IOP mayor opposes smoking ban proposal

Isle Of Palms Council is discussing a proposed ban on smoking in the workplace tonight.

The Mayor of Isle Of Palms says businesses should regulate themselves, and Council shouldn’t tell business what they should and shouldn’t do.  Mayor Mike Sottile says this means they shouldn’t enforce a smoking ban.  Not everyone on Council agrees with him.

“I believe we need a smoking ban I believe we need to protect the employees and give them access to a smoke free environment,” says IOP Council member Dick Cronin. Cronin says employees can’t just get another job, and the government needs to be the one to regulate. “The businesses will think about their destiny and profit or loss.”

But Sottile says these restaurants have already thought about cleaner air and have regulated themselves. “Most of the restaurants and night spots have already enacted a smoking ban,” he says.

At Coconut Joe’s, for examle, smoking is allowed on the deck but prohibited inside.

Council members are reviewing bans across the state as examples, and say their ban wouldn’t be as restrictive as some others.

If Council decides to move toward a ban, their attorney will draw up an ordinance to at a later date for a first reading. Three readings and a vote are necessary to make any ban the law.

By Tracey Amick
WSCS Live 5 News
August 11, 2008

August 12, 2008 | Filed Under News 

Comments

2 Responses to “IOP mayor opposes smoking ban proposal”

  1. Michael J. McFadden on September 5th, 2008 12:16 am

    Dear Mayor Sottile,

    There are many very good reasons to oppose the smoking ban, but the primary one is that it is based on lies. I could urge you to read my book for a full understanding of that, but you might not want to plow through 400 pages and 600 references before the next vote. :>

    Alternatively, I’ve written a short booklet I call the “Stiletto” that exposes the health and economics lies most commonly used by antismokers in promoting these bans: the lies they use are the same almost everywhere. The arguments are a little simplistic but that was necessary for reasons of space and ease of reading.

    I would be happy to send you a file copy as a Word .doc and you are more than welcome to distribute it freely and/or print it up and pass it around to anyone who is concerned about the issue. I will need an email address that accepts file attachments however.

    Michael J. McFadden
    Author of “Dissecting Antismokers’ Brains”
    http://pasan.TheTruthIsALie.com

  2. Billy on September 13th, 2008 7:22 am

    Oh please give me a break! “Cronin says employees can’t just get another job, and the government needs to be the one to regulate.” Well Mr. Cronin let me tell you something in America anyone can quit a job and find another job! I retired after working on missile guidance systems and now drive semi truck. I make around as much as I did working for uncle sam. As for protecting employees? I hope you ban cars that can go faster than the speed limit as they endanger myself and others around me, how about it?
    You can make excuses all day long but please tell the truth. You are a anti smoker that believes in punishment as a method of forcing a person to change their ways which is what radical bans are. No different than sending little Johnny out of a class room into a snow bank to punish, isolate and condition little Johnny to your roll model!
    Sir get a real life and let others live theirs and learn personal responsibility.

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