quittin' smoking

[j eric townsend]

At 09:05 -0800 3/14/06, Deeann M.M. Mikula wrote:
>You know, I've yet to read a scientific study that I thought was
>reasonable that proved the dangers of second hand smoke in short term,
>infrequent proximity, such that an average person gets when going to a
>club once or twice a week.

One of the main arguments for the SF ban on smoking (which obviously completely and totally killed the club scene)  was employee health concerns and not patron health concerns.  At issue was the amount of second hand smoke employees were being exposed to during  a 40hr work week.   I don't know what the reason was in NYC, but judging by the numbers of bars and clubs that shut down in the aftermath it was a pretty stupid idea there as well.[0]

A lot of SF businesses supported the smoking ban; I don't remember any specific reasons other than insurance, but I suspect it's easier to be smoke free when the law is on your side.    A few months ago I saw a woman at Eleven get into an argument with a bartender when he told her she couldn't smoke.  "IT'S A BAR.  I'M ALLOWED TO SMOKE IN BARS."    "No, you can't smoke in this bar."  "YES I CAN.  IT'S LEGAL TO SMOKE IN BARS."   "No, really, you can't smoke here.  If you want to smoke, you have to go outside."  eventually she gave in, ordered a drink, and put her smokes away.

At the MC Chris show they asked people to not smoke within 20' of the stage while MC Chris was on (he has nasty asthma) but plenty of people lit up in the first few rows anyway.  I'm really not sure what it says about someone that they pay money to see a performance by someone they like but they won't respect the guy's desire to not have a full-on asthma attack while on stage.


[0]  For the sarcasm impaired, many club owners in SF reported that they were doing better than ever after the ban and believed it was due in part to increased attendance by people who didn't like being in smoky businesses.  Business insurance rates for things like fire and safety dropped, as did things like cleaning costs.   I don't know if this was the case in NYC, but I suspect something similar happened there.
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