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October 3, 2003/Tishri 7 5764, Vol. 56, No.2
Grassroots group joins fight for smoking ban
JESSICA BARBER
Staff Writer
Most Valley residents know that if they want to smoke in a bar or restaurant, they won't be able to do it in Tempe or Mesa. In Chandler, restaurant patrons won't be lighting up either - although they can visit a bar to smoke. And in Phoenix, a grassroots organization has begun to seek citizen support for a similar ordinance to ban smoking in all public, shared-air spaces.
Phoenix for Smoke Free Workplaces, a group mainly comprised of retired doctors and health-care workers, has created a Web site, distributed leaflets and worked with larger health-related organizations to reach their ultimate goal - no cigarette smoke in any public facility.
"There will come a time when we will look back on these days when we permitted smoking in our midst and think of ourselves of being nothing short of insane for ever having permitted it," says Geoffrey Walker, co-chairman of the grassroots organization. "Wherever you have more than one person breathing the same air, I do not recognize any right of a smoker to force smoke into the lungs of a nonsmoker."
Walker, who has been involved in the smoking battle since the 1980s, drafted the ordinance that is currently on the books in the city of Phoenix and the initial model for Tempe's ordinance, he explains.
He is focusing his efforts on allowing restaurant and bar employees, as well as customers, to benefit from a health-ier workplace.
"They are exposed on a daily basis to known cancer causers," says Walker. "We are trying to go at this from the standpoint of the em-ployees and the various workspaces that are still not protected."
So far, the organization has collected nearly 1,000 signatures in support of a smoking ban in Phoenix, although there is no initiative on the Phoenix ballots at this time, explains volunteer Len Gutman.
"Right now, we are looking for people who are interested in helping at the grassroots level," he says. "There is no pending legislation. We're in the early stages."
Walker and Gutman believe a smoking ban in Phoenix is long overdue.
"Unfortunately, Phoenix is lagging behind other cities in this country," says Walker. "California is all smoke-free, end to end. New York City, the entire state of Massachusetts, Delaware and Maine have all gone smoke-free. We are years behind more enlightened areas of the country."
The most common argument against a smoking ban in the Valley, says Walker, is that businesses in nonsmoking cities will lose out to cities without a ban.
The Arizona Republic reported in May that sales revenues from downtown Tempe bars and restaurants fell 12 percent during the year after the smoking ban, and at least a dozen bars and restaurants citywide have gone out of business.
However, the Republic reported this month that Tempe has seen an increase in Series 6 and 12 liquor licenses, the categories in which bars and restaurants fall.
Members of Phoenix for Smoke Free Workplaces, however, are not focused on economics. They believe the issue is a matter of public health.
"It's not an economics issue, it's not a freedom issue, it's not a rights issue - it's a health issue," says Walker. "Why expose yourself to a dangerous substance if you don't have to?"
The city of Scottsdale is also involved in the grassroots effort to ban smoking, partially driven by Scottsdale for Smoke Free Workplaces.
Both organizations hold public monthly meetings. For a complete schedule, visit www.smokefreephoenix.org.
The city of Peoria is also working toward updating their smoking ordinance.
In addition, State Rep. Linda Lopez (D-Tucson) plans to propose a statewide smoking ban initiative to the state legislature in January.
For some business owners, claims Gutman, a statewide ban may alleviate concerns.
"We've heard from business owners that they don't mind if there's no smoking in their establishment as long as people can't go over the river to Scottsdale or Glendale to patronize those places because they can smoke," says Gutman. "What we need is a level playing field."
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