MY Air Matters

Smoke-free letters in Post-Dispatch

July 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment

There were two great pro-smoke-free letters on stltoday.com this morning.

The hermits will return

The ongoing struggle for a smoking ban seems to have become a regular on the nightly news, with every local bar owner and tax-paying citizen with asthma voicing concern. I am a college student from Columbia, Mo., where an indoor smoking ban is already in place. My rough research, which consists entirely of simply attending said establishments, suggests that not a thing has changed, and the bars are as packed as ever.

Of course, it’s a very different place, but the differences seem to make it more convincing. First, many college-aged individuals have ignored the surgeon general’s warning and become smokers (or at least “I-only-smoke-when-I-drink” chain-smokers in the making). Also, in a college town, students could go to a house party, where they usually can smoke at will. However, despite a large percentage of smokers and alternate options, the masses still turn out nearly every night of the week.

The smoking ban probably would have a similarly trivial impact on restaurants and bars in the St. Louis Area for a common reason: People will tolerate having to walk outside to smoke rather than forfeit a major aspect of their entertainment and social lives. Smokers-turned-hermits may boycott at first, but before long they will succumb to cabin fever, resulting in more business than ever before as the smoking customers join newcomers who previously had been too health-conscious to patronize establishments that allow smoking.

Paul J. Hampel — St. Charles

Without the gas mask

I don’t understand the controversy about prohibiting smoking in public places. Kim Tucci, one of the most successful restaurateurs in St. Louis, went smoke-free about six years ago, and it has not hurt his business. And why should it?

A casino customer seated at a slot machine probably gets up and moves when a chain-smoking person sits next to him. But what about the restaurant customer who has just started a $50 meal when a cigarette smoker at the next table starts blowing clouds of choking, billowing smoke?

Unlike the gambler who can get up, the diner has no choice but to eat as fast as possible, ruining an evening and an expensive meal.

Let’s put a no-smoking law into effect immediately. One of these days, I might be able to afford a $50 meal, and I would rather not try to eat while wearing a gas mask.

Harvey Meyer — Green Park

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Update on the smoke-free law–mayorslay.com

July 6, 2009 · Leave a Comment

July 1, 2009 Update on the smoke-free law

Later today, a committee of the Board of Aldermen will continue its hearing on a bill that would extend smoke-free regulations to more workplaces in the City of St. Louis.

The bill’s restrictions would cover bars and restaurants, 80 percent of hotel rooms, and most private clubs. It would not cover tobacco shops, outdoor patios, private homes, or the floor of a casino.

(I support these reasonable compromises because I believe that a-very-good-bill-that-passes is better than a-perfect-bill-that-dies-in-committee. A bill that fails to advance beyond the committee is the same as a bill that is defeated – and is the same as doing nothing. Doing nothing should not be an option.)

Yesterday’s hearings drew both opponents and supporters, with odd alliances forming between those who think the proposed regulations are not restrictive enough and those who want no restrictions at all.

The testimony with which I most agreed was that of Joe Edwards, whose iconic establishments on both sides of the Loop and on Washington Avenue have always set the bar for St. Louis “cool.” Joe said that he sees the days of smoky clubs and bars coming to an end everywhere. His customers, he testified, are younger crowds who complain about the smoke.

That is certainly the case in many other states and foreign countries. It is true locally in Kansas City, Kirksville, and (even?) Ballwin. A new law is being discussed in Clayton.

The bill being considered at the St. Louis Board of Aldermen has an emergency clause because it deals with a public health issue. It will be law immediately – which means that it will go into effect as soon as St. Louis County passes the same law. Joe’s businesses on each side of the city limit in the Loop, for example, will not be subject to different regulations nor placed at any competitive disadvantage.

We need a smoke-free ordinance in the City of St. Louis. And I will sign a smoke-free bill and make it the law when it get to my desk.

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Smoking: Ban it everywhere indoors

June 28, 2009 · Leave a Comment

St. Louis Beacon Editorial: Clayton is close to having a ban that would take effect in July 2010. Ballwin is already smoke free. What about the rest of the area? Health considerations should count there, too.

Three weeks ago, the Clayton City Council voted 5 to 1 in an initial vote to have all indoor businesses become smoke-free. Only one alderman voted against the measure, and he wanted to see a stronger ordinance that added Clayton’s parks and green spaces to the bars and restaurants in the bill. The City Council will have a second and final vote in July, and the ordinance will, if passed, go into effect in July 2010. Clayton residents overwhelmingly supported the ordinance, and many came out to hear the verdict.

Clayton is not the first municipality in St. Louis County to go smoke-free; Ballwin has held that distinction since 2006. Clayton and Ballwin are leading by example.

While many other communities in our region are contemplating the pros and cons of smoke-free workplaces, Clayton and Ballwin have made real progress. It is much easier to tackle this issue at the municipal level, as Big Tobacco’s influence is strongest at the state level, though I don’t know how long that will hold, seeing as the No. 1 tobacco producing state, North Carolina, passed a statewide smoke-free law in May. That’s right: The birthplace of RJ Reynolds and the home of Winston-Salem will soon be 100 percent smoke-free.

Right now, only about 13 percent of Missourians are covered by smoke-free protections. St. Louis, St. Louis County and St. Charles are all crucial to this movement if we’re going to see a smoke-free state. In the city, Mayor Francis Slay recently said on his blog “I am not willing to wait forever for everyone to reach the same reasonable conclusion.”

July 2010 is as good a target as any for our region to be smoke-free. In addition to Clayton, Washington University will go 100 percent smoke-free in July 2010. St. Louis Alderwoman Lyda Krewson, D-28th ward, recently introduced a smoke-free bill to the Board of Aldermen. The bill would make city bars, restaurants and indoor spaces smoke-free as soon as St. Louis County passes a similar ordinance.

According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, in Missouri there are 140,000 kids alive today and under the age of 18 who will die prematurely from smoking. This year, 1,180 adults in Missouri will die from secondhand smoke exposure.

It would be one thing if St. Louis were the first city to address this issue, but we’re not. We have the luxury of ample data from thousands of communities. Every economic impact study not funded by tobacco industry allies finds no adverse impact on bar and restaurant business. The argument that markets should decide is a hollow one; we have a duty to protect our city’s workforce.

A nurse in a hospital is protected by laws and regulations so her health isn’t affected by her job; does that make her any more worthy of protection than a waitress in a smoky bar? The nurse and the waitress are both someone’s daughter or mother, and neither of them should have to choose between their health and a paycheck.

The issue is not about personal preference or even about smoking — it’s about smoking indoors where other people are forced (that’s right, forced) to breathe in carcinogens. No one has a choice to breathe. We’re simply asking smokers to step outside for the health of everyone. It’s a reasonable request.

Of the 30 largest cities in the United States, St. Louis and Detroit are the only two left without smoke-free protections. I think Mayor Slay said it best in his state of the city address: “Nothing quite says ‘regressive place to live’ to young people like resisting a change already made in 29 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.”

We look forward to the day when our entire region is smoke-free. Now is the time to start making positive changes in our communities. Wildwood, Kirkwood, Creve Coeur and others are in the process of making the switch. Eliminating smoking indoors is an effective, cost-free way to improve our community’s health in a tangible and measurable way. What are we waiting for?

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Want a smoke-free Saint Louis? Join us Tuesday and Wednesday!

June 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment

SMOKE-FREE ST. LOUIS CITY RALLY

TUESDAY JUNE 30

11am

City Hall (1200 Market)

Smoke-Free St. Louis City will be holding a rally in support of smoke-free air in St. Louis City. You’re invited to hold signs, hand out fliers and come and show your support to make our city healthy and smoke-free! Don’t worry about lunch, we’ll provide pizza for supporters who come to the rally and testify at the hearings and we’ll also have signs, T-shirts, buttons, etc. All you have to do is show up!

ST. LOUIS CITY PUBLIC HEARING ON SMOKE-FREE AIR

TUESDAY JUNE 30 and WEDNESDAY JULY 1

12pm

City Hall (1200 Market)

The Health and Human Services Committee of the Board of Aldermen will be hearing public testimony on the proposed smoke-free bar and restaurant law in St. Louis. We encourage all coalition supporters to attend, make their voice heard and let our city’s leaders know just how many people are passionate about a smoke-free community! Only residents of St. Louis City will be allowed to testify, but anyone can submit a written testimony. This may be our one and only chance to make St. Louis smoke-free and we need you to help make it happen!

If you have any questions or need more information, please contact Coalition Director Diana Benanti, diana.smokefreestl@gmail.com or at 314 535 0114. Please pass on this information to all your friends and contacts!

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Two smoke-free letters!

June 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Editorial June 26, 2009

Good for health,

good for business

I hope I one day will not be asked “smoking or non?” at a restaurant. I hope Missouri will stop ignoring the overwhelming evidence from the former U.S. surgeon general that concluded that there is no safe level of exposure to secondhand smoke. I dream that my children will be able to choose any job without risking their health for a paycheck.

Now more than ever, we need to focus on trying to make St. Louis smoke-free. In study after study, the facts remain the same: Smoke-free laws are good for health and good for business.

We need to enact a comprehensive smoke-free law that protects the health of the people living and working here. We need our politicians to stop protecting the tobacco industry and start protecting the health of St. Louis residents. Everyone deserves the right to breathe smoke-free air.

And when this happens, when we allow smoke-freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every casino and every bar and restaurant, from every city to every county, we will see the day when patrons and children, business owners and employees, and smokers and non-smokers will be able to join hands and sing: Smoke-free at last!

Carly Caminiti — St. Louis

Smoke-free in the city

As the city considers going smoke-free, it is important to remember that smoke-free air laws exist to protect worker health. There are 14,000 hospitality workers in the city of St. Louis; too many of them are unprotected from secondhand smoke. About 80 percent of St. Louis city residents believe that all workers should work in a smoke-free environment.

Our grass-roots community coalition of more than 5,000 individuals and more than 60 businesses and organizations in the city of St. Louis support smoke-free bars and restaurants, and we thank Alderwoman Lyda Krewson for testing the waters and stimulating the public discourse about smoke-free air in our city.

Data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prove that smoke-free laws reduce exposure to secondhand smoke among workers and the public, reduce cigarette consumption rates, increase successful quit attempts and reinforce efforts to reduce tobacco use among children — all positive changes that we desperately need in our community.

Thousands of communities have gone smoke-free and have done so successfully. It’s not an earth-shattering change; it’s just a simple step that will enrich our city in measurable ways. We look forward to the ongoing public dialogue.

Diana L. Benanti — St. Louis

Coalition Director, Smoke-Free St. Louis City

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A FAMILY LEGACY GOES SMOKE FREE: The Cheshire’s Fox and Hounds Tavern paves a new path

June 25, 2009 · 2 Comments

St. Louis, MO…June 2009….The Cheshire Lodge has history dating back to 1965 when it was designed and built by Stephen J. Apted who originally purchased the Inn restaurant from the Medart family four years earlier.  Little did Apted know that his family owned and operated Lodge would become such a landmark and institution in this city and any changes or enhancements made to this legendary charming Old English, 106-room hotel would become central news.

The inspired and reincarnated London tavern and lodge, which hails today as The Cheshire Lodge, is run by Stephen’s son Dan and granddaughter Dani, who together have brought on many new innovations to the well-known hotel over the years revamping the eclectic rooms and fantasy suites, plus offering free Wi-Fi, complimentary healthy start breakfasts’, and entertainment-styled packages with friends in the park.

This month however, comes time for change and one of the Lodge’s most vital announcements to date, which is the statement of their Fox and Hounds Tavern becoming a smoke-free environment.  This message comes at a time when the news is soaring with restaurant, bar and hotel business owners actively jousting with their local politicians over their own city-enhanced smoking bans.  The Apted family, whose Lodge currently does not sit in the crossfire or city line of these bans, is taking their own standard for a new quality of life.

“This isn’t about the rules or financial impact, it’s about a quality of life for my family, staff, hotel and bar guests as well as anyone who chooses to use or be in this lodge,” stated Dan Apted.  “I have gone through effects of 9/11 to the highway 40 closures and of course the depression and recession, and no amount of money saved is worth it if I’m not concerned about improving the lives of those around me, and those we serve.”

What the family hopes to gain now is the support of the community, friends, and clientele who are also pro-smoke-free environments.  In addition, there will be two designated outdoor areas for those who do smoke.  One is located directly in front of the hotel Cock and Bear Room and the second is in the Cheshire Garden just to the west of the hotel and accessible from the first floor elevator lobby.

“We respect the privileges of our guests and hope that in keeping our interior spaces smoke-free but still offering the alternatives of open air areas for limited smoking, we will satisfy the needs of all of our guests to the best of our ability,” expressed Apted.  “I wanted to do this a year ago, but wasn’t sure on how the final decision would stand however, when a good friend of mine, Bill Cardwell also went smoke-free at his restaurant location in Frontenac, I knew that it was time for a revolution.”

For now, its time an old world hotel mixes with a new world of healthier hospitality, and brings life to the forefront.  In today’s Cheshire Lodge you can drink, eat, and sleep healthy.

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Town and Country alderman says County lacks “guts”

June 2, 2009 · 1 Comment

Alderman John Hoffman from Town and Country has it right: 

“Here is my problem with cities (Town and Country included) that do not have the guts to ban smoking. We issue business licenses and require special parking spaces, stair less entryways, special bathroom stalls for people who have mobility handicaps. But we then completely discriminate against people who have ashma and lung ailment handicaps and allow businesses to make it impossible for them to safely enter a public establishment. Every City Council and Board of Aldermen in St. Louis County need to do the right thing and pass smoke-free bans in their communities.”

Source: http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/06/town_country_waffling_on_smokiing_ban.php

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More press!

May 27, 2009 · Leave a Comment

Courtesy of West End Word

More press! The smoke-free issue has made the front page in the Post-Dispatch and the West End Word today!  

  ”While the Board of Aldermen hasn’t yet started discussing the bill,     it’s that second bit that will likely be a sticking point — neither those  in favor of a smoking ban nor those opposed are fans of tying the bill  to the actions of St. Louis County’s government.

 Diana Benanti of the anti-smoking group Smoke-free St. Louis  said that she was happy to see smoking addressed at a local  level, and called Krewson’s bill “a very big step” in the right direction, but noted that she was concerned about the caveat that the bill would only go into effect if St. Louis County passes similar legislation.

“It’s a very dangerous precedent to set,” Benanti said. “We shouldn’t be looking to others to decide our public health policy. We don’t look to the county to decide hand-washing regulations or the temperature at which to cook meat,” so the city shouldn’t look to them to determine how to deal with secondhand smoke.

Similarly, Keep St. Louis Free’s Bill Hannegan — who was a vocal opponent of Krewson’s bill even before the alderman introduced it — said he worried that the passage of the bill would give too much power to the county council over politics in the city.

“It’s one place where Smoke-free St. Louis and I agree. This would put [St. Louis County Executive] Charlie Dooley in charge of the city’s health ordinances,” Hannegan said.

Very interesting, though for the record, Smoke-Free St. Louis City is NOT an anti-smoking group. We’re not against smoking or smokers, just smoking indoors and in ways that harm other people.

THIS IS TOTALLY AWESOME: Want to know where your elected officials stand on smoke-free? The RiverFrontTimes has thoughtfully compiled a concise guide to knowing your leaders’ positions, aptly titled “Butt Heads.” They polled about 291 elected officials and here’s what they came up with: 

“Of those who spoke up, 54 percent are in favor of some form of smoking ban. Coming out against any sort of ban are 30 percent, while 16 percent say they are undecided or decline to reveal their stance.

A statewide ban would appear to have overwhelming backing from the local legislative delegation: 60 percent of the House members and 83 percent of the senators who responded to RFT profess support for a ban. (That the area delegation failed to carry the day in Jefferson City might coincide with a stark geographical component of statewide bans across the nation: Of the seventeen states that have not curtailed smoking, the vast majority are clustered south of the Mason-Dixon Line.)

St. Louis city officials, meanwhile, seem divided on the issue: 52 percent would say yes to a ban, 15 percent are against it and 33 percent are undecided or unwilling to comment.”

Here’s where the city stands. Thanks for this RFT, we love you!

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Clayton likely to be smoke-free in July 2010

May 27, 2009 · 1 Comment

Smoke-Free Clayton supporter Jason Vander WeeleYAY! The Clayton City Council voted last night 5 to 1 in favor of smoke-free bars and restaurants. The one dissenting vote came from an alderman who wanted to see the law strengthened and extended to Clayton’s parks and green spaces. I’d call that the icing on the cake, wouldn’t you? 

Read the Post-Dispatch story here. 

So basically, they voted on the first reading, and the second reading, or final vote is on July 14. The ordinance won’t go into effect until July 2010. The Council cited the flailing/failing economy as the reason for the implementation delay; they wanted to give businesses a chance to get ready for the change.

“If we pass this ordinance, Clayton will serve as an example to other municipalities and will give them encouragement to pass similar legislation.”  Clayton Mayor Linda Goldstein 

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Post-Dispatch endorses smoke-free air!

May 26, 2009 · 1 Comment

The highlight of today’s Post-Dispatch was the editorial “The Smoke-on-me State: North Carolina goes smoke-free. Why can’t Missouri?”

The Post-Dispatch highlights a few key points: the free market argument is flawed, smoking in the workplace is hazardous, and the most exposed employees (hospitality workers) are also the least likely to have health insurance–which means we get stuck with the bill. I still marvel at the flawed logic inherent in the free market argument. People are being hurt, but it’s all in the name of capitalism and the almighty buck, so don’t mess with it. 

Here’s the full text of the editorial. I’ll let the piece speak for itself.

Time was when having a drink in a North Carolina bar meant having a cigarette, too — or at least inhaling a few coffin nails’ worth of tobacco smoke.
Times have changed.
The nation’s largest tobacco-producing state just became the latest state with a clean indoor air law. Beginning Jan. 1, it will be illegal to smoke inside North Carolina bars and restaurants. North Carolina Gov. Bev Perduesigned the law in Raleigh, next door to Durham, the historic headquarters of Big Tobacco.
At the same time, city officials in Clayton were debating a proposal that would prohibit smoking in public places there. St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay has said that he wants to enact a similar law.
St. Louis-area officials have been saying that for at least 15 years, yet smoking still is allowed in most restaurants and bars on this side of the Mississippi River.
Meanwhile, Missouri is in no immediate danger of joining North Carolina, Illinois or any of the other 25 states with clean indoor air laws. A proposed smoking ban introduced by state Sen. Joan Bray, D-University City, never got out of committee before the Legislature adjourned on May 15.

Word was that suburban St. Louis city councils were meeting to discuss anti-smoking ordinances. Warning letters were dispatched quickly, reading in part:
“Our Public Issues Department is encouraging Smokers’ Rights Groups to protest. An important element in defeating these measures would be the participation of customers and smokers.”
That letter, from an anonymous employee of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, was dated July 24, 1990. It’s just one among millions of tobacco industry documents made public after lawsuits filed by state attorneys general were settled in 1998.
But while the geography has changed — the 1990 letter was written in response to proposed bans in Chesterfield and Brentwood — the playbook remains the same.
On May 12, Clayton’s Board of Aldermen heard bar and restaurant owners and their workers warn that a smoking ban would result in businesses closing. That’s the same message Big Tobacco was peddling back in 1990, along with now-discredited junk science questioning the health effects of secondhand smoke.
It’s the same line officials in North Carolina and Illinois and New York and South Dakota and every other state that already has approved clean indoor air laws have heard, too.
It wasn’t persuasive in those states, and it shouldn’t be persuasive here either.

The logic of restricting smoking in public places is undeniable. The overwhelming majority of people don’t smoke. They have the right to breathe clean air, not someone else’s dangerous and dirty tobacco smoke.
Smokers argue that markets, not the government, should dictate how business is conducted. It’s a specious argument. We don’t allow companies to spew poison into the air or water simply because they can make money doing it and their customers don’t object.
The U.S. Surgeon General reports that secondhand smoke kills about 38,000 people every year and sickens hundreds of thousands of others.
Restaurants and bars are among businesses that are least likely to provide health insurance to their employees, so when their workers get sick from the effects of secondhand smoke, the rest of us get stuck with the tab for their care.
Workplace smoking may be good for tobacco companies’ bottom lines, but it is hazardous to the rest of us. Non-smokers on Tobacco Road in North Carolina soon will have more rights than non-smokers in Missouri. This is crazy.

 

 

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