Smoke-free policies do not hurt-and in many cases help-restaurant business.

The tobacco industry wants communities to believe that policies that provide for smoke-free environments for work and public places will hurt local business. In fact, they've spent years promoting this argument to try to turn communities away from smoke-free environments.

Why? Because the tobacco industry knows that the more smoke-free places there are, the more people quit smoking.1

The truth is that most smokers accept smoke-free policies. Eighty-five percent of them want to quit smoking.2 And surveys show that most do not stop patronizing smoke-free restaurants. In fact, smoke-free policies actually increase patronage by nonsmokers, compensating for any initial loss of smokers by nearly 2.5 times.3

Studies in 81 communities around the country that have gone smoke-free have proven that sales don't decline, and in many cases go up, after restaurants go smoke-free.4 Similar sales tax studies of Aspen, Boulder, Snowmass and Telluride, Colorado show no negative economic impact of going smoke-free.

The government has a clear role in protecting public health in work and public places.

Another argument manufactured by the tobacco industry is that government-policy makers at the federal, state or local level-should not be allowed to put in place policies that limit exposure to secondhand smoke. "It's a personal choice," they say.

But the government's role in protecting public health in work and public places is clear. It regulates the food we eat, the safety in our work places. Their role in deciding this important issue is clear.

Ventilation technology does not serve as an alternative to eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke as the best strategy to protect public health.

The tobacco industry wants Denver restaurant owners to believe that installing a new (and expensive) ventilation system in their restaurant will protect patrons and employees from the dangers of secondhand smoke.

Yet, despite tobacco industry claims, experts agree that the only way to truly protect people from the dangers of secondhand smoke is by providing smoke-free environments. In fact, the national standard for indoor air ventilation is based on a totally smoke-free environment.5

So why would the tobacco industry want restaurants to believe that installing an improved ventilation system for a smoking area is adequate protection against the cancer-causing chemicals in secondhand smoke?

One word: Money.

Big Tobacco is concerned enough to start spinning tales about the safety of ventilation systems. Tobacco giants like Philip Morris tried to get rid of the national standard calling for totally smoke-free environments,6 and pays consultants to go around the country pitching their own ventilation system to the owners and managers of restaurants. They say there are "new and emerging technologies" that make it unnecessary to create smoke-free environments. But their own literature (in the fine print) says otherwise).7

The scientific evidence is clear: Ventilation technology does not serve as an alternative to eliminating exposure to secondhand smoke as the best strategy to protect the health of Denver citizens.8

Here's what national organizations say about ventilation technology

"From the industrial hygiene perspective, general ventilation as delivered by heating, ventilation and air condition (HVAC) systems, is not an acceptable engineering control measure for controlling occupational exposures to [environmental tobacco smoke]."

U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration
"The most direct and effective method of eliminating [environmental tobacco smoke] from the work place is to prohibit smoking in the work place."

National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health
Click here to learn more about how BIG TOBACCO is using and abusing the restaurant industry.