I think enacting the ban is the best thing our state government has done in a long time.

Smoke 'em if you got 'em?

I'll take the other side of this, since there are three posts in support of the ban. I am a smoker. I must say I enjoy non-smoking bars.

That being said, shouldn't it be the bar owner's choice to run a smoking or non-smoking establishment?

After all, the bar owner and staff are the people who will potentially see a decrease in revenue and gratuity if smokers start drinking at home rather than going out to bars.

If bar owners operate within the guidelines of the law, why isn't it their choice to alienate smokers or non-smokers, if they want a certain clientele in their establishment?

Bar owners are the people who have to make changes to their business to accommodate smokers with patios or smoking areas in the winter.

It is the bar owners who face a possible decrease in business.

It is the bar owners who have to spend money to put in smoking areas.

It is bar owners who are left with less revenue, if smokers decide they are going to drink at home so they can enjoy a smoke with their cocktail.

It is a fact that many bars across the country haven't been able to adapt to smoking bans and have gone out of business.

On the other hand, a state-wide ban doesn't give a bar in a certain location a disadvantage or an advantage of being on the border of a county that allows or disallows smoking, which was a problem when the ban was implemented in Hennepin County and not in Ramsey County.

In my OPINION, this issue isn't whether non-smokers like smokeless bars or smokers like smoky bars.

Everyone has their preference.

People need to agree to disagree on this issue because the issue isn't about comfort, it is about the revenue that could be lost by people, both owners and staff members, who have mortages, families, bills and business loans.

I understand this is a health issue.

I agree that smoking kills people.

I agree that cigarette smoke stinks.

But losing revenue stinks in a different way.

Financial health is a large part of a person or family's well-being.

Isn't losing your business do to an uncontrolable loss of revenue implemented by the government a health risk?

Isn't increased stress because you can't make rent due to a decrease in business a health issue?

Isn't putting smokers on the sidewalks in front of bars where they could get hit by a car a health issue?

My hope is that smokers understand it is the law. It is out of the bar owner's hands, and like Joanna said, they support the local establishments just the same.