Posted on: Thursday, July 24, 2003
Big Island smoking ban passes; bars spared
By Kevin Dayton
Advertiser Big Island Bureau
HILO, Hawai'i — The Hawai'i County Council yesterday banned smoking in restaurants, but pulled back from a proposal to ban smoking in bars in a compromise agreed to after hours of debate and public testimony.
The Big Island is the last county in the state to approve a restaurant smoking ban. Anti-smoking activists said they will gauge the sentiment in the community before deciding if they should continue to push for a smoking ban in bars.
If Mayor Harry Kim signs the bill, the measure would ban smoking in virtually all enclosed spaces within the county that are open to the public, as well as outdoor or partially enclosed seating areas of restaurants.
The ban would take effect in six months, which supporters said will give restaurants time to phase out smoking.
For restaurants with bars attached to them, the bill allows them until Aug. 31, 2004 to either ban smoking or remodel their business so the bar area is sealed off from the restaurant by a solid wall.
Stand-alone bars that earn less than a 25 percent of their gross income from food sales would be exempt from the ban.
The divided Big Island council has debated various proposals for smoking bans since last September, and spent more than three hours debating the measure and pressing each other for last-minute changes yesterday.
Clifford Chang, director of the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii, made an unsuccessful appeal to the nine-member council for a more restrictive proposal that would have banned smoking in all restaurants and bars.
"We're asking smokers to smoke outside," Chang told the council. "This is not about taking away the freedom to smoke, this is simply about protecting the health of the people around them."
But some bar owners objected to that proposal, saying they expect it would hurt their businesses. They also argued that bar patrons and bar workers know they will encounter cigarette smoke in bars, and should be allowed to choose whether they will work in or patronize those places.
Kelly Drysdale, manager of of Drysdale's Two Restaurant and bar in Keauhou, said her customers tell her they will leave and won't return if smoking is banned there.
"Our local clientele that keeps us floating, many of them come in on a daily basis. They sit and they eat and they smoke," she said. "My question to you is, will you folks be accountable for our lost earnings?"
Mildred Lum, public health educator for the state Department of Health, said nearly 1,100 Hawaii residents die each year from tobacco-related causes, and smoking causes more premature deaths than AIDS, drug abuse, accidental injuries and murders and suicides combined.
Lum acknowledged some people oppose anti-smoking legislation because they believe people should be free to choose how they treat the issue. But she reminded listeners of other laws to protect public health, such as requirements that restaurant employees wash their hands before preparing food.
"Common courtesy can't be relied upon to solve public health problems," she said.
