This year’s legislative proposal to ban smoking in Colorado restaurants came very close to passing – just two votes short in the Senate. That’s a respectable first step toward another try next year when we hope it passes into law.
The original bill called for a statewide smoking ban in public workplaces. The final version would have banned smoking in restaurants and bars, exempting cigar bars (duh), hospices, dog tracks, bingo parlors and gaming areas of casinos. That seems reasonable, and we hope lawmakers reach an agreement next year that a majority will support. Failing that, health advocates and businesses that support the ban should work to get an initiative on the ballot.
There is ample evidence that the majority of Coloradans prefer to eat in a smoke-free environment. Restaurant and bar employees should not have to work in smoke-filled venues. An American Cancer Society study found that 67 percent of people polled favored a smoking ban in restaurants. Even Gov. Bill Owens said this week he dislikes being in places where smoking occurs and would have considered signing a version of this year’s Senate Bill 207, though he wouldn’t say which one.
Pete Meersman, president of the Colorado Restaurant Association, which went along with the proposed ban, said that 80 percent of Coloradans don’t smoke. The association supported the proposal because its members – restaurants and bars – want a level playing field. Restaurant owners where bans exist are losing customers to adjacent cities where smoking is allowed.
In the end, the demise of the smoking ban legislation – which had bipartisan sponsorship – may have had more to do with politics than health and a fair shake for business. Even before the bill was introduced Senate Republicans rejected it, although a handful later supported a restaurant-only ban. All Senate Republicans, and two Democrats, rejected the final version. Sen. Mark Hillman said government should not tell business what to do. Business owners have a fundamental property right to decide if smoking should be allowed, he said. Some believe the opposition was aimed, in part, to diminish the bill’s high-profile Senate sponsor, Dan Grossman, who is a Democratic candidate for state attorney general. Grossman plans to take a back seat next year. “Perhaps the issue will benefit from someone who won’t be on the ballot in 2006,” Grossman said. Rep. Mark Larson, R-Cortez, this year’s House sponsor, said he will gladly sponsor it again.
Georgia this month became the 11th state – the second tobacco-producing state after Florida – to enact a statewide smoking ban. It’s time Colorado did the same.
