Posted on: Friday, October 11, 2002

Kaua'i delays decision on smoking ban

By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Kaua'i Bureau

LIHU'E, Kaua'i — The County Council sent its restaurant smoking bill back to committee yesterday after Councilman Kaipo Asing said he'd missed a couple of meetings and wanted more time to consider smokers' rights issues.

Asing said that while early council meetings received almost entirely anti-smoking messages, yesterday several smokers or smoking supporters argued that restaurants should have a right to allow smoking, and that smokers had a right to smoke.

"I'm hearing something about personal rights. I think that's important, and I want to look at that," Asing said.

Two waitresses told the council they are not offended by tobacco smoke and fear the ban will cut their income. A restaurant-bar owner criticized the council for dictating what should be a restaurant owner's decision.

Andy Parks, of Lawa'i, argued that the government should stay out of issues that individuals can decide for themselves: "If you are going to go down this road, where does it stop?"

The council had been prepared to pass the state's most restrictive restaurant smoking bill. It would ban smoking in all restaurants all the time. The only exception would be restaurants that during certain hours function solely as bars — they could allow smoking during periods when they have little or no food service. Smoking would be banned in bars associated with restaurants. Smoking would be permitted in stand-alone bars.

Most testimony yesterday was against allowing any smoking in restaurants.

"Second-hand smoking costs our health care system dearly," said Dr. Leo Trinidad, a retired physician and member of the United Filipino Council board of governors. Julian Lipsher, of the state Department of Health's Tobacco Prevention and Education Program, suggested the Council set a sunset date on the restaurant-bar exemption.