Strategies for Achieving Smoke-free Bars When You Don’t Live in California
Hillary Clarke
American Cancer Society
Buffalo, New York
New York at a Glance
Smoke-free restaurants 11 counties plus NYC, including Erie more than 80% of state residents enjoy smoke-
free dining
Smoke-free bars laws pending in NYC, plus Suffolk, Westchester
and Albany Counties Nassau County smoke-free bar law passed
10/7/02 – will take effect 3/03
Erie County Background
Current law, passed in 1996, prohibits smoking in most public places, including restaurant dining areas.
The law exempts bar areas of restaurants, stand-alone bars and taverns, and bowling centers after 6 pm.
The law also allows for any facility to build a separately ventilated, separately enclosed smoking room
Our Campaign
Prohibit smoking in the following public locations:Bar areas of restaurantsStand-alone bars and tavernsBowling centers
Prohibit food and beverage service in separate smoking rooms
Gathering data
Two points:
Secondhand smoke is still a problem in some worksites
The public supports increased restrictions
February 2001 telephone poll:
90% believe secondhand smoke is harmful
82% want to see waiters, waitresses and bartenders protected from tobacco smoke
72% believe restaurant smoking should be restricted to separately enclosed & ventilated room or banned entirely
57% believe law should include stand-alone bars and taverns
November 2002 telephone poll:
1 in 9 employees reported recent exposure to secondhand smoke in their workspace This translates into an estimated 36,000 exposed workers in Erie County. Nearly 1 in 4 residents reported they have avoided going to a restaurant, bar, bowling alley, casino, or bingo hall in the past year because of too much secondhand smoke. 63% believe smoking should be banned in stand-alone bars and taverns.
Thousands of Erie County Residents Avoided Smoky Restaurants and Bars in the Past Year
87,000
63,000
0
25,000
50,000
75,000
100,000
Avoided Smoky Restaurants Avoided Smoky Bar/Taverns
Percent of Erie County Adults that Favor a Law Banning Smoking in Bars and Taverns
Smoke- free63%
Not smoke- free37%
Quality of Breathable Air for WNY Workers: Comparison of Nicotine Particulate Levels in Secondhand Tobacco Smoke
0 020 30 80 110
539
814940
0
250
500
750
1000
1250
1500
Hospitals Restaurantswithout Bar
Restaurant -Enclosed
Smoking Area
Restaurants withBar - Dining
Area
Restaurant - with Bar- Bar
Area
Bowling Alleys Bars / Taverns Bar - 'MarlboroNights'
Bingo Halls
Average Amount of Nicotine in Nanograms per 8 Hours ofExposure
Smoke-Freeby Law
Some Smoking Restrictionsby Law
Smoking NotRestricted
Cotinine Study of Secondhand Smoke Exposure Among Hospitality Workers
Non-smoking bar and restaurant workers recruited to complete 15-minute survey and provide urine sample Secondhand smoke exposure estimated by examining the level of cotinine in the urine Will be able to show association between occupation and secondhand smoke exposure in the workplace Assess related lifetime risks for heart disease and lung cancer among various occupations in Erie County
Authentic Voices
Enabling those who are affected directly by the issue to speak on their own behalf
If this is such a problem, why isn’t anyone complaining?
Speak up for smoke-free air!
Yes, I support 100% smoke-free bars, restaurants and bowling in Erie County. Please add me to your mailing list and let me know how I can help! Name __________________________________ Address __________________________________
__________________________________Phone __________________________________E-Mail __________________________________ I would like to: I am a: _____ Write a letter/make a phone call _____Cancer Survivor_____ Meet with my legislator _____Asthmatic_____ Speak at a public hearing _____Restaurant/bar Worker_____ Help survey the public _____Bowler
Calling All Bartenders, Cocktail Waitresses, and Restaurant Employees
Clean Air for All is forming a WNY chapter of BREATHE. BREATHE stands for "Bar and Restaurant Employees Advocating Together for a Healthy Environment." If you have ever worked in a bar or restaurant (past or present) and would like to join BREATHE WNY, please send back the following info:
Your name:
Your email:
Your job title in a bar or restaurant (past or present):
If you or someone you know works or worked in a bar or restaurant, we hope you or they will join BREATHE WNY.
New York City, November 11, 2002... New York City bar, restaurant, and nightclub workers are forced to breathe secondhand smoke at work, and many of them are sick of it... literally. Here is what some BREATHE members wrote to the City Council:
Emmett Irwin: I am a bartender in New York City, on the Upper West Side. My girlfriend is also a bartender. Second-hand smoke has badly affected her health and mine. Both of us now are constantly coughing. We can't go on working in these conditions, but what can we do? Bartending jobs are incredibly scarce, and that's all either of us know how to do! She has to put herself through school, and only has certain nights she can work. I have been tending bar for five years, full time. To try to find a new profession now would be financial suicide.
Stephen Sherman: I am a bartender and professional actor living in New York City, and working in restaurants and bars for the last six years. My job is ideal because it allows me to work at night, making the necessary money I need to sustain myself in this city, and pursue my acting career during the day. I have a right, personally, as do all restaurant/bar/club workers, to work in a safe, smoke free environment. When I committed to my job, I committed to selling food and drinks, not to being exposed to cancer causing smoke.
Jade Mandrake: I am a 23 year old female bartender. I have quit smoking now for almost 2 years and feel it was one of the most important things I have done. I believe that a person should not have the right to harm another. That includes us bartenders and waitresses too!!! Just coming home after a long night at work of inhaling everybody's suicidal attempts is more than disgusting. Nobody should be able to extend their own self-loathing onto another when it is physically damaging.
Veteran bartender Dan Smith, foreground, tells a rally outside Erie County Hall on Thursday that even though he quit smoking, he still inhales cigarette smoke secondhand from customers.
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