Impact of the proposed smoking ban on the restaurant trade Free Essay Example, 2500 words

These laws represent a key test in the continued expansion of clean indoor air laws and policies, and remain highly contentious; we treat them separately in this section. However, Studies examining implementation show that the law had little impact on the dining out patterns of consumers, did not result in job losses for the city's restaurant industry, resulted in high rates of compliance, and did not have a detrimental effect on business. The initial studies of smoking bans in restaurants suggest that there are no economic upheavals when smoking is banned in public places. Summarizing the existing data, Glantz (1999) notes convincingly those studies of sales tax data from 81 localities in six states (67 of which are entirely smoke-free) demonstrate that ordinances restricting smoking in restaurants have no adverse effect on revenues. In an important and related finding, Glantz and Charlesworth (1999) extend Glantzs previous work to consider the effects of restaurant smoking bans on tourism, which the tobacco industry has used as another argument against smoking bans. Their study examined tourism revenues in eight locations where the tobacco industry raised the issue of reduced tourism revenue in opposing restaurant smoking bans. We will write a custom essay sample on Impact of the proposed smoking ban on the restaurant trade or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now The authors conclude that four localities show substantial revenue increases, four show no significant changes, and one saw a slower rate of increase. According to the authors, restaurant smoking bans had no adverse impact on international or domestic tourism (Robert L. Rabin, Stephen D. Sugarman, 2001: 231). Basically, the use of public smoking bans as a measure to put off cigarette smoking is a recent phenomenon. Initially, these public smoking laws were passed to lessen the annoyance or nuisance of cigarette smoke for nonsmokers. Such restrictions normally regulate smoking in locations such as restaurants, retail stores, and at times the workplace. In 1998, the government set a target to reduce the proportion of the adult population that smokes from 28 percent to 24 percent by 2010 - with a fall to 26 percent by the year 2005.