This is pathetic:
The Virginia House of Delegates defeated several proposals Thursday to prohibit smoking in restaurants, stores, offices and other public places, effectively killing all anti-smoking legislation for this year's General Assembly session.
Sen. Ralph Northam, a doctor, sums up why we need this legislation in Virginia:
Sen. Ralph Northam, D-Norfolk, who carried the restaurant ban, said he believes the less government, the better. But the government also has a responsibility to protect its citizens."Specifically in restaurants, we have a regulation that tells food preparers and employees to wash their hands after they use the restroom," Northam said.
"We'd like to know that our food, that the plates that it's served on, that the glasses our beverages come in, are clean. So there's a reason for regulation," he said.
Exactly right, the government has a responsibility to protect its citizens. And cigarette smoke is a carcinogen, that is, it causes cancer. How hard is this to understand? Apparently, it's too hard for Dave Albo:
Del. Dave Albo, R-Fairfax County, who made the motion to table and effectively kill the bills, said he's "not against doing something" but thinks the legislature needs to rework its laws regarding the definition of a restaurant first.Currently, state law doesn't distinguish between bars and restaurants, and an establishment has to sell a certain amount of food to get its state license to sell alcoholic beverages.
"The real problem is that in the bar area, people want to smoke, in the restaurant area they don't, and our current laws don't make a distinction between a bar and a restaurant," Albo said.
Oh, c'mon now Dave, you're such a smart guy and you can't figure this one out? I mean, it's not exactly as if you don't have examples in...oh, just about the entire United States. That's right, people all across the country, from Arizona to Maine, have figured this out -- but you're stumped? Sorry to be a bit skeptical, but that's a little hard to believe. Of course, you ARE the same guy who brought us arguably the dumbest legislation in years in Virginia, the hated (and now, hopefully, dead) "abusive driver fees." So I guess we shouldn't be surprised that you've gotten it wrong once again, this time on protecting people from cancer-causing agents in the air they breath.
ANY restaurant is free to make their establishment nonsmoking if they want to. Any person is free to leave or not patronize a restaurant where there is smoking. It's not as if anyone is forced to go to a restaurant.