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Smoking Bans - Fair or Foul?
By Dan Buglio, June - 2005
City
halls and town councils are packed with people arguing both sides
of this heated debate. Should we ban smoking in bars, restaurants
and other public places or not? I pose this question:
Did the government intervene because every bar and restaurant
has state of the art smoke
eater technology installed - providing a comfortable, safe and
odor free dining or drinking experience? I doubt it.
I may not make any friends here, but I say that it is the very same
bar and restaurant owners who cry about the smoking bans putting
them out of business that actually brought the smoking bans upon themselves.
For those of you who have invested in the right smoke eater
technology, my apologies. But look around. Most bars,
night clubs and restaurants haven't done enough... or anything at
all. Why not? Don't these owners realize it's their health
too? Bartenders and owners working in a smoky bar are 50% more
likely to develop lung cancer than those working in a smoke free environment.
Yes, 50% more likely!
I
don't smoke. Never have, never will. I hate the stuff.
But in spite of that, I feel that a bar or restaurant has a
right to allow smoking in their privately owned business. The
customer also has a right to not be a patron. It's a free country,
do as you wish. Unfortunately, our government feels they need
to get involved to protect the staff and customers because the
bar owners haven't.
While
the government is at it, why not ban cigarettes altogether?
Cigarettes kill thousands of people a year. Cigarettes have
known carcinogens and cancer causing agents in them. Smoke related
illnesses are costing the nation billions in healthcare, Medicare
and such. What is ironic is that a pharmaceutical drug that
may help thousands but kills one person due to an adverse reaction
is pulled off the market immediately. But a known killer like
cigarettes is legal to be sold to anyone over 18 years of age.
Funny how money rules our government. The tobacco industry has
a huge lobby and puts tons of money into government through taxes
and political donations. So the bottom line is that cigarettes
are here to stay.
So
what should we do about smoking in bars, night clubs and restaurants?
My vote is that it should be up to the owner of the establishment
to decide. If allowing smoking causes a bar or restaurant to
gain or lose business, that is their choice. Many people argue
in favor of the health of the bartenders and wait staff. Shouldn't
they be provided a safe place to work? Again, it's a matter
of choice. If you don't want to work in a smoky bar, don't work
there or push your management to get some quality smoke eaters.
As a customer, if you
don't want to eat in a smoky restaurant, don't eat there. There
are plenty of alternatives. Simple right?
To
the owners who cry foul when their city or town bans smoking, what
are you waiting for? As the owner of a company selling air
purifiers, air cleaners
and smoke eaters,
I speak to hundreds of bar and restaurant owners about their smoke
problems each year. Most have smoke eaters
that are either 20 years old and poorly maintained or they have nothing
at all. Then when they find out what it takes to really get
rid of the smoke, many claim "it's too expensive" and don't do anything.
6 months later, I follow up and they still haven't done anything.
What's the excuse? They have none.
What drives me crazy is that smoke removal
isn't rocket science. Maybe people don't realize that there
is technology available to handle smoke. For those who feel
that bars have always been smoky and that's just the way it is, here's
how it works: To get rid of smoke, you simply need to invest
in some commercial
smoke eaters. Equipment that will effectively filter out
the majority of the fine microscopic smoke particles. Filtration
only solves half the problem. You then need to get rid of the
harmful gases, fumes and odors from cigarettes. Commercial HVAC
UV air purifiers have really improved to the point that an odor
ridden smoky bar is no longer a necessity. You CAN have a nearly
smoke free environment...if you are willing to spend the money on
some quality commercial smoke
eaters.
When it comes to cost, many
fail to realize is that a good smoke removal system
will pay for itself in short order. Think about it, if just
4 patrons stay an hour longer than normal, spending an extra $10 each,
that's $40 bucks a day in increased revenue. Do the math,
that's $14,600 a year in extra revenue. With the markup on beer
and liquor, the investment in state of the art smoke eater
technology will likely pay for itself inside of 6-9 months through
increased revenue. Hype it up with customers and local media
and you can easily recoup your investment even quicker.
To
wrap it up: For those customers who patronize a smoky bar or
restaurant, tell them to do something about the smoke or you'll take
your business elsewhere. For you bar and restaurant owners out
there? What are you waiting for? Wait much longer and
the governments will surely ban smoking and you will just have to
find out for yourself what it will do to your business and your bottom
line. Act now before it's too late. Invite your local politician
into your new clean air establishment. Show them what can be
done to provide a healthy and comfortable dining or drinking experience.
Perhaps it's not too late.
Dan
Buglio is the owner of My Air Purifier, a business that sells
air purifiers, air
cleaners and smoke eaters
for homes and businesses. He can be contacted at 1-888-472-8736
or by email at Dan@My-Air-Purifier.com. Permission is granted to re-publish this article
providing it is published in its entirety without exclusion including
this authors block and embedded links. The author may be contacted
via email.
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