EDITORIAL: Smoke-Free D.C.: Round 2

Publication Date: 2005-03-20

• Author:Editorial
• Publication:The Washington Post

California banned smoking in bars in 1998; bar sales reportedly went up. Other cities such as Boston, Dallas and Lexington, Ky., have acted, too. They understand what smoking supporters wish to ignore: Smoke-free workplaces are healthier for employees, patrons and the community as a whole. In addition, they don't harm business. . . .

So there it is: Mrs. Schwartz's declaration that says, in effect, that it's quite all right for bartenders and people who wait on tables to work unprotected from cancer-causing agents found in secondhand smoke and that the District, confronted with a preventable health hazard, should simply do nothing about it. Surely a majority of council members do not support that heartless stance. Surely this year, the smoke-free bill should pass.