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 Dr. Daniel Soteres, an allergy and immunology specialist, holds a respirator as he testifies in favor of House
Bill 1269 on behalf of Smoke-Free Gaming of Colorado. The bill would lift the exemption for casinos in the state's smoking
ban law.
Smoking Tuesday, February 20
at 12:03 PM It was really sad to see small business people desperately trying to hold on to their neighborhood bars
while the most Orwellen legislature in the history of Colorado looked on with disdain (Rocky Mountain News 2/13/07( “Vote
Burns Bar Owners")! If second hand smoke is so hazardous in the work place then why not handle the problem through the
Occupational Safety And Health Administration (OSHA) and Workers’ Compensation (WC) as in all other aspects of business
and industry? Second hand smoke is, after all, just as much of a byproduct of a neighborhood bar as other airborne substances
in industry, for example, metal fumes are a byproduct of a metal foundry. If the amount of airborne material in any other
work place situation exceeds established standards, ventilation will be required to bring it into compliance. Is the Legislature
trying to tell us that second hand smoke cannot be ventilated? Oh, by the way, just what is the air quality standard for second
hand smoke, anyway? And while we look that up, how about also finding out just how many workers’ compensation claims
for this alleged hazard have been successfully adjudicated? For that matter were OSHA and WC even factored into this boondoggle?
I hope that the resistance to this ban doesn’t go away. Given the current legislative climate it portends a further
path down the road to the ultimate “Big Brother” society that we were warned about in the middle of the last century!
John M. Berger
Lakewood
From The Headlines
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| Dennis Schroeder © News James VonFeldt, owner of Billy's Inn in Denver, and Zack Ford, with the Colo |
Smoking foes bring the fight to apartment buildings
Smoke ban foes meet
Smokeless in Hawaii: New ban may be hard on some tourists
New York City health board bans trans fats
NYC health board bans artery-clogging trans fats at restaurants
Smoking Ban Links from Dave Hitt
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