Clearing The Air

Hawaii lawmaker introduces bill to repeal smoking ban

Hawaii's smoking ban is relatively new, yet there is significant backing to repeal the ban.

Lawmakers are citing a Supreme Court ruling that determined that private businesses are not public.

A U.S. Supreme court decision during the early 1970's ((Lloyd Corp v. Tanner, 407 U.S. 551 (1992)) said a place of business does not become public property because the public is invited in. So, by that same reasoning. A restaurant or bar is not public property. We need to support small business and stop regulating them out of business.”

One of the consistent justifications to pass a smoking ban is for lawmakers to claim that bars and restaurants are "public places".........a Supreme Court ruling however, provides significant clout when arguing case law.

And as for the other argument of "protecting employee health", OSHA is the workplace authority which monitors hazards on the job. And air quality monitoring of secondhand smoke has proven that measured levels are 15 - 25,000 times SAFER than OSHA Standards CFR 29 for secondhand smoke components.

Clearing the Air will be keeping an eye on the success of this repeal......and providing help on the ventilation / OSHA aspect of the issue.

posted by marcus aurelius @ 7:37 AM