Lawmakers Discuss Smoking Ban in All Public Places in Missouri

Publication Date: 2010-02-09

• Author:Jennifer Denman
• Publication:KOLR-TV Channel 10

Some Missouri lawmakers want to ban smoking in public places.

They've proposed a bill that include bars, restaurants, casinos and even workplaces. The goal is to reduce the health effects of secondhand smoke exposure.

You go to a bar and people say it's expected that people smoke and they should be allowed to because a beer and cigarettes go together. But then you'll meet those, like the owner of Nathan P. Murphy's nightclub, who has a very serious reason for making his business smoke-free.

Robert Martin says he's pretty much married to his nightclub. He even lives right above it. He's owned Nathan P. Murphy's for 28 years, but his relationship with the club almost cost him his life.

"Many of nights I would crawl out of my apartment and gasp for air," says Martin...

So for the last two years, he's run a smoke free setup.

"It's been overwhelmingly supported even by smokers," says Martin.

Some Missouri lawmakers are trying to make all public establishments smoke-free, citing risks from secondhand smoke...

The debate is bound to be heated at the state capital. But for Martin, it was a choice he had to make. And because of that, he's now able sit among his customers in the place he loves.