Lawmakers Considering Changes To Smoking Ban

By Susan Haigh Associated Press

HARTFORD — Bill Dedomaincis said proponents of Connecticut’s smoking ban promised him that business at his Torrington bowling alley would jump about ten percent once cigarette smoking was snuffed out.

But on Tuesday, Dedomaincis, a member of the Connecticut Bowler Proprietor’s Association, told the legislature’s General Law Committee that hasn’t been the case.

Since the ban took effect in bars and bowling alleys in April 2004, bowling revenues are down eight percent at alleys across the state and cocktail revenues dropped 14 percent, he told lawmakers.

Dedomaincis said some alleys have already had to lay off staff.

Smoking in restaurants was outlawed in October 2003. But smoking is still allowed in private clubs and the two casinos in southeastern Connecticut — an exemption that bar owners say is unfair.

“The law has already failed in its existing form,” said Dedomaincis, adding how some bowling alleys have had to lay off staff. “People have not stopped smoking. You just changed where they’re smoking.”

Dedomaincis, bar owners, and a smoking rights group called on legislators to reconsider the ban and pass a proposed bill that would allow smoking in certain establishments with liquor licenses as long as they pay an extra permit fee and meet certain requirements.

But antismoking advocates, including Nikki Palmieri, Miss Connecticut 2004, urged the committee not to give in to the demands of what they say is a disgruntled minority.

Elder Walter Williams, a member of the MATCH Coalition, an antismoking organization, said lawmakers should not be lulled into believing that filtration systems or “smoke-eaters” installed in special smoking rooms can remove harmful carcinogens from the air.

“There really is no safety area for those who are smoking in public facilities,” said Williams.

Jim Brennan, of Glastonbury, said the legislature showed its resolve back in 2003 when it passed the smoking ban to save citizens’ lives. Proponents of the ban argue it is needed to protect people from the harms of second hand smoke.

He said keeping the law intact shows the state is committed to fighting the big tobacco companies.

“Any weakening of this law would be terrible mistake,” said Brennan, adding how loopholes in the ban would be found if the original law is altered.

John Woermer, owner of the Old Corner Cafe in Naugatuck, said if Connecticut wants to keep the smoking ban, then it should be applied to everyone, including the casinos and the private clubs. Woermer estimates that his business has dropped 30 percent, forcing him to lay off four employees.

“You either have to go no smoking everywhere or change the law,” he told the lawmakers.

If the bill survives a vote in the General Law Committee, it would head to the Public Health Committee, which has many proponents of the smoking ban.