The Circle City has finally outgrown its sleepy Naptown reputation, but Indianapolis is at risk of developing another rep
that won’t exactly look good on postcards: Ashtray of the Midwest.
As Scott Olson reported in a March 9 story on IBJ.com, some Michigan State University alumni were upset —including at least
two people employed by the American Cancer Society—that their alma mater was paired with an Indianapolis bar that allows
smoking during the Big Ten men’s basketball tournament.
Schools traditionally have been matched with downtown establishments so visitors have a home base of sorts where like-minded
fans can gather while they’re in town. This year, three of the venues allow smoking—despite comprehensive smoking
bans in the states where their university “partners” are located.
In fact, only two of the eight states with Big Ten schools do not prohibit smoking in all public places: Indiana and Pennsylvania.
Indianapolis has a partial ban on smoking in public places, but it is riddled with exceptions—including bars. An effort
to strengthen the law failed, though Democrats on the City-County Council hope to try again.
State legislators, meanwhile, are weighing a similarly weak measure that passed the Indiana House in January after bars,
taverns, casinos and private clubs were carved out. It has been assigned to a Senate committee.
Nationwide, 27 states have comprehensive smoking bans in place, and for good reason. Protecting the health of workers is
simply more important than preserving the ability to light up with a lager.
Indiana should be among the states that realize that—no ifs, ands or but(t)s about it—and Indianapolis needs
to be leading the charge, not fighting it.
More non-Hoosiers are starting to see Indianapolis in a new light: as a Super Bowl city with cultural offerings to balance
out the decades-long sports focus and enough potential to attract public and private investment in the future.
Boosters want to keep building on the city’s progress, educating visitors and residents alike about all that Indiana
has to offer. But we’re running the risk of losing our shine in a cloud of smoke.
This is not a new topic for us. We have used this space to advocate—if not plead—for a comprehensive smoking
ban for years. The time has come for state and local lawmakers alike to stop ignoring the health risks associated with secondhand
smoke in an effort to keep some businesses happy.
Those downtown “headquarters” for Big Ten fans? Eight of them don’t allow smoking. And still the beer flows
and patrons pour in to celebrate or mourn their teams’ fate.
Despite claims to the contrary, bars will survive. Casinos will endure. Fraternal organizations may even stumble on a way
to attract younger, health-conscious members. And if we’re lucky, a few more of us will live long enough to see Indianapolis
live up to its potential.•
__________
To comment on this editorial, write to ibjedit@ibj.com.
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The last time I checked cigarettes are a legal product and smoking them in the sanctity of your own home or in a myriad of other places indoors and out is still not a prosecutable offense. So, my premise is that business owners should be allowed to determine whether their bar, restaurant, casino, or private club is smoking or not. Their establishments are after all private property.
In the interest of full disclosure, let me say that while I am not a cigarette smoker, I am an occasional cigar smoker. I absolutely do not want to eat my filet mignon next to a table of smokers, so I choose to eat at Eddie Merlotâ??s which has banned smoking. But if I want to have a beer and a cigar while I chat with friends, I now have several choices in which to do so. Enacting a comprehensive ban on liberty as you call for reminds me of Orwellâ??s 1984.
The system we have now works, period. Economic factors determine which establishments are smoking and which are smoke free. Many restaurants have gone smokeless such as Scottyâ??s Brewhouse. Scott Wise will tell you that he is smoke free because he makes more money being smoke free. On the other hand, to not allow smoking in an establishment such as the Indy Cigar Bar or Nikki Blaineâ??s in which every patron and worker is fully cognizant of the benefits and risks of being in such an establishment, is akin to discrimination. After all, we all eat and drink. Next thing you know, weâ??ll be telling The Cheesecake Factory that they canâ??t sell cheesecake due to the high fat content. Mark my words IBJ, this current movement is a slippery slope of diminishing liberty and business opportunity.
Special interest groups JW? You mean like smokers who've been thrown out onto the street and are working to fight these bans? Of course what JW is trying to imply is that there's some sort of deep dark cabal, probably funded by dirty tobacco money laundered on the dark side of the moon that produces any opinions or information against smoking bans.
Sorry JW, that's an old trick and one that I took head on when I wrote brains. Read the first two sentences of the "Author's Preface" at http://www.Antibrains.com and then look around to see if anyone's risen to the challenge over the last five years.
The bottom line is that there are lots of good solid reasons for opposing these bans, and a lot of good solid questions about the pseudo-science trumped up to support them. Read the "Lies" link I posted a few posts below this and offer any substantive criticisms of it if you have any.
I don't think you will.
- MJM
The article states: "Protecting the health of workers is simply more important than preserving the ability to light up with a lager." So the employees knew before they applied for the jobs that the bar allowed smoking and applied anyway. They accepted the job knowing the bar allowed smoking. They continue to work at this job knowing the bar allows smoking. And yet somehow it's the government's job to protect people who decided for themselves to apply for, accept, and work at a job with known risks involved.
It's clear the IBJ feels individuals are much too stupid to decide for themselves. We need nanny government to step in and tell people what they should and should not be doing. If only the government could just run these bars and we could completely get rid of any notion of "private" property.
No one is trying to ban smoking. It's a legal activity, just like alcohol. However, there are laws associated with drinking. One cannot consume alcohol and get behind the wheel of a car (because of the dangers). One should not be allowed to smoke inside enclosed public areas (because of the dangers). There is NO ban on smoking, however, there MUST be laws to PROTECT the public.
Of course the only ones who know them that way are the extremists pushing the bans and trying to frighten the locals by saying "Gee, everyone's talking about you! You better straighten out boy or no one's gonna like ya!"
btw, those "27 states with comprehensive bans" is another cute propaganda trick called "The Bandwagon" : "Don't be left behind! Everyone ELSE is jumping off the bridge! YOU should TOO!!!" Does that "27" number include California which allows bars with under six employees to have Free Choice? Or Florida where ALL stand-alone bars have Free Choice? Or Pennsylvania where over 2,000 bar/restaurants have exemptions? Or Ohio where 40 local health departments have outright refused to enforce their unpopular ban?
Things aren't always what the antismoking lobby tries to make them appear. Go to:
http://kuneman.smokersclub.com/PASAN/StilettoGenv5h.pdf
and read "The Lies Behind The Smoking Bans." It's short and one-sided, but its facts are accurate and their presentation is honest. Feel free to criticize it if you want: I'm open about who I am, what my "competing interest" might be, and I stand firmly behind what I write.
Michael J. McFadden
Author of "Dissecting Antismokers' Brains"
An article should be written regarding Indy stating pro-private property state who respects it's business owners. Indy, don't fall for this nonsense. Ohio is now coming to your state for a breath of fresh nonoppressive air!