The primary reason for a ban on smoking in restaurants and
bars the effects of second hand smoke on other people. It is
considered such a great health risk that many states have legislated to protect those
who do not smoke from incurring one of the many dangerous side effects of being in an
enclosed area with other smokers.
A secondary reason for
such laws goes to the idea that by regulating public areas where people are allowed or
not allowed to smoke, this will somehow deter people from smoking. The idea is to help
people quit (or not start) smoking. By reducing the number of smokers, the health
side-effects are reduced, and the overall cost of health care, in the long run, is
reduced. In theory. This is of course assuming that by taking away a place to smoke,
the smoker decides it is too much work to keep up the habit and
quits.
I live in NC, where there is a smoking ban in
restaurants and bars. While I love this laws for purely selfish reasons (I'm not a
smoker and I hate the smell of second hand smoke), I do not think it will be successful
in lowering the amount of smokers in the state. If nothing else, the biggest complaint
is that many bars are losing business because the crowd of those who smoke AND drink is
dwindling.
Banning smoking all together would probably have
the same effect as prohibition had. And we all know what that did for actually reducing
drinking in America. Hah.
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