Legislators push restaurant smoking ban

North Carolina is a step closer to abolishing the "smoking or non-smoking?" question. The N.C. House Committee on Health on Tuesday approved a bill that would prohibit smoking in restaurants and bars, as well as in other workplaces. The bill now goes to another House committee for consideration. A companion bill in the Senate is dormant at the moment.

Although this legislation still has a long way to go, Tuesday's passage is a staggering development. Twenty years ago, few people could have imagined that North Carolina would ban smoking in any place. Tobacco was king, both on the farm and in the legislature. Since then, the health risks of smoking (and of second-hand smoke) have become more widely recognized, and social mores have changed to the point that smoking is no longer acceptable in social situations. Remember when Johnny Carson, Garry Moore and other television hosts would puff away during talk or quiz shows? Viewers would be aghast at such behavior now.

A recent Elon College poll found widespread support in the state for a ban on smoking in restaurants and bars. With less than a quarter of adults smoking and the vast majority of North Carolinians tired of smoke odor tainting their enjoyment of an expensive restaurant meal, it's no wonder that smoking bans have boosted some restaurants' popularity. Although restaurants divide their sections into smoking and non-smoking areas, smoke doesn't abide by those boundaries. Patrons at non-smoking tables are often treated to uninvited whiffs of smoke.

A statutory ban on smoking in restaurants and other places still has a long way to go. Tobacco is still a $550 million crop in this state, which leads the nation in tobacco production, and tobacco interests can hire good lobbyists and persuade legislators. But if the "Act to Prevent Smoking in Public Places and Places of Employment" were put to a statewide referendum, I have little doubt that it would pass by a wide margin.