To the editor:

Inasmuch as I truly enjoy Lawrence’s diverse music scene and the many nightspots that provide the entertainment, I think it is high time Lawrence consider a ban on smoking in all public places, including bars, restaurants and nightclubs. Often, I have considered taking in a show at the Replay Lounge, Bottleneck or Abe and Jake’s only to remain at home, wishing to avoid smelling like someone’s used cigarette.

My work takes me regularly to California. California has banned smoking in bars, and I can’t tell you how nice it is to listen to music in a bar that does not permit inside smoking.

There is no denying now that health risks exist for nonsmokers like me who patronize our local bar scene. According to a Web site sponsored by the “Americans for Nonsmoker’s Rights,” in early 1993, the EPA released a report (“Respiratory Health Effects of Passive Smoking: Lung Cancer and Other Disorders”) that evaluated the respiratory health effects from breathing secondhand smoke. In the report, EPA concluded that “secondhand smoke causes lung cancer in adult nonsmokers and impairs the respiratory health of children.”

Pressure should be brought to bear on our city commission to develop nonsmoking ordinances that would allow those of us who don’t smoke to enjoy music and conversation without endangering our health. Lawrence should join the states of Vermont, Utah, California and New York, and the growing list of municipalities that have banned smoking inside bars and restaurants.

Donald Phipps,

Lawrence