Issue date: 3/3/08 Section: News

Senior Coutney Wood enjoys a cigarette outside Hibbard Friday afternoon.

Senior James Clark is a smoker. He said he goes through a few packs a week, most often lighting up while at a local bar. But if his favorite establishments decided to go smoke-free, he said they'll still get his business.

"It doesn't bother me," Clark said. "I'd still grace the bars with my presence, and I'm pretty sure most smokers would."

A report by Bruce Speight of the Wisconsin Public Interest Research Group found that smoke-free policies in Appleton and Madison, as well as municipalities around the nation, did not harm local economies. Speight said the impact is "neutral or positive" and relates to the Breathe Free Air Bill currently in the state legislature.

The WISPIRG report - "Smoke and Mirrors: Tobacco Industry Claims Unfounded" - is a compilation of academic studies published around the country. It also includes more recent data from Wisconsin case studies.

According to the report, Madison and Appleton have adopted 100 percent smoke-free policies for all bars and restaurants within city limits.

Madison's smoke-free law went into effect in July 2005 and has seen an almost ten percent increase in the number of licensed liquor establishments - from 332 before the ordinance to 365 in Jan. 2008 - as well as a 15.5 percent increase in service industry employment from 2005 to 2006.

According to the report, no Appleton bar located on the border of a community without an ordinance has closed, and there is a continuous waiting list for liquor licenses in the city.

Speight said this report supports efforts to implement a smoke-free policy statewide.

"This report shows that we can have smoke-free bars and a healthy economy," Speight said.

For the report, Speight said he included studies that looked at smaller, more rural communities, which are comparable to many Wisconsin towns. The economic impact of a smoke-free policy in those areas, he said, is also neutral or positive.

This report comes at a relevant time, since the Wisconsin Legislature is working on the Breathe Free Air Bill, which would make all public workplaces in Wisconsin smoke-free.

The Assembly Public Health Committee held a hearing on the bill last Wednesday, said 2002 UW-Eau Claire alum Doug Parrott, the committee clerk, and will be voting on it Tuesday morning.

Continued...

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