Council to revisit smoking ban

More about smoking on the Web

By Mark Shanahan
Staff Writer
©Copyright 1998 Guy Gannett Communications

Faced with opposition from some restaurant owners and their patrons, the City Council will decide Monday whether to repeal Portland's ban on smoking in restaurants.

The council, which adopted the ordinance in April by a 7-2 vote, is likely to put the issue on the November ballot rather than repeal the ban.

The measure was returned to the council before it could take effect because opponents of the ban - the first of its kind in Maine - gathered the 1,500 signatures needed to reconsider the issue.

HISTORY OF BAN In April, the City Council approved an ordinance banning smoking in all Portland restaurants without separate, ventilated rooms. The ordinance also outlaws self-service tobacco displays and the free distribution of tobacco. In May, opponents of the measure submitted enough signatures to force the council to reconsider the ban. When it meets at 7:30 p.m. Monday at City Hall, the council can repeal the ordinance or place it on the ballot in November. If the ban goes on the Nov. 3 ballot and voters uphold it, the ban will take effect 30 days later.

''I'll vote to put this out to the public because this was initiated by the citizenry,'' said Councilor Cheryl Leeman. ''That's the democratic process.''

The ordinance prohibits smoking in all Portland restaurants that don't have enclosed, ventilated smoking areas. Bars that are not part of a restaurant are exempt.

The ordinance also outlaws self-service tobacco displays and free distribution of tobacco products.

The ban is stricter than state law, which requires only that restaurants set aside nonsmoking sections. A legislative bid to prohibit smoking in Maine restaurants failed last spring.

That failure, coupled with new information linking secondhand smoke and cancer, prompted Portland public health officials to propose the ban for the city's 200 or so restaurants.

Opponents, including local restaurateurs, say the ban would hurt the city's economy, driving diners who want to smoke to South Portland or elsewhere. They contend that the loss of business could put as many as 500 restaurant employees out of work.

If the council does send the issue to the voters, both sides say they will mount aggressive, well-financed campaigns.

Two representatives of the National Smokers' Alliance, a smokers' rights group funded in part by the tobacco industry, were in the audience on the night the council adopted the ordinance.

''That's what we're up against - lobbyists who are paid handsomely by the tobacco industry,'' said Dr. Robert McAfee, a retired Portland surgeon and former president of the American Medical Association. ''But, as they say on the car commercial, the rules have changed.''

Specifically, McAfee said, there is more evidence than ever that smoking causes cancer and other serious health problems - and that a lot of Mainers smoke.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Maine ranks first in the country in the percentage of 18- to 30-year-olds who smoke, and third in the percentage of 14- to 18-year-olds who smoke.

Since Portland adopted the ban, the state has broadcast a series of black-and-white anti-smoking commercials on television.

McAfee said another wave of ads, paid for in part by the state's new 37-cent-per-pack cigarette tax, will be aired before November.

The stark ads feature people who have developed cancer or lost their voices because of smoking.

''Some people feel they sensationalize the problems,'' McAfee said. ''But that's the message - this is what happens.''

Mayor Thomas V. Kane, a longtime smoker who has tried many times to quit, said he understands why people feel so strongly about the issue.

''Obviously, I think people have a right to smoke, but you have to draw the line when it infringes on others' rights,'' Kane said. ''Now that we have these petitions, I say let's go to referendum.''

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More about smoking on the Web

• Boston University's Community Outreach Health Information System (COHIS) has a page called "The Ashtray," with resources for helping smokers to quit.
• Tobacco BBS is a resource center and debate forum focusing on tobacco issues. Downloadable resources, news and information, assistance for smokers trying to quit, alerts for anti-smoking activists, and open debate on medical, legal, constitutional, international, social and historical issues.
• Smoking from All Sides includes various perspectives of smoking: health aspects, statistics, tobacco news, pro and anti-smoking information, history and commentary.
• Tobacco on Trial is a newsletter produced by the Tobacco Products Liability Project at Northeastern University School of Law.
• Tobacco Cases: Court TV's library has posted these full-text documents from tobacco related legal cases.
• The Master Anti-Smoking Page contains a copious list of links and a forum for ex-smokers to share tips, support and ideas.

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