Legislation banning smoking in public places cuts to the heart of personal choice, the right to health and business profitability, according to Bahamians and Americans who spoke to the Bahama Journal Wednesday.
Some proprietors said smoking in restaurants should be banned, but should be permitted at bars and clubs, while workers in the hospitality industry voiced health concerns over exposure to second-hand smoke.
Minister of Health and the Environment Senator Dr. Marcus Bethel told the Bahama Journal in January that while international health conventions are pushing for tobacco bans in public places, public smoking laws are not on the government’s agenda at this time.
Last May, the World Health Organization (WHO) adopted its first public health treaty called the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control.
According to a WHO report issued last year, the treaty “requires countries to impose restrictions on tobacco advertising, sponsorship and promotion; establish new packaging and labelling of tobacco products; establish clean indoor air controls; and strengthen legislation to clamp down on tobacco smuggling.”
With regard to smoking in public places, the treaty requires WHO member states to “adopt and implement, or promote effective measures providing for protection from exposure to tobacco smoke in indoor workplaces, public transport, indoor public places and, as appropriate, other public places.”
Dr. Bethel said The Bahamas has not ratified this treaty.
“That treaty would have to be ratified by the Government of The Bahamas and I don’t know where in the [government’s] agenda that would fit right now,” he said. “There has been lobbying by concerned groups in the community about smoking in public places.
“The lobby is not exceptionally strong, but it is a lobby. The problem of smoking for Bahamians is more confined to those persons working in public places that are exposed to smoking by those who are visiting the island.”
Several major American states, including Florida, New York and California, have banned smoking in public places.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines second-hand smoke as “a mixture of the smoke given off by the burning end of a cigarette, pipe, or cigar, and the smoke exhaled from the lungs of smokers.”
According to the EPA, exposure to second hand-smoke (passive smoking) is a known cause of cancer, particularly lung cancer.
Dr. Bethel acknowledged the concern that banning public smoking could have a negative impact on the nation’s tourism product.
Drexel Porter, a restaurant, bar and nightclub proprietor in Freeport said, “I am totally against smoking in a restaurant because it’s hard for a person to enjoy a meal while having to inhale someone else’s smoke.”
David Wipf, proprietor and manager of Freeport’s popular Ruby Swiss Restaurant, agreed saying, “In the dining room I think it should be banned, but not at a bar. At a bar, smoking and drinking goes hand in hand, so if you tell a person at a bar he can’t smoke, you will lose some of your best customers.”
Bartender Pedro Pinder and restaurant manager, Brian Robinson, also agreed that smoking in public places such as in restaurants should be banned.
Like several of the waiters and waitresses interviewed, Silvanus Store conceded that working in a smoke filled environment is what many Bahamians have to do if they want to make a living.
But he said, “I am concerned about my health. I look at [second-hand smoke] as a hazard and I am totally against smoking in public places.
“I have sinus problems, but I just had to get used to the smoke,” said a waitress in the Freeport’s popular Port Lucaya district, who gave her name only as Carolyn. “But people will smoke anyway and you just have to deal with it if you want to make a living.”
Leaders of the National Congress of Trade Unions recently announced their intent to petition parliament for a ban on public smoking, citing growing concerns over the effects of second-hand smoke on workers in the hospitality industry.
Many restaurants in Freeport provide outdoor seating for guests who prefer to smoke, but in many cases smokers and non-smokers are forced to dine in the same area.
Silvano Brutti, a 30-year restaurant proprietor said government ought not to infringe on a person’s right to smoke whenever or wherever he or she pleases.
A Bahamian native now living in London, England also disagreed with government bans on public smoking.
“There was a week-long study done at Leeds University (in Britain) where they banned smoking in the cafeteria for an hour each day and they lost a total of οΎ£26,000 because the students did not have the choice to have a cigarette after a meal,” said the man, who gave his name as Lorenzo.
Most of Grand Bahama’s tourists travel from Florida where a recent ban on public smoking was introduced.
One visitor, Carl of West Palm Beach, Florida said he disagrees with Florida’s anti-smoking laws and thinks the Bahamas should not follow suit.
But Ron Becker of Delray Beach, said, “It won’t matter at all [if The Bahamas bans public smoking.]. The Bahamas is such a beautiful, wonderful place and there are so many outdoor places that I don’t think [that law] would harm anyone.”
Sharon Williams, The Bahama Journal
