At the beginning of this month, Columbus instituted a smoking ban on all public establishments, including bars. As a lifetime nonsmoker and adult drinker, this is very good news to me. I can now enjoy a beer at a local establishment and not go home reeking of smoke. I like that.

But not everyone does.

Hilliard, a Columbus suburb, voted last night to allow smoking in bars and taverns where alcohol sales make up at least 65 percent of their business. There have been similar, though so far failed, efforts to put a loophole like this in the Columbus law, too.

I've had numerous conversations about this with friends, both smokers and nonsmokers, and it often comes down to a predictable argument that goes like this:

FOR: "It should be up to the owner of the bar to decide. It's his business; the government should keep their grubby hands off it."

AGAINST: "Yeah, well, I like to go to bars but I don't like to stink like smoke or to have to breathe it."

FOR: "Fine. Go to a bar that doesn't allow smoke."

AGAINST: "That's stupid. Less than a quarter of adults smoke, so you're saying the 75% who don't smoke should be the ones running around trying to find a safe place?"

FOR: "That, or stay at home."

AGAINST: "That's a bunch of crap. Smoking kills the smokers and people around them. You know it, I know it, everyone knows it. The government ought to ban smoking altogether and be done with it."

FOR: "Alcohol kills people, too. If they're going to ban smoking, they ought to ban alcohol sales, too."

And so it goes. As soon as anything resembling logic starts to show up, the argument almost always seems to degenerate into a theme of alcohol equals smoking and so, therefore, you must have both or neither. It's an all-or-nothing game. I'm here to say, that's a bunch of bull. Yes, alcohol kills people, but nothing like cigarettes do.

You'd think that would be both intuitive and persuasive but the problem is, half of the people doing the arguing don't have statistics at hand and the other half don't want to hear them. Well, my friend, I've come to rescue.

Let's start with the alcohol. We all know alcohol has and causes all kinds of problems, but let me quantify it for you. According to the US Department of Health and Human Services' Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

In 2002 a total of 19,928 persons died of alcohol-induced causes in the United States.... The category "alcohol-induced causes" includes not only deaths from dependent and nondependent use of alcohol but also accidental poisoning by alcohol. It excludes unintentional injuries, homicides, and other causes indirectly related to alcohol use as well as deaths due to fetal alcohol syndrome.

As far as I can tell, these numbers do not include deaths from automobile accidents, of which drunk driving is a factor about 50% of the time. According to the web site USNoDrugs.com:

Drunk driving is proving to be even deadlier than what we previously knew. The latest death statistics related by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), using a new method of calculation, shows that 17,488 people were killed in alcohol-related traffic accidents last year.

They also claim, "Alcohol is the number 1 drug problem in America," and "Over 15 million Americans are dependent on alcohol. 500,000 are between the age of 9 and 12."

Except for pointing out that their figures and opinions do not include smoking as a drug issue, I'll not argue the statistics. So what do we have? By my count, roughly 37,500 deaths per year from alcohol abuse and 15,000,000 Americans with an alcohol addiction.

For the record, according to the US Census Bureau, as of the moment I'm writing this the population of the United States is 295,471,589. That means alcoholics make up 5.08% of the US population.

That's bad. No arguing it. But what about cigarettes?

Again from the US Department of Health and Human Services, in a report titled "The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the Surgeon General," is this:

Despite the many prior reports on the topic and the high level of public knowledge in the United States of the adverse effects of smoking in general, tobacco use remains the leading preventable cause of disease and death in the United States, causing approximately 440,000 deaths each year and costing approximately $157 billion in annual health-related economic losses....

And these:

• Smoking harms nearly every organ of the body, causing many diseases and reducing the health of smokers in general.



• Compared to nonsmokers, men who smoke are about 23 times more likely to develop lung cancer and women who smoke are about 13 times more likely. Smoking causes about 90% of lung cancer deaths in men and almost 80% in women.



• Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and has negative health impacts on people at all stages of life. It harms unborn babies, infants, children, adolescents, adults, and seniors

So, let's review: Alcohol-related deaths in the US each year are approximately 37,500. Smoking-related deaths in the US each year are approximately 400,000. Let's put that in perspective.

Each year there are 365 days x 24 hours x 60 minutes = 525,600 minutes. Based on the government's statistics above, one US smoker dies every 79 seconds.

And, how many people smoke? According to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 46,200,000 adults (22.8% of the population). And, that doesn't include the kids who smoke (28% of High School and 13% of Middle School students).

Then, there's second-hand smoke.

While you puff away on a stogie as you sip your scotch, you're affecting my health, too. OK, sure; I don't have to be there. I can go home. But what about that cute waitress and the bartender? What about the busboy trying to scrape out a living? According to the American Lung Association:

• Secondhand smoke has been classified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a known cause of cancer in humans (Group A carcinogen).



• Secondhand smoke causes approximately 3,000 lung cancer deaths and 35,000 heart disease deaths in adult nonsmokers in the United States each year.



• A study found that nonsmokers exposed to environmental smoke were 25 percent more likely to have coronary heart diseases compared to nonsmokers not exposed to smoke.



• Nonsmokers exposed to secondhand smoke at work are at increased risk for adverse health effects.  Levels of ETS in restaurants and bars were found to be 2 to 5 times higher than in residences with smokers and 2 to 6 times higher than in office workplaces.

Did you notice in there the statistics that total up to 38,000 deaths each year from secondhand smoke? That's more than the total number of alcohol-related deaths of all kinds and it's the deaths not of people who smoked, but simply those who were around people who smoked.

That's stupid. Smoking is stupid. Worse, it's a brutal killer. While there are plenty of reasons to cut back on or stop drinking altogether, they don't even begin to approach the reasons to just flat ban smoking in the US and be done with it.

Let's put it this way: More people die each year as a result of smoking than those who die from car accidents, alcohol, AIDS, murder, illegal drugs and suicides combined (UPenn Med School).

These aren't my opinions; they're the facts, ma'am. Just the facts.

1. Sean Burgess02/15/2005 11:25:15 AM
Homepage: http://www.phigsaidwhat.com

As a lifelong non-smoker, I whole-heartily agree with your comments. The one real issue I have with going out to clubs and bars is the smoking that always occurs at those establishments. It was also a problem when I waited tables and had to deal with the smoking section.

When I lived in the SF bay area in the mid 90's, it was quite nice to be able to go out in a smoke free environment. If not for the tobacco lobby, this issue would have been resolved years ago. I do hope they pass the ban in Maryland this year.

Sean---

2. Richard Schwartz02/15/2005 11:33:52 AM
Homepage: http://smokey.rhs.com/web/blog/PowerOfTheSchwartz.nsf

Great article, Scott. Thanks!

-rich

3. Newbs02/28/2005 02:18:26 PM
Homepage: http://www.newbsconsulting.com

Scott:

I could not concur more wholeheatedly. We are having the same "debate" in Cincinnati and the bar owner's constantly weap about the lost business if they exclude smokers. I must point out the the local TGI Friday's gets no business from me while I go to Applebee's across the parking lot two or three time a month. Why? Smoking at the bar.

I wonder what the statistics are as to people who do not smoke who still go to smoking bars? Is it perhaps as high as 50% of those who go to bars. If there are over 70% of adults who do not smoke then it would make sense for bars to open themselves to have a greater percentage of them use their services. Applebee's does, and I have not heard they are going broke.

Newbs

4. Bob Nelson03/24/2005 11:19:26 AM

I really wish people would accept we once lived in caves. The gasses emitted by commercial grade carpet have a much more detrimental effect on lungs than tobacco smoke! "I don't smoke, but I do drink" ! - therefore what? In the United States it is legal to smoke. Thought police have turned this into a wonderful opportunity to invade private rights with 'social dogma'. Smoking is not mandatory, and it's prevention should not be either. God blessed America - now I think he has moved on with his life.

5. mike03/03/2006 01:54:25 PM

this site cganged my life forever i quit smoking today!

6. Scott Good03/04/2006 09:22:19 AM
Homepage: http://www.scottgood.com

Mike,

I hope so. Really, I do. Good luck!

Scott

7. Stevelee01/02/2007 07:09:13 PM

Your 38,000 deaths from secondhand smoke are statistical illusions. There has NEVER been a documented death from secondhand smoke, period. Moreover, all smoking ban propaganda is ultimately based on the 1992 USEPA study (you know, secondhand smoke causes 3,000 lung cancer deaths a year, blah, blah, blah). Did you know that, in 1998, a federal judge threw the USEPA study out of court as junk science? Also, the 2006 Surgeon General report on secondhand smoke was little more than a retread of the decredited USEPA study.

On the other hand, the 37,500 deaths from alcohol abuse and drunk driving are documented facts. I can name a least a dozen people off the top of my head who have died as a result of drunk driving, but I can't think of a single person who has died from secondhand smoke. Smoking is dangerous to the smoker, but not to the nonsmoker sitting on the barstool next to the smoker.

Paranoid hypochondriacs can avoid secondhand smoke 100% of their lives by simply staying out of bars that allow smoking. On the other hand, the only way people can avoid the effects of drunk driving (what I like to call "secondhand drinking") is to stay locked up in their homes.

Someone once said that smoking bans are all about getting in touch with your inner tyrant, and learning the joys of self-righteous cruelty. So true! How many bars will be put out of business and how many smokers will be made miserable by the votes of selfish smoking ban supporters? Based on the success of smoking bans all over the country, I'd say there are a lot of closet totalitarians out there.

8. Kathrine Cipriano02/04/2007 09:07:28 AM
Homepage: http://www.yahoo.com

i am not a smoker and will never become one, but it makes me even more discusted with all those statistics. thanks for the great article!

-Kathrine

9. E. Bitter05/06/2007 07:36:42 PM

According to the National Highway Traffic Safety Admininstration (NHTSA), there is an alcohol-related traffic fatality every 31 minutes and an alcohol-related traffic injury every 2 minutes. In 2005, 16,885 people DIED in alcohol-related crashed. In addition, 254,000 people were injured in crashes where police reported that alcohol was present. That would be 270,885 people who were killed or injured due to alcohol-related crashes.

Besides drunk drivers, alcohol provides us with pancreatitis, liver diseases (hepatitis C and cirrhosis), and brain damage. Alcohol is also a known carcinogen and contributes to colon cancer. It stimulates tumor growth and increases risk of cancer of the liver, pancreas, rectum, mouth, pharanx, larynix, and esophagus. Let's not forget about Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Also, alcohol contributes to heart disease, kidney disease, and causes neuropathy, depression, anxiety, insomnia, and dementia, as well as impairing balance and memory,

As a non-smoker, I have to agree with smokers who say that if smoking is banned then alcohol, by all means, should also be banned in bars, restaurants, stadiums & parking lots, and bowling alleys.

Cheers.

10. dgpnca01/19/2008 06:37:24 PM

270,885 alcohol related accidents, 0 smoker related accidents.

11. ROCK08/19/2009 01:58:53 AM
Homepage: http://THE ROCK IS ON

WHAT DE HELL MAN I SMOKE TOO