Bar and restaurant owners also contend they have the right to set the terms of their employment, and to create a particular atmosphere in their restaurants -- including a sophisticated or seedy image that allows for smoking. However, foot traffic at restaurants and bars actually rose after the ban went into effect (Rutenberg & Koppel 2005, p.1). Even one smoker admitted he was converted to a non-smoking atmosphere, saying now: "I'm all for it. My dry-cleaning bill's gone way down…and I'm smoking less" (Rutenberg & Koppel 2005, p.2). Once upon a time, smoking was allowed in all workplaces. However, as the health consequences of smoking became know, more people adapted to the smoke-free environments, and Americans are less likely to smoke, because it is less socially acceptable. Just like 'sin taxes' and banning vending machines, prohibiting smoking in restaurants and bars makes the practice less socially acceptable, and less costly to the nation in terms of healthcare, as well as less costly in terms of worker health. It sets an example for all patrons that smoking is not normative.
Nonsmoking restaurant patrons should not have to suffer inhaling the smell of tobacco, especially while paying New York City prices for food and drink. Furthermore, the ban does not apply to outdoor locations or cigar bars, so people can still smoke in a few select hospitality-related establishments (Cross 2009). However, by severely limiting the types of establishments were smoking is allowed, as well as the location, career waiters and other industry employees will not have to chose between their livelihood and their lives -- they can choose to work in a non-smoking environment.
The consequences of smoking are never limited to the individual:...
Even if he or she does not develop lung cancer or heart disease, smokers are also at a higher risk for developing more minor health-related chronic conditions that are expensive to treat, including emphysema, asthma, and diabetes. By forcing restaurant workers to be subject to secondhand smoke, these social costs likewise increase. Finally, as waiters, busboys, and bartenders are more likely to be low-income employees without health insurance, forcing them to risk their health is an even greater injustice. More so than a few indignant restaurateurs' bottom line, the costs of society and the costs to these workers's well-being must take the forefront of public concern.
Works Cited
Cross, Heather. (2009. April 1). Smother-friendly bars in NYC. About.com.
Retrieved September 12, 2009 at http://gonyc.about.com/cs/barsnightlife/a/smokerfriendly.htm
Dangers of second-hand smoke. (2009). The Cleveland Clinic.
Retrieved September 12, 2009 at http://my.clevelandclinic.org/healthy_living/smoking/hic_dangers_of_second-hand_smoke.aspx
Filler, Richard. (2006, August 28). The dangers of second-hand smoke. Smoke Free Ohio.
Retrieved September 12, 2009 at http://www.smokefreeohio.org/oh/about/documents/SFOSecondhandSmoke.pdf
Frumkin, Paul. (2003, April 7). New York state outlaws smoking in all enclosed workplaces
Nation's Restaurant News.
Rutenberg, Jim 7= & Lily Koppel. (2005, February 6). In barrooms, smoking ban is less reviled.
The New York Times. Retrieved September 12, 2009 at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/nyregion/06xsmoke.html
