A Bit Of News For All Smokers

[ginger]

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Governor signs ban on smoking in bars, casinos
By The Associated Press | Thursday, March 19, 2009


PIERRE -- Gov. Mike Rounds says the need to protect people from secondhand smoke played a role in his decision to sign a measure that bans smoking in South Dakota's bars, video lottery casinos and Deadwood gambling halls.

"I think in this case, the health concerns top the other concerns that were expressed," the governor said Thursday.







During legislative debate, supporters argued that secondhand smoke in bars and casinos hurts customers and employees. Opponents said the ban interferes with business owners' rights.

State economists have said the ban likely will cut state revenue from gambling. The state gets some revenue from taxes and fees applied to Deadwood gambling halls. The state also has been getting more than $110 million a year as its half of the profits from video gambling establishments that offer poker and other games.

An economist from the governor's budget office recently said a smoking ban could cut video lottery revenue by 15 percent to 25 percent in the budget year beginning July 1.

Jennifer Stalley of Pierre, an official of the American Cancer Society, praised the governor's decision to sign the bill.

"I think it's a big day for South Dakota," Stalley said. "In the long run I think we're going to save a lot of lives, a lot of money."

Similar bans in other states have cut health care costs by reducing emergency room visits for heart problems, Stalley said. The ban also protects workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke in bars and casinos, she said.

"Nobody should have to choose between their health and their job," Stalley said.

Until now, Deadwood gambling halls, bars, video lottery casinos and restaurants that sell alcohol were exempt from the smoking ban. Representatives of those industries fought the tighter ban all through the legislative session.

The law makes it a petty offense, carrying a fine of $25, for smokers who violate the ban and business owners or managers who fail to warn violators.

Rounds said smoking ban opponents may collect petition signatures to try to refer it to a statewide public vote in the November 2010 election. Such a referral would suspend the law from taking effect until after the public vote.

The governor said the bill written by the Legislature allows smoking in only a few places and can be enforced in a way that works.

The Legislature also recognized that while people have a choice whether they smoke, a larger number of people do not want to be irritated by secondhand smoke. Television ads run by supporters of the ban helped shape public opinion on the issue, he said.

"I think there's also a conscious decision on the part of the majority of the public that it's really not right to put employees in a position of losing their jobs if they can't handle the secondhand smoke," Rounds said.

[Bronxhog]

I smoke cigars so I'm used to being discriminated against,cigarette smokers are mostly hypocrites they want to be able to smoke whenever and where ever but will complain and say cigar smoke is bothering them-this has been going on for years.

[YankeeBob]

It will be interesting to see that enforced during the rally.

[ginger]

i rarely hang out in bars here in sturgis, and the reason being, is because i hang out in deadwood. i LOVE to drink/gamble/smoke, all in one big room ! this bill pisses me off

[Faast Ed]

Illinois did that last year. Killed the bars that are near the border of the state, and knocked down Casino revenue by 20% (vs Indiana Casino's).

The good news is they want to compensate by asking for a law to allow the Casinos to offer free booze.

Good chance the South Dakota law will pass, and many more states will join them.

[fourhour]

I'd be curious to know how much cigarette tax revenue, if any, is lost in the states that have banned smoking in bars.

Massachusetts banned smoking a few years ago and all it did was make the smokers go stand outside and smoke. The entrance ways to bars are now filthy and disgustingly stink. On the other hand, the bars don't smell like ashtrays anymore. And us stoners don't have to sneak a joint in the car anymore!

I work in a large medical center that will ban smoking anywhere on the property as of June 1st. The building is set back from the street only by a sidewalk. The admin is working with the city to block the smokers from smoking on the sidewalk. So, now everyone will cross the street, including the patients in their johnnies and attached to an IV pole! ennis

[ginger]

they have taxed cigs so much here in so dak that we smokers cannot even afford to smoke anymore. its really getting to the point that the suits and ties are making our decisions for us and that pisses me off too. when i go to a adult place, i expect to be able to drink there AND smoke. i get so sick and tired of people telling me what i cannot do, but expect me to pay for the sh!!ty time. they recently re-taxed the machines in deadwood, now they have them all pinned down so noone can win a nickel.

[route66paul]

Originally Posted by Bronxhog

I smoke cigars so I'm used to being discriminated against,cigarette smokers are mostly hypocrites they want to be able to smoke whenever and where ever but will complain and say cigar smoke is bothering them-this has been going on for years.

Most cigars and pipes smell much better than the current batch of cigarettes. Back in the 60smand 70s when they had to reduce the tars by over drying the tobacco for cigarettes, they really made them smell worse, in my opinion.

I have been a nonsmoker for 30 years, I still want one with my morning coffee, but I still say that when someone makes a totally non smoking casino in LasVegas(not by law, but by design), that that casino will aways be full. There are many people that would go to certain places and stay around if they did not have to breathe secondhand smoke, and there is money for that niche.

If the bar and resteraunt owners really believe that they need the smokers, open up as a smoking establishment and pay the workers accordingly. If it is good business to do that, have everyone that comes in sign a waiver and they can smoke. I think he would lose money, but that is me.

In calif, it is not legal in bars or resturants, but there are cigar bars, and you can smoke cigarettes there. They are not doing a bang up business, that is for sure.

[superglide05]

well let's see i go to sturgis for the ride anyhow. i dont go to the bar's or the casino so how does effect me it dont.i have learned a long time ago that bar's are over priced the casino's are a joke. and i try to stay away from downtown most of it is the same thing from one end to the other. there is alot more to see and do than downtown and there bar's and casino's.and the city them selfed have pretty much pushed everything to the camp ground's anyhow.to the new people it maybe great seeing the downtown seen. but to the people who have been there enough it is really no big deal. and trust me thru the year's they have just push more people away than anything.

[Anja]

It's certainly not like it used to be when it felt more like family. (Even if some of the family wasn't the kind you wanted to claim relation to!)

As in most things it has allowed the big bux to dominate and there are plenty of folks there now making money off riders whom I suspect have never been on a bike.

[Antonio Pendejo]

Whadda ya know, they didn't even have to fall back on the old "It's for the children" schtick.
In this day and age and with the political climate in DC, it would be wise for the people to be careful what they wish for, they may get more than they ever dreamed was possible.
AP

[2blackbelts]

I live at the Lake of the Ozarks in MOl, and many of the restaurants have banned smoking all together, and more are doing it every day.


The eateries that have banned smoking actually say their business has increased markedly. Families will now come in where they didn't before, and they also turn the tables faster, as people don't sit around after a meal and smoke and drink coffee.

2 bb

[rocket550]

I for one can't wait for June 1st!

[Bronxhog]

so was it enforced or not??who went to sturgis?

[mgb939]

Nebraska is a smoke free state. No smoking, nada, no......