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theapportioner theapportioner is offline
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Old Mar 29th, 2003, 03:07 PM        Article: N.Y. Bar Patrons May Someday Agree with Smoking Ban
N.Y. Bar Patrons May Someday Agree with Smoking Ban

By Jesse J. Logan

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - As New York City bars and restaurants go smoke-free this weekend, bar patrons may take comfort in a study that suggests -- given enough time -- those who disapprove now may actually end up liking the change.


In a California survey, most bar-goers said they supported and complied with a similar law two years after it went into effect.


While 60% approved of the law three months after it went into effect, that number increased to 66% at the eight-month point and reached 73% about 2.5 years after the law was in place.


"As people grew accustomed to smoke-free bars they absolutely realized that smoke-free bars are so much more enjoyable," said study co-author Colleen Stevens, of the California Department of Health Services in Sacramento.


In 1994, California was the first state to ban smoking in all workplaces -- a law that included almost all bars starting in 1998.


In a survey conducted in March of 1998, 86% of bar patrons said the law wouldn't keep them from visiting bars. By the last survey in June of 2000, 91% said they visited bars the same amount or even more frequently because of the law.


Both nonsmokers and smokers took part in the study, according to the report in the April issue of the American Journal of Public Health. And researchers found the overall responses were the same, even after they took into consideration other factors that could affect the results.


While 25% of smokers in the earlier surveys said they broke the law, that number dropped to 14% with time. And by 2000, 32% of people said the smoking ban would increase their likelihood of visiting a bar, compared with 9% who said the opposite.


Dr. Hao Tang, lead author of the study, and colleagues at the California Department of Health Services concluded that the "increasingly positive attitudes" may be partly attributed to the public's greater understanding and concern about the negative effects of second-hand smoke. Studies have shown that second-hand smoke increases the risk of cancer and heart disease.


Tang said the California results might be paralleled in New York and bar patrons' opinions toward smoking in public places could change with time.


"People may have some concerns and may think (the smoking ban) is a not a very good idea," Tang told Reuters Health. "But it will take a couple of years, I think, before people realize that this is a beneficial ordinance."


Stevens said the ban represents a turning point in a culture where alcohol and cigarettes have long gone hand in hand.


"Once people get over the way we've been trained to link those things together -- smoking and bars -- you just see how nice it is and you wonder why we ever put up with it in the first place," Stevens said.


The researchers point out that there are some drawbacks to their survey. Because they only surveyed those who had visited a bar in the past year, they may have excluded those who stopped going to bars due to the smoking ban.


The three telephone surveys each included at least 1,000 people who visited a bar at least once in the past year. Overall, 664 smokers were included in the surveys.


SOURCE: American Journal of Public Health 2003;93:611-617.
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El Blanco El Blanco is offline
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Old Mar 29th, 2003, 04:05 PM       
Oh, ya, we all know how often the City sees eye to eye with California.


The ban won't chase smokers way, but they will find different bars. Grand Central Station is run and maintained by the state and not the city, so the bars in there can allow smoking, so thats where all the smokers will go.

Also, there is a real stupid loophole in the law. Apparently, if an owner is in the building, smoking is permitted. So, bartenders are giving the owner $1 and becoming something like a .0001 % owner.

And how is Bloomberg finding the money for this anti-smoking campaign when we are so deep into a budget crisis, he will be closing down firehouses next year?

Fucking Massholes.
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