CHICAGO SUN-TIMES EDITORIAL

Where There's Smoke, Folks Fired Up -- but Ban Too Harsh

October 3, 2005

What would Groucho Marx be without his stogie? Franklin Delano Roosevelt without his cigarette holder? Humphrey Bogart without a smoke dangling from his mouth? New York wag Fran Lebowitz without a cigarette as a prop? Hard to imagine any, except Lebowitz. She had to butt out over two years ago when New York State instituted a smoking ban. Now she has to go outside to light up, and the day may come when she'll have to do the same if she comes to Chicago.

On Wednesday, a Chicago City Council committee is expected to approve a wide-ranging smoking ban that could force those with habits like Lebowitz's to stub out their cigarettes before they enter restaurants, bars and most of the indoor spaces in the city. The full City Council will consider the measure this month, and there appear to be the votes to pass it.

The proposed ordinance has been championed by Health Committee Chairman Ed Smith (28th) and it is modeled on the Clean Indoor Air Act established by New York State. Smith has been supported in his cause by a lavish $1.5 million campaign with TV ads and billboards sponsored by anti-smoking groups such as the American Lung Association and American Cancer Society. While aldermen seem to be in favor of the ordinance, it isn't clear what Mayor Daley will do. When the issue last came up in Council, almost three years ago, Daley backed off his initial support of a smoking ban. This time he is asking for a compromise.

The ordinance proposes a six-month phase-in to allow a bit of breathing room for concerned restaurateurs. Like New York, there is a "hardship exemption" for restaurants and bars that can show through their receipts that they have lost more than 15 percent of their business due to their smokeless environments. The glitch is they have to be smoke-free for one year before they can apply for the exemption And then they have to create a designated smoking area.

Proponents of the ban argue that requiring a year of receipts would do away with the clout factor -- those restaurants that have an "in" at City Hall wouldn't get preferential treatment -- and it would allow for consideration of seasonal factors that influence the restaurant business. They point out New York did it this way, and a study by the city showed food business tax receipts went up 8.7 percent in the first year, employment rose, air quality in bars and restaurants improved, and New Yorkers were supportive of the law.

Maybe so, but banning smoking for a full year and then requiring restaurants to apply for a "hardship exemption" does take going cold turkey a little too far. Surely, as the mayor suggests, there is a compromise on this issue. Ald. Burton Natarus (42nd) has a good idea -- allow bars, restaurants and bowling alleys to pay for a smoking license. That would enable those businesses committed to serving smokers to do so and let the city use the license fees for smoking cessation programs. The Council should adopt this compromise.

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