ALEXANDRIA, Va., April 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Since California's bar smoking
ban was imposed on January 1, 1998, Stanton Glantz of the University of
California and anti-smoking groups have argued there are no economic losses as
a result, despite business owner reports to the contrary.
Now, the federal government has had firsthand experience with the smoking
ban -- and has felt the economic loss.
An April 23, 1999, Los Angeles Times story by Hugo Martin reported on the
federal government finally finding a buyer for the government's controlling
interest in the Bicycle Club in Bell Gardens, California. The club was seized
nine years ago for its asset value in an enforcement action. In defending the
card club's declining profits under government stewardship, Frederick Wyle,
the government trustee managing the club, cited increased competition and the
California smoking ban.
In commenting on the revelation, National Smokers Alliance President
Thomas Humber said: "The only question is when Glantz and others will attack
the federal government for being 'in the pocket of Big Tobacco' or
'manipulated by the National Smokers Alliance,' because those are the only two
responses ever issued regarding any evidence that contradicts the position
that California's smoking ban is a whopping great success.
"To understand the reality that confronts California's bar businesses as a
result of the smoking ban, one only has to read some of the hundreds of
letters written in support of AB 1216, a bill that would have provided some
freedom of choice to those bar employees and owners who want it and need it.
Even though the bill had bipartisan sponsorship, legislative leadership once
again had it killed in committee.
"For a law with such claimed support, it appears quite strange that for
two years straight, legislative leaders seem unwilling to allow a floor vote
on reasonable relief measures."
Humber went on to say, "High levels of non-compliance with the smoking ban
have thus far mitigated against massive statewide financial losses, but
stepped up enforcement will increase those losses as well as opposition to the
ban."
The National Smokers Alliance is a non-profit organization of adults from
across the country dedicated to fighting discrimination against smokers and to
supporting business owners who wish to make their own decisions about their
businesses without unnecessary government interference. The NSA has more than
3 million members nationwide, including more than 300,000 in California, and
is supported by membership dues and contributions from hundreds of businesses
and corporations, including three cigarette manufacturers on behalf of their
consumers.
SOURCE National Smokers Alliance
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