Board of Heath passes smoking ban
Published on May 27th, 1998
STONEHAM, MA - Smoke 'em if you got 'em - for now, at least. The Board of Health passed a smoking ban on all restaurants Tuesday night after a brief public hearing which was attended by less than a dozen residents. Section 20-70 of the town's Health Code will take affect September 30 and will allow the Board of Health to enforce the smoking ban with fines. There's a problem," Tobacco Coordinator Ruth Brophy told the small gathering prior to the board's unanimous vote. "The basis of all this is it's a major health risk for non-smokers. The evidence is so over whelming and it's been out there for so long." Brophy cited statistics which proved her point. From 1994 to 1996, she said, Stoneham had the highest incident rate for lung cancer per l00,000 than any other area community. Also, in Massachusetts alone, 3,000 die annually from second hand smoke and a number of others suffer from asthma, bronchitis and angina. The nuubers have basically stayed conistent," she explained. "As things currently exist, non-smokers are breathing smoke against their will. That's the brunt of the issue." Three restaurant owner's spoke out against the regulation.
As far as non-smoking goes, I'm not going to argue with the dangers of smoking," Tom Mackey, owner of the Ground Round, said. We're not putting people at risk of smoke." Mackey explained that, in his restaurant, patrons have a choice of either smoking or non-smoking sections. Both are separated and the restaurant is well ventilated. "We're giving a choice," he explained. I'd hate to see people who want to smoke have to go to Woburn, because they will. That's been proven." Brophy explained that some towns which are in direct competition with Stoneham restaurants such as Wakefield, Winchester and Reading, passed similar regulations ir 1995 and have not seen significant drop offs She said that in some cases, the effect has been the opposite of what restaurnat owners feared. In Wakefield for instance, the restaurant population has increased from 38 in 1995 to 44 today.
These numbers did not appease Bob McAree, owner of J.J. Grimsby's, however.
"I'm a non-smoker," he told the board. "Quite frankly, I despise it. We're trying to lure customers, though. We try to accommodate people's choices.
I don't think, at this time, there is any need for a ban on smoking." Brophy read 11 letters from towns which had already passed similar bans and from Stoneham restaurants such as the Blue Parrot Cafe, KFC and Burger King which were in sup port of the ban. The board closed the public hearing and voted on the regulation without deliberation. The regulation states that smoking will be banned in all restaurants and bars in town and must display "No Smoking" signs on the premises. A $50 penalty will be imposed on restaurant owners who are in violation of this bylaw for the first offense, $100 for the second and $200 for the third. In addition, patrons who are caught in smoking can also be fined for the violations. "That's not the intent, though," Brophy said. The intent is to get all restaurants on line. Nobody's going to be standing there with ticket books handing out tickets." McAree said that the change could take a major cut out of his wallet due to competition in Melrose and Malden where smoking is still allowed and which are areas which he draws a majority of his customers from. "It's not a good thing," he said. "I think it was done in haste." Brophy said that Melrose is also attempting to pass a no smoking regulation.
Would McAree support such a change in order to level the playing field? "Absolutely," he said.
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