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Originally posted by Wigo

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Originally posted by Michael Hoffman

There is no state law regarding smoking in Ohio. Some communities do prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars. Columbus is one of them. This recent ban has done wonders for restaurants and bars outside the Columbus city limits where smokers have taken their business and their money. Several Columbus bars have closed as a result.

I don’t think I believe this at all. "Smokers-rights" groups have been making claims like this in every city that has banned smoking, and it never turns out to be true. In NYC, revenues in bars have steadily risen since they banned smoking. The same goes for every city in CA that has imposed the ban. I also recall uproars in the past:

"If they ban smoking on the subways, they’ll go bankrupt!"
"If they ban smoking in movie theaters, they’ll all go out of business!"
"If they ban smoking at ballparks, no one will go!!"

I think they day has arrived where everyone realizes that smokers do NOT have the right smoke in places where their habit affects other people. If they think they do, well, in my book that’s just amazingly selfish and ignorant.

So you don’t think you believe it, eh? Well, perhaps you ought to tell that to the people who used to work at the Columbus bars that shut down. You ought to tell it to the crowds in bars in Gahanna, Whitehall, Reynoldsburg, Grove City and other cities and towns around Columbus where smoking is not banned.