State restaurant group backs statewide smoking ban

The chances of a statewide smoking ban passing this session got a boost after the Texas Restaurant Association’s board of directors voted to formally support the measure.

Board members are working today to iron out a list of concerns that the Association hopes to address in the draft of the bill, spokesperson Wendy Saari said.

Though restaurant owners have been among the strongest opponents to smoking bans in area cities and around the country, Saari said many Texas Restaurant Association members changed their mind on the issue after seeing the impact of a patchwork of different regulations from cities passing their own bans.

With bans in most major cities including Dallas, Fort Worth, Austin and Arlington bans, more than 20 percent of Texans are under a smoking ban of some sort.

The statewide ban is gaining much of its support from the Tarrant County delegation in Austin. State Sen. Wendy Davis, D-Fort Worth, is a coauthor of the bill filed in the Senate. In the House, the 19 coauthors of the legislation include five of Tarrant County’s 10 representatives – Republicans Todd Smith of Euless and Mark Shelton of Fort Worth and Democrats Lon Burnam and Marc Veasey, both of Fort Worth and Paula Pierson of Arlington.

Republican State Rep. Charlie Geren of Fort Worth, who has seen sales at his Railhead barbecue restaurant fall after Fort Worth’s smoking ban went into effect, has said he opposes a statewide ban.

-Aman Batheja

Comments

[Mark Durand Jr. Long Prairie, Minnesota]

Looks like the Nazi's have taken over down there, too. And all this time i thought it was just the crazy liberals here in Minnesota.

These political goons know what's best for you, don't they?

Anti-business and anti-constitution is what they are. I expect this from the left but now the right sees the unbridled power they can have. The liberals have lready figured it out.

Saving you from yourselves!

[TME]

People just do not realize that it is just a foothold. It sets an extremely dangerous precedent.

[Greg]

It is about time the Texas Restaurant Association members wised up. Accommodating 20% of the population with their usually fatal habit to the detriment of 80% doesn't make wise economic sense.
I don't patronize any restaurant that allows the stench and health hazards of cigarette smoke. The stench hits you as soon as you open the door to a restaurant that allows smoking. When I tell the hostess why I'm leaving, they usually say the smoking section is separate. That is like having a separate peeing section in a swimming pool.
Restaurants that allow cigarette smoke don't give a damn about their employees or customers.

Now with the hodgepodge of scattered out city smoking bans, cities like Grapevine are loser magnets and clean cities like Southlake are stench free. It is embarrassing that so many states including Louisiana and Arkansas are ahead of Texas in passing a statewide smoking ban.

I moved to this area from College Station. I was there before and after a smoking ban was passed. Restaurant business increased substantially after the ban. Perhaps the change in economy in the last 13 plus months has more to do with Charlie Geren's drop in sales. That and possibly the remnants of years of disgusting stench impregnated into every porous surface.
He should move to a new building not ruined by smokers.

[TES]

Then you idiot stay out of places you know allow smoking. The Market WILL decide. How stupid can you be? Letting the government make choices for people, especially for a legal activity, is just the beginning of a slide down a slippery slope you WILL regret later.

It is about time the Texas Restaurant Association members wised up. Accommodating 20% of the population with their usually fatal habit to the detriment of 80% doesn't make wise economic sense.
I don't patronize any restaurant that allows the stench and health hazards of cigarette smoke. The stench hits you as soon as you open the door to a restaurant that allows smoking. When I tell the hostess why I'm leaving, they usually say the smoking section is separate. That is like having a separate peeing section in a swimming pool.
Restaurants that allow cigarette smoke don't give a damn about their employees or customers.

Now with the hodgepodge of scattered out city smoking bans, cities like Grapevine are loser magnets and clean cities like Southlake are stench free. It is embarrassing that so many states including Louisiana and Arkansas are ahead of Texas in passing a statewide smoking ban.

I moved to this area from College Station. I was there before and after a smoking ban was passed. Restaurant business increased substantially after the ban. Perhaps the change in economy in the last 13 plus months has more to do with Charlie Geren's drop in sales. That and possibly the remnants of years of disgusting stench impregnated into every porous surface.
He should move to a new building not ruined by smokers.

[Johnnyb]

Makes more sense to ban BBQ than to ban smoking, think about it! A BBQ joint burns through 100s of pounds of logs every day at any one location. Wood produces the same chemicals that cigarette smoke does, but it would take the entire city of Dallas chain smoking at one spot to equal the amount of smoke at one BBQ joint, and even then its doubtful that they could make as much smoke!

Natural gas produces the same chemicals that cigarette smoke does too, perhaps we should also ban gas ranges and gas heaters in all public establishments. Close down all the burger joints that are using gas, Burger King will certainly have to be shut down, after all the fumes coming off of cooking meat are carcinogenic, and Burger King is an attractive nusaince that markets directly to kids.

Alcohol should certainly be banned, because it has many of the same chemicals that cigarette smokes does, in some cases 1000s of times the dose. Not to mention that it gets people drunk, causes them to wreck their cars and kill people, is a leading cause of arrests and domestic violence. Ban Alcohol, its far worse the tobacco smoke!

Cars should be banned, they are producing the same carcinogenic chemicals as cigarette smoke and MORE. Everyone driving down I-35 Stemmons, is directly sucking in fumes from the cars in front of them. Same chemicals, just in much greater quantities.

Then after we get rid of the cars, the burger joints, the BBQ joints, and converted the entire State to run on wind and solar power to run all the heating/air conditioning, and electric stoves we can ban smoking and everyone will live forever, whether they want to or not.

One thing that I find alittle bit funny though, why is it that the heaviest smoking cultures like the Japanese, French and Greeks also have the longest lifespans on Earth? Maybe its because they do not have BBQ joints, I don't know.

[e cigarette]

This is either a really good idea... Or a really bad one.

[John S]

As far as restaurants bars and clubs are concerned, I think it is individual businesses that should be allowed to choose if they allow smoking or not, and there should be a provision given to businesses to make the transition so that both non-smoker and smoking customers can be accomodated. I myself have switched to an e-cig, so I dont have to worry about the bans, but I still sympathise with smoker's rights.