Vigo County Commissioners to vote on smoking ban

A decision will be reached on a proposed public and work place air pollution ordinance when the Vigo County Board of Commissioners votes at 9 a.m. May 10.

Commissioner President Judith Anderson set the date to force the three-member board to decide “either way” on the ordinance that would restrict smoking, Anderson said.

The Vigo County Board of Health approved a revised ordinance last week, sending it to the Board of Commissioners. The final voting date was moved back from a possible vote later this week to allow a full 30 days of review requested by Commissioner Paul Mason.

“I have been talking with the tavern association and with owners of different restaurants to see what concerns they have, trying to gather all the information that I can get,” Mason said.

Mason said he hopes commissioners can meet with tavern owners next week.

Under a revised proposed ordinance, bars would be exempt. Bars are defined as “any building, room or area used primarily for sale of alcoholic beverages for consumption by guests on the premises, and where only guests that are at least 21 years of age may legally enter the establishment.”

Dave Schroeder, president of Wabash Valley Taverns Association and owner of Ole Simrell’s, said members of the association “have not agreed to anything. We are all in business and this is a free country. There are a lot of places making the choice to go non-smoking, but I have not agreed to anything.”

Schroeder said he received a copy of a revised ordinance last week and still is reviewing the ordinance. Schroeder said he is to meet next week with county commissioners and some members of the county Health Department about the proposed ordinance.

Bruce Adelman, owner of Bohannon’s East, said he also is studying the revised ordinance. “My thoughts are the same as they were three or four years ago. Let’s pass one where everyone has his own choice. If it is a smoking establishment, put up signs saying so; if it is not, put up signs saying it is not a smoking establishment. That is the simplest solution to this,” Adelman said.

Anderson said the issue has been discussed for two years and a decision must be reached.

“Everyone wants things better, but they don’t want to do anything. Look at all the states in this country and all the individual places that are going totally, totally non-smoking. We are trying to work with these people to make it best for everybody involved and nobody wants to give an inch. That makes no sense to me,” Anderson said.

Several states have already adopted smoke-free workplace and restaurant laws. They include Arkansas, California, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Montana, Vermont, Washington, New Jersey, Utah, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Hawaii and North Dakota. Other areas include Puerto Rico, Guam and Washington, D.C.

Several large cities have passed similar legislation including New York, Boston, Washington, San Francisco and Springfield, Ill.

Karen O’Brien, regional program director for Indiana Tobacco Prevention and Cessation, on Tuesday asked commissioners to consider including bars as non-smoking places in a county ordinance.

“We found in Bloomington that students don’t smoke if there is no smoking,” O’Brien said. However, if students come into a community where smoking “is not aligned with public health policy, where smoking is allowed in all the venues, they start to smoke. They are exposed to smoking as a legitimate acceptable pattern of behavior. They, of course, die like their parents and the generation before.”

Commissioner Bill Bryan suggested work should be made toward a statewide ordinance. O’Brien said passing local ordinances can be more effective and can “tip the balance” for the state Legislature to take action on a statewide level.

“When are we going to start seeking work on diesel fuel? That is a lot more caustic,” Bryan said.

“We can argue a lot of things are caustic, but the deaths from second-hand smoke and tobacco use are no longer argued in the scientific community,” O’Brien responded. Smoking is the third-largest preventable cause of death and has an economic impact on public health-care costs.