mgroves

As long as tobacco remains a legal product to buy and sell in Columbus, I believe a public smoking ban is unfair and unjust. If an owner of an establishment wants to allow smoking of a legal product in his tax revenue generating restaurant, he should be able to. Conversely, if a non-smoker does not want to be bothered by smoke, he should be able to vote with his wallet and take his business to a non-smoking establishment. How ethical is it to collect a public tax on tobacco, but not allow the use of it in public? (I know that the tax is levied by the state, not the city)

Anyway, Columbus, Ohio, passed a smoking ban earlier this year in January. The Akron Beacon Journal [registration or bugmenot required] reports that most businesses are keeping the effect on their finances confidential, but a Vice President of the Ohio Restaurant Association says that his receipts are down about 35%.