To the editor:

I moved here from California, and, a few years back, California initiated a statewide smoking ban in restaurants and other establishments. Of course there were the owners who said it would be “suicide” for their business. The smokers all promised to quit going to these establishments. There would be establishments closing up left and right and thousands of people out of work.

Guess what? Nobody had to close their business. Guess why? Because people who go to a bar or restaurant do not go there just to smoke; they go there to drink and to eat, and they still do to this day. It is the food, drink, the people and the atmosphere that keep people coming back to a restaurant or bar. I have never heard of anyone say, “Boy my cigarettes sure taste better in that place.” or “I sure do love to go and smoke in there.”

After the law was passed in California, nobody went out of business, and nobody lost their job. A select few people (the smokers) were inconvenienced at first, but they have gotten used to either going outside or using one of the many outside areas that started popping up in the establishments where smoking was OK.

Oh yes, the other thing that happened was the employees had less mess to wipe up, pick up or empty out at closing and they, along with other patrons, stayed healthier.

Sam Hunsaker,

Lawrence