Mike Ditka recently spoke out against the City of Chicago's possible smoking ban in restaurants. Since Ditka is a restaurant owner and known cigar smoker, it makes sense he would be opposed to it. However, I also have been known to puff my share of cigars at weddings and other celebratory times and I would love to see the smoking ban take effect in Chicago! Chicago is a wonderful city with over a thousand restaurants however, I do not think restaurant visitors and workers should have to be exposed to the health affects of second-hand smoke because of the few that chose their smoking fate. Second-hand smoke is a major health concern and is extremely dangerous. Second-hand smoke needs to be controlled and stopped in public and some private venues. Furthermore, I am tired of having to shower and wash my clothes to get rid of the smoky scent acquired from visiting a Chicago restaurant.
Many other major cities have recently adopted similar smoking bans and have experienced a rise in restaurant attendance and increased restaurant revenues. New York, Boston, Toronto and the entire state of California have adopted a smoking ban in restaurants and businesses have thrived. Here is what one Californian had to say about the ban and it's impact on restaurants in Los Angeles. New York also has seen business growth as noted by this post on Rights and Reason. The Harvard School of Public Health even released a study noting how the smoking ban had not negatively affected business in Boston but had in fact had the opposite affect as reported here by the Bostonist. The BBC even recently released results about the positive impacts to public smoking bans here.
So Mr. Ditka, why not Chicago?
To support a smoke free Chicago visit: http://www.SmokeFreeChicago.org/
