Tobacco Scam: Smokefree Restaurants: Fake Economics


		Here's what restaurant owners pay out of pocket so Big Tobacco can turn billion-dollar profits: 1. Higher maintenance expenses (carpets, drapes, cloths, paintwork). 2. Higher insurance premiums (fire, medical, workers comp, liability). 3. Higher labor costs (absenteeism, productivity). Higher operating costs = lower profit... Allowing smoking in restaurants and bars increases operating costs. This might be justified, from a business standpoint, if smoking attracted more customers and boosted revenue. But it doesn't. Methodically-sound economic studies based on objective sales tax data from smokefree communities across the United States uniformly conclude that restaurants going smokefree lose no business — in fact, they may gain a modest amount. From a business standpoint, then, smoking boosts operating expenses but contributes nothing to operating revenue. Neither the obvious nor the hidden costs of secondhand smoke are in any way offset by higher sales. If a restaurant loses no business by going smokefree — but operating costs for maintenance, insurance, and labor do go down — net income should actually go up. This should reassure any restaurant owner whom Big Tobacco's paid shills and hospitality fronts are trying to stampede into spending tens of thousands of dollars on an ineffectual ventilation system or needless remodel. As the Wisconsin Restaurant Association told members in 1991: A smokefree environment has the potential of reducing costs to restaurant operators. There is simply less maintenance because there are no carpet or table burns; less ceiling, window, and drapery cleaning is necessary; and the risk of fire is greatly reduced.