Imagine a smoking ban in Virginia...
washingtonpost.com
Smoking Ban in Va. Advances
Most Public Buildings Would Be Affected
By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, February 4, 2005; Page B01
RICHMOND, Feb. 3 -- A Senate committee voted narrowly Thursday to ban smoking in virtually all of Virginia's public buildings, including restaurants, in an effort to protect people from the effects of secondhand smoke.
The bill's ultimate fate is uncertain. To become law, it would have to pass the full Senate and House of Delegates and be signed by Gov. Mark R. Warner (D). But in a state where tobacco is the number one cash crop and where cigarette maker Philip Morris employs more than 6,000 people, lawmakers said the committee's action was a remarkable development.
Senate Bill 1191 is a complete rewrite of the state's smoking laws and the first major attempt to extend smoking restrictions in Virginia in 15 years. In 1990, lawmakers waged a pitched battle that ended with requirements for smoking sections in most larger restaurants. Smoking was banned in a few areas, such as elevators, cashier lines and emergency rooms.
The latest measure would go much further. It would prohibit smoking in all public places but provides a handful of exemptions.
"This is a great bill for the lungs, the hearts and the minds of all Virginians," said Donna Reynolds, a spokeswoman for the American Lung Association in Virginia.
Opponents of the bill said it would unfairly restrict the rights of smokers and predicted it would cost businesses money because they would lose customers. State law in Virginia now requires only that restaurants have separate smoking sections.
Lobbyists for retail merchants, restaurant associations and other small businesses told senators that their smoking customers would go somewhere else if the smoking ban were enacted.
Sen. Stephen D. Newman (R-Lynchburg) said, "I think this bill goes far too far."
At Portner's restaurant in Old Town Alexandria, where the bar and several adjacent tables make up a large smoking area, manager Maria Thompson, 42, of Alexandria was contemplating how to create a smoking area on the patio for the newly banished smokers, should the need arise. She was thinking awnings and outdoor heaters.
"I'm ready," Thompson said. "I'm tired of secondhand smoke. It's dangerous."
Les McAllister, 43, a Fairfax County resident, architect and reformed pack-a-day smoker, said he was against the proposed ban.
"I know a lot of people who would not go into a restaurant if they allow smoking," McAllister said. "But I think it's too intrusive to put a ban on it. It's unconstitutional -- and a slippery slope."
Efforts to ban smoking in public places are controversial, even when the sweet smell of tobacco doesn't waft over the capital city, as it does on warm days in Richmond. Philip Morris's manufacturing plant is just down the highway, and its world headquarters is nearby.
In Annapolis, lawmakers are also debating a ban on smoking in public spaces. Montgomery County imposed a ban on smoking in bars and restaurants in 2003 after a court ruling invalidated a previous ban adopted in 1999.
In the District, a group called Smokefree-DC is pushing to reintroduce a similar measure this year. J.P. Szymkowicz, the group's volunteer attorney, was in the Virginia committee room when the vote was taken and the audience erupted in applause. "Considering that it happened in Virginia, which is the home of big tobacco, it made it all the more shocking and a sweet victory for our side," he said.
The Senate Education and Health Committee voted 8 to 7 to approve the bill, sponsored by Sen. William C. Mims (R-Loudoun). Smoking would be permitted only in private homes, bars that are sealed off from other areas, private functions and workplace areas that are not open to the public.
"In Virginia, you have the choice to smoke. You have the choice to not smoke," Mims said. "This bill draws the appropriate line to respect the rights of both."
Kevin Hall, a spokesman for Warner, said the governor has said he supports reasonable smoking restrictions but has not reviewed Mims's bill.
The bill goes next to the Senate floor, where Mims and anti-smoking advocates predicted it could pass by a narrow margin. Then the fight would move to the House, where opposition to such smoking regulations is fierce.
In addition to the long history of acceptance of tobacco in Virginia, many lawmakers in the House frown upon what they consider "nannyism."
"I view it as a liberty issue," Del. Ryan T. McDougle (R-Hanover) said of a smoking ban. "Government has a role to protect the citizens, but they should not regulate every choice that citizens have."
Staff writer Annie Gowen contributed to this report.
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