Partial smoking ban gets mixed reviews

07:29 PM CST on Wednesday, March 9, 2005

By Doug Miller / 11 News & Associated Press

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HOUSTON -- Houston on Wednesday joined a growing list of cities to ban smoking in restaurants.

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Cigarettes will no longer be welcome in the dining areas of Houston restaurants.

The City Council rejected a ban on all public smoking but voted to prohibit smoking in restaurants and covered bus shelters. The measure, effective in September, still permits smoking in some restaurant bars and in stand-alone bars. Taxis also can ban smoking under the ordinance.

“Council acted decisively to make Houston more smoke-free. It’s progress,” said Mayor Bill White, who proposed the partial ban. "Not as much as some people want to make, but most Houstonians understand that making our dining areas smoke-free in a restaurant is progress."

The vote was 9-4 with Mayor White, Toni Lawrence, Carol Mims Galloway, M.J. Kahn, Adrian Garcia, Carol Alvarado, Mark Ellis, Shelley Sekula-Gibbs and Ronald Green voting in favor of the plan.

Addie Wiseman, Pam Holm, Gordon Quan and Michael Berry voted against it.

When the new law takes effect in six months, the fine for violating the ban will increase from $500 to 2000.

The council also agreed to revisit the issue in 18 months after studying the effects on public health and restaurants’ bottom lines.

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Opponents argued the ban still endangers public health, while smokers’ rights and restaurant groups worry the plan will infringe on civil liberties and hurt revenues.

"I own this place. I'm a smoker. If you don't like it. Don't come," said Rick Duplechian who owns the 59 Diner.

"I don't think it's gonna slow business down. And it won't stop me from going to restaurants, I'll say that," said Kevin Fine, another smoker.

Councilwoman Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, a physician who proposed the full ban, voted for the less prohibitive measure. But she added, “I’ll continue to push for a full ban on smoking in all workplaces.”

Elaine Jefferson of the American Cancer Society in Houston also pushed for the full ban.

“The smoker comprises 25 percent or less of our population,” she said last week. “When they choose to smoke, that choice becomes the choice of everybody in that establishment.”

The Cancer Society says secondhand smoke is the third-leading preventable cause of death in the United States, causing about 53,000 deaths a year.

Dave Pickrell, president and founder of Smokers Fighting Discrimination Inc., said the secondhand smoke threat is exaggerated.

“When you cook, a lot of ingredients go together to make a meal. It’s the same with disease. To say smoking causes cancer is like saying sticking a potato in boiling water makes potato soup,” said Pickrell, whose group is based in the Houston suburb of Katy.

Richie Jackson, head of the Texas Restaurant Association, said the group supports smoke-free dining areas but worries businesses will be hurt.

A study done for the Greater Dallas Restaurant Association showed that sales of alcohol at eating and drinking establishments in Dallas fell $11.8 million in 2003. The city’s smoking ban took effect in March 2003.

But Dr. Andrew Hyland, a research scientist at Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, N.Y., said his review of 100 studies from eight countries showed no reputable studies concluded smoke-free regulations were bad for business.

At least 13 Texas cities have smoke-free restaurants, according to the American Cancer Society and the Texas Department of State Health Services. The strongest ordinance is in El Paso, which bans smoking in all public places.

Debate continues in other Texas cities.

In Corpus Christi, several business owners have sued the city in federal court for its ban on smoking in restaurants, which took affect last month.

Residents in Austin and Amarillo will vote May 7 on whether to ban smoking in most public places.

Seven states prohibit smoking in most indoor public places, though the effects of the bans are still debated.

In New York, the number of jobs in restaurants and bars, as well as the number of restaurant permits requested, have climbed since that city’s ban took affect two years ago. But some New York businesses say the ban has hurt their revenues.