Gil
posted 1/26/08 @ 5:13 PM EST
A Post Script:
Smoking Bans HURT Business,and at a time when the economy is hurting.The Health of a State or Nation is more important than the squealling Health Nazis that want to control our lives with junk hogwash science!
Gil
posted 1/26/08 @ 5:22 PM EST
Nobody talks about all the smoking bar owners and smoking bartenders/barmaids that have lost their jobs in other states like Ohio and Arizona.It is always about clean air for non-smokers. (Continued…)
Gil
posted 1/26/08 @ 5:29 PM EST
Let's not stop with banning trans fats and smoking in public.
Tax on smokes is higher than the product cost.Does anything else match that?
Tax the following as high a percentage as smokes are taxed:
Fuel
Excessive Electricity use
Beer Liquor Liquer Wine
Candles
Fireplaces
Barbeques
Fatty Cuts of Meat
Overweight people (yearly weigh-in reqired)
leaf burning
candy
bread
businesses' with smoke stack emissions
polluting the oceans and fresh water lakes and streams
guns
pocket knives
milk,cheese,eggs
old cars
plane emmissions
bus emmissions
gas ovens,stoves
ice cream
burgers at any fast food joint
fried fish or fish sticks(the fast food kind,Crushed Alaskan Pollack)
French Fries
Fried Chicken
Chinese Food
Meat Tenderizer
Mexican food
Starches
Sugar
Salt
Sugar soft drinks
Artificial sweeteners
And on and on!
Gee whiz,how did the lawmakers forget about all the tax money and only concentrate on smoking tax. (Continued…)
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