Jacob Grier

I spent much of last night with a friend who’s about to leave Virginia, talking about our frustration with all the petty paternalism tolerated by the NoVa part of the state, so this comes as a welcome piece of good news: A Committee in the House has killed all the proposed smoking ban bills passed by the senate!

The bad news? I was set to have an op/ed debate featured in a major Virginia newspaper on this very subject, with everything already written and ready for publication. I’m glad the House acted so decisively, but would it have killed them to wait a week?

Update: Since it’s very unlikely to be published now, I’ve pasted my op/ed below the break.

To ban or not to ban? That shouldn’t be the question

Governor Tim Kaine has once again introduced legislation to prohibit smoking in all Virginia restaurants and bars, supposedly to protect bar and restaurant workers from the perils of secondhand smoke. The state Senate passed several anti-smoking bills this week and the issue is now before the House. But before approving such legislation, it’s worth asking if these workers really need protecting. Being a part-time bartender myself, I find it a bit disconcerting to have suddenly become the object of such concern. Firefighters, fishermen, coal miners, and countless others take on far greater dangers than I ever have; the risks of serving drinks are humble in comparison.

Dangerous occupations are often regulated by the government to protect workers from hidden risks, but the risks of secondhand smoke are neither hidden nor so excessive as to warrant a ban. Given the rapid rates of employee turnover in the hospitality industry and the wide array of smokefree job options it already offers, bar and restaurant workers are capable of deciding for themselves whether to work in a smoky environment. Business owners that try to force undesirable conditions onto their employees will find themselves losing staff and having to pay higher wages. Government interference is unnecessary and, frankly, insulting to many of us who labor in the industry.

Ban proponents disingenuously compare smoking laws to benign regulations like keeping rats out of the kitchen, making the staff wash their hands, and keeping meat refrigerated. They’re missing an obvious point: There are not, so far as I know, groups of oppressed consumers demanding restaurants where the cooks have dirty hands and the meat is rotten. People do demand places where they can smoke and drink together. In addition, what goes on in the kitchen is difficult for diners to discover from the outside, while smoking policies are easily ascertained. So long as entrepreneurs, customers, and employees gather in such places willingly, there’s no justification for the government stepping in to prevent them.

Governor Kaine’s desire to protect workers may be sincere. I suspect, however, that for many ban supporters the public health argument is a feel-good excuse for imposing their preferences onto the rest of society. The fight that ensued over Washington, DC’s smoking ban is a telling example. Before the ban’s passage, Councilwoman Carol Schwartz introduced a compromise bill that would have provided tax breaks to smokefree businesses, increased business fees for places that allow smoking, and required smoke-friendly establishments to install expensive ventilation systems.

If the goal of the DC Council had truly been to provide workers with more options for smokefree employment, Schwartz’s proposal would have provided them. Yet predictably, her sensible compromise was roundly ignored in favor of a city-wide ban. Kaine and other ban proponents are taking a similarly excessive approach here in Virginia.

The good news for non-smoking Virginians is that business owners are already curtailing smoking in response to consumer preferences. A 2006 survey by the Arlington County Civic Foundation found nearly 50 smoke-free restaurants in Arlington alone. That list is incomplete and outdated by now, so the actual number is even higher. As tolerance for tobacco smoke continues to wane, more and more managers will see the benefits of hitching their establishments to the smokefree bandwagon.

Non-smokers have good reason to desire smokefree bars and restaurants. Tobacco smoke is smelly and annoying. Or is it aromatic and enjoyable? The difference is a matter of taste. Smokers ought to have places that cater to their preferences, just as non-smokers have ones that cater to theirs. Virginians should resist the urge to join California, the District of Columbia, and countless other states and cities in the world-wide panic over tobacco. Reasonable people can disagree about whether the government should take steps to discourage indoor smoking, but a complete ban would go far beyond legitimate health concerns to violate the freedom of business owners, workers, and customers throughout the state.