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While it may not have been intentional, your February 4th Lifestyle article, "Snuffing out problems," was everything the tobacco  industry could have hoped for. The public  relations departments at both Philip Morris  and R.J. Reynolds spend millions of dollars  each year promoting just one simple and  emotional word: accommodation. The former  with its "Accommodation Program" for  restaurant owners, and the latter with its  "Peaceful Coexistence" program. They want  nonsmokers to be more tolerant of smokers,  and your reporter gave it to them on a silver platter.

After all, what reasonable American would want to be considered "unaccommodating," especially someone in the hospitality industry? As each day passes, restaurateur after restaurateur gets conned into believing that "accommodation" is the right thing for his or her customers, when quite the opposite is true.

The fact is, to accommodate the 25.1% of the population who are smokers is to automatically be unaccommodating to the 74.9% who do not smoke. What they each choose to breathe into their lungs are mutually exclusive. You can't have it both ways.

Shared ventilation systems usually make this impossible, but even if you could successfully  split the two groups, the employees who must work the smoking sections are at significantly higher risk of developing disease. A study at the University of California shows that waitresses, who work in restaurants that allow smoking, have nearly four times the risk of developing lung cancer and two and a half times the risk of developing heart disease, as do women in other occupations. Employers who care will not let this travesty continue.

The bottom line is that smoking does not have to be a part of the dining experience. Even 39% of smokers believe that smoking should be banned from restaurants. When the ash trays are removed, most smokers are understanding about it. Most smokers do not quit eating in their favorite restaurant when it goes smoke free, they just quit smoking in it. But even in the worst case, for every smoker potentially lost, two nonsmokers stand to be gained. That's a pretty good trade.

Our smoke-free dining guide has grown from 65 Wisconsin restaurants two years ago, to over 700 today [although that number is now over 1100]. A ten-fold increase. Virtually all of the restaurants that have gone smoke free have either seen no change in sales, or have had slight to moderate increases. These restaurant operators would not remain smoke free were it not profitable. 

Smoke-free restaurants are listed at no charge in the Dining Guide and patrons may obtain free copies of the guide by calling the Brown County Tobacco-Free  Coalition at 448-6439.

Importantly, restaurateurs who go smoke free quietly will not fare as well as those who do so with a splash. Going smoke-free quietly gets the word out to only one segment of the population: their current customers. By getting the word out to the public, they will regain customers lost in the past because of smoke problems, and gain new customers from competitors who continue to allow smoking.

The restaurant industry's own polls repeatedly confirm this. Of course, the tobacco industry denies this, just as they deny the risks of smoking and second-hand smoke.

When a restaurant goes smoke free, 100% of the public can patronize it. Even smokers, although they must wait until they are outside to light up. When restaurateurs allow smoking, they automatically exclude a portion of the population from their premises. When are these businessmen going to wake up and smell the coffee?

Jack E. Lohman
Director