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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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