Survey finds continued support for Grand Forks smoking ban
May 30, 2012 at 5:00 pm in Grand Forks Herald
A survey conducted one year after Grand Forks banned smoking in bars and other businesses shows 84 percent of respondents support the law. The results show growing support since the ban was instituted in August 2010, he said. “It’s basically a repetition of the study we’d done in 2010.” Continue Reading
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They had a smoke free bar in grand forks it was called dagwoods (not sure on the spelling) it went out of business because the people who supported this ban wouldn’t support that business.
Before the ban in restaurants went into effect apple bees was trying to be proactive and elimanted their smoking section. As a result their late night business dropped dramatically enough they brought back the smoking section.
so I have my doubts about the validity of this study
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I don’t know about the bars, but not long ago they did go back and surveyed the resturants. Basically they saw a small slump at first, but then they saw a big increase in business as more and more families came in to eat that wouldn’t when there was smoking.
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As a former smoker, I was weary of this law when it was enacted. However, since the law, I’ve become a real fan. I feel quite comfortable in bars, and my wife and I can enjoy any bar we choose without having to consider if this place or that place is too smoky. Recently we walked into a bar in a small town that still allows smoking and were surprised how much we noticed it now. Fact is, it’s pretty gross. Good for Grand Forks (and Fargo) for doing this!
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This has all the potential of the camel’s nose under the tent. In New York City it started with smoking. The moved on to salt. Then transfats. Now it’s the size of a Coke you can buy.
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So, you’re saying it’s thr role of government to dictate that?
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Craig, do you want them looking in your fridge? Let’s look into your hobbies? It is dangerous to bike, or to get too much sun if you go for that walk, your power tools are dangerous, anything bigger than a 16oz soda will kill you…one thing at a time!
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We are all safer because our governments regulate water quality, air quality, and myriad other hazards in our lives. You would rather Walmart decide what you eat?
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There are issues which are the rsponsibility of government, and those that aren’t. If I want a Big Mac and a 16 oz Coke, it isn’t the govt’s business. When you allow the govt to become the master and the citizen the servant, you deserve what you get.
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I’ll be damned…..I can actually agree with something you post……
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I doubt smoking is the reason hospitals charge $25 for advil. The high cost of health care is due to overpaid administration and staff
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Craig, I don’t disagree with your observation that there are a number of personal choices that an individual makes that have either a negative or a positive impact on their health and subsequently the cost of health care. However, the solution isn’t more government intrusion but personal responsibility. It would be relatively easy to implement; simply begin to impose additional charges on individuals who engage in risky behavior to participate in Medicare or deny them benefits. The average person will receive in excess of $250,000 in benefits from Medicare than they paid into the program. Just give everyone a choice, engage in as many unhealthy behaviors as you like, but you can pay for the extra healthcare cost. In anticipation of the assertion that “I paid for my Medicare benefits while I was working” my response is that you didn’t pay enough to grant you the privilege to ignore your personal responsibility to care for yourself.
And, since I am already standing on my pulpit, there is a simple way to fix the cost of health care. Stop giving everyone unlimited healthcare and empower people to be good consumers. Doctors are often compensated by the procedure. Currently, when a patient walks into a doctor’s office and the doctor suggests that you need a blood test, an x-ray, a colonoscopy, a PSA test etc . . . there is no incentive to ask how much the test will cost because Medicare or a private insurance carrier picks up the cost. If people were provided with a fixed benefit amount (with well defined hardship exceptions) patients would become much better consumers. The need to become better consumers was made apparent to me when a co-worker decided to have a vasectomy. His insurance carrier would not cover the expense because it was consider “elective surgery”. After discussing the procedure with his physician he was able to negotiate a fee that was approximately one third the cost of what he was original told. A significant (but not the only) reason healthcare is expensive is because the consumers of healthcare don’t care about the cost.
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You can chug-a-lug all the coke you want in the privacy of your own home. Go for it!
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I think we all have the natural right to breathe clean smoke-free air and that right comes before any smoker’s rights to breathe smoke in a public place. That being said… smokers can all congregate in a smoke filled bar all they want to as far as I’m concerned. As long as there are signs proclaiming “Smoking Allowed” or “Smoke Free”. The bar owner should decide which environment they prefer. I’m betting they would still go with the majority of their patron’s wishes and go smoke free on their own. All we need is a law for the posting of the signs one way or the other.
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I hate this law.. Every day more and more decisions are removed from the hands of business owners in the name of regulation and protection of the masses.
If a bar owner wants to stay in business and a majority of his clientele are not smokers then he/she/they would be a fool not to make the bar a smoke free environment. Nothing is said about restricting the rights of those that choose to smoke, and that they can no longer go out for a relaxing evening because they have been ostracized.
I could care less if a place is smoke free or smoking allowed as long as the decision to do so remains in the hands of the person who owns and runs the business.
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The number of dislikes seems to imply that there are those who prefer government mandate over personal decision. How many of them would welcome an agent into their home with a checklist of contraband items that the government has determined bad “for the good of society.”
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Personally I’m a fan of natural selection. I definitely am for less window lickers being allowed to procreate. There are whole sections of the code book that I would eliminate.
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Actually, I lmao reading the annual Darwin Awards.
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You’re overreacting here. Nobody is talking about entering your home. Drink all the coke or booze or whatever you want, but the bartender can’t serve you if you are drunk. The government (us, really), can regulate where these things can be done in the PUBLIC. Private is an entirely different matter.
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As I said, it’s the camel’s nose under the tent. Which is why I specifically mentioned New York City. Bloomberg apparently thinks he was elcted Fuerher and not mayor. Give the gov’t an inch and they’ll take a mile. Or in this case, a 16 oz Coke.
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As a Minnesota smoker, I have to just shake my head at the comments here. We went though all of this a few years ago, and now there are just about NO places left in MN where you can enjoy a smoke.
Charitable gambling went way down, several smaller bars closed due to NO business.
And now, every time I see someplace banning transfats, supersized sugared sodas, toys in ‘Happymeals’, etc, I just giggle my butt off!
Big Brother got his foot in the door against the smokers, now it’s the fatties he’s after. The obese are the next group that it’s “politically correct” to BASH.
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“They’re coming for you Barbara!” (anyone get the quote?)
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What is this homework? Night of the Living Dead. Am I right? Now let’s get back to the topic….what’s this about you smoking? Aren’t you old enough to know better?
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Hey, bac. you can still smoke in your car with your children. c’mon. You’ve got it made.
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Not in Minnesota, alvin. Or with anyone else’s kids either. Or in your own home if you’ve got kids.
No problem for me, don’t have kids living or riding with me, and when the grandkids come to visit I just go outdoors. I’ve been in a bar maybe twice since MN banned smoking in them and cafes. And parks. And within so many feet of entrances. And public areas, even in your own car. And all worksites.
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There’s a couple states who either passed or tried to pass laws that could fine truckers for smoking in the truck they were operating (I think OH was one and maybe CA….Been a while since I read about it) Now that…Like regulating pop and fries is just going way too far. I guess sombody thought smoking was a distraction…..Apparently they didn’t think of how jonesing for a smoke might cause 80k of death rolling down the road…….
Just like the regs to make sure we’re better rested…Along with Elogs….I’m forced to drive more tired now to get my hours in then I was before when I could nap when I was tired……They just never seem to see the big picture….
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Gene D: there are people here who actually think it’s okay for the gov’t to determine the legal size of a soda you or I can serve to a customer. It’s probably close to one-half of the population. Many think this is not a big deal. It actually brings tears to my eyes.
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Wait il the gvt shows up and confiscates their alfalfa sprouts.
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I go to truck stops all over the country, and if there’s one place that still has a lot of smokers it’s trucking. I myself haven’t smoked since 82 (Smokes were $.80 per pack and just too damn expensive….Who knew what they’d eventually be). Every now and then there will be a resturant that asks “Smoking or non” and it almost seems like a huge step back into the sticks or something that there’s still smoking in some resturants.
Here’s the point smokers never seem to be able to wrap their head around until they become smoke free themselves…….Smoking is a personal decision. When smoking in an enclosed location that personal decision is forced on everyone to share regardless if they want to or not.
I have no problem with bars, but then I don’t go there, but bars aren’t generally family orientated and drinking isn’t actually a healthy activity. So maybe bars should get a pass…
One observation (Even from family members who used to smoke) Often those smokers who get the most angery when talking about smoking bans are the ones who have tried and failed to stop smoking. So they create a defense to make smoking seem like a right they’re being denied. Then should they finally get sucessful at quitting smoking….They eventually see what all the fuss was about and do what they never thought they could do…Agree with smoking bans….
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One thing I’ve noticed since MN’s smoking ban went into effect is the lack of ‘butt litter’ in the parks and public areas. And since most businesses have set out containers the sidewalks are a lot cleaner than they used to be.
As far as the huge sodas, I’ve never understood just why anyone would need a half a gallon at a crack. What most fastfood joints consider a ‘small’ Diet Coke is just too much for me.
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Like those containers that look like pony kegs….Man that’s a lot of pop.
Speaking of “Diet” soda though….I get a kick when people are at buffets with plates stacked a foot high….and then get diet soda…….Or have a big heavy duty burger and greasy fries….with a diet soda……Hey! If your going to pig out thenyou might as well commit to it all the way and enjoy the real thing instead of that water down tasting crap.
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Ah, tundra, they’re worried about rotting the teeth outta their heads that they need for munchin’.
Whoops, most of that fastfood stuff you don’t need teeth for! My bad…
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tundrabeast: You summed it up. ND will be 48, 49 or 50th in dealing with this as a state. Why is that acceptable? Back to limiting soda size, we don’t need the government in this. What about free refills or all-you-can-eat buffets? Should that be banned, too. Mn has a law requiring retailers to only sell U.S. flags made in America. Where’s the constitutional foundation for that and who’d be goofy enough to fight that law anyway? Our gov’t has intruded beyond reason and nobody seems to care.
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The fun goes on and on.. Bars where people go to drink and smoke ciggs.. Are you people insane? If you travel from north Washington street to get to past to K-mart with all that pollution from all the other cars.. This is second hand smoke.. Fill the tank up.. Pump it out so others can smell your SUV.. That is more harm than a stop for a drink at El Roco with people puffing on a cigg…. Auto pollution is rated higher than a few people that wants to hang out with their friends in a bar..
Sorry.. I don’t buy second hand smoke at bar.. I do I see a big haze of blue in the morning and after 5:pm on Washington street.. Blame that on cancer? Gee going home you just smoked 3 packs of ciggs just getting home…
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Although exhaust pollution is an issue there is one huge difference…That’s outside where wind carries it away (If you’re travling in a cloud of smoke then maybe it’s a leak coming inside from your own vehicle). Compared to an enclosed area like a resturant or bar where it generally doesn’t have anywhere else to go. One of the dumbest situations in resturants that had both was a low wall between the smoking and non smoking sections as if somehow the smoke would just hang in the smoking sections, but the all time dumbest was a place that had four tables at the edge of the smoking section that were deemed “Non Smoking” because they didn’t have ashtrays on them….Talk about missing the point…
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This is the dumbest comment I have ever read in my life… WOW!
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I enjoy clean indoor air, but I definitely think bars it should be up to the bar and the patrons. I remember when people didn’t bat an eye at smoking in stores or that adults would smoke in the school. (They did at least step outside the gym into the commons!)I am also remembering that it is my choice to go out and drink. I don’t believe it is that harmful…sorry.
Watch out though, because the next step is outdoor smoking. You have a hard time convincing me that someone smoking at a park or on a golf course is somehow hurting me but that is the next step. They are trying to make it “near impossible” to smoke anywhere remotely convenient…logic then says that they counsel smokers into quitting by telling them how hard it is to smoke. It’s circular logic.
I haven’t smoked in about 18 years, was an occasional smoker in college and a few years into adulthood. I also don’t think my friends who smoke need to be turned into outcasts….Most are conditioned now into going outside to smoke and that’s great. When the health police start to tell them they can’t smoke in outdoor spaces, that’s enough.
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Even outdoors, you can still smell people from smoking up to 30, 40 feet away. I don’t think people should be allowed to smoke in public places. It annoys me when I am driving and two car lengths back from another car I can smell them smoking. Drive thru’s as well. I’m about to eat, I don’t want to smell that crap…
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After thirty years of being smoke free I too am really sensitive to smoke, but I disagree in general. I guess there’s be something when it came to outside gatherings, but otherwise I think it’s asking too much to say even outdoors. Because next people will be calling law enforcement on their neighbors for smoking in their own back yard because some of the smoke drifts their way. That’s going too far.
As long as they’re kept away from entrances to buildings, then I’m not too concerned. In the early days when you’d have several people hudling around the doorways of buildings so you had to walk through a smoke screen that was a bit tough, but I don’t think that’s allowed in too many places any more…
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And the beat goes on. The bars in grand forks have not suffered because of the smoking ban! The bars in minnesota have not suffered because of the smoking ban! The only bars that have gone out of buisness since the smoking ban went into place went out of buisness because they were a bad buisness! Bad location, bad employees, or bad management.
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Says who?
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Yeah…says who?
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I agree with you in general, but there’s one aspect that you’re not considering….Small bars of regulars who all or mostly all smoked. I’m guessing their small profit dropped to zero mighty fast if the regulars just picked up off sale and maybe had a single then left…
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Tundra, they have just moved it outside! Hang out on the deck or right next to the door and most have created “huts” with nice little heaters for the winter. It has turned smoking inot a social gathering. Youused to sit there with five drunks and only move to relieve yourself. Now someone says want a smoke and you head outside grab some fresh air and bs for 10 minutes. I know plenty of small bars that have doen just fine. P.s. I know of one in particular where if its after midnight (while the local cop is taking a nap by the elevator) and there are only 6 regulars …(can’t say the rest)
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I don’t drink so I don’t go to bars, but I see no problem with letting bars like that make their own decision.Resturants are different, and not just because I go to them. They are different because they are attended by all ages and some even still in the oven so to speak. Where as some of these little bars with a bunch of adult regulars are making their own decision to be there. I’m sure if most in the town stopped smoking and the bar owner thought they’d stick around by making it a smoke free zone then it would happen.
As someone who’s been smoke fre for around 30 years I know there’s a lot of good reasons to not have smoking anywhere, but as someone who believes in faIr play I’m not willing to go over board to make it impossible for smokers to smoke anyplace other than their own basement in some enclosed room.
Let them have some bars and casino areas or such…..But the truth of the matter that isn’t being talked about is that this is becoming less and less of an issue. With smokes going anywhere from $5. to over $10 (East coast) per pack, and along with the high cost of gas that basically makes teens have to choose what they’d rather pay for, and then the increasing pressure to not smoke from the majority of society….Kids aren’t starting very often anymore and the older generation is quitting….Sometimes forced into cold turkey because they can’t afford smokes anymore. So really….This is becoming a non issue for most people already. I’m guessing in a decade or two people will look back at the smoking issue with disbelief that it ever was an issue because smoking will be done by so few that people will almost forget that some people still smoke at all……Well at least tobacco that is…
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