Contact:
Angela Bradbery (202) 669-6517
Michael Tacelosky (202) 271-9320

October 8, 2004

Increase in Montgomery County Restaurant Revenues Shows Smokefree Workplace Laws Good for Business and Health

Statement of Angela Bradbery and Michael Tacelosky, Co-founders, Smokefree DC.

Recognizing the health hazards posed by secondhand smoke in the workplace, the Montgomery County Council made all its workplaces 100 percent smokefree one year ago. At the time, the Maryland Restaurant Association predicted dire economic consequences.

Those predictions have not came true. In fact, the opposite has occurred; restaurant revenues and sales tax receipts have increased by nearly 8 percent since Montgomery County enacted its smokefree workplace law last October, and the county has received dozens of new restaurant applications. (The Washington Post, which reported flat sales, was looking at data from some – not all – Montgomery County restaurants.)

This kind of economic news has happened in virtually every locality that enacted smokefree workplace laws. In New York City, which made all workplaces – including bars and restaurants – smokefree in March 2003, tax receipts from bars and restaurants between April 1, 2003, and January 31, 2004, increased by 8.7 percent over the same period a year earlier. In Delaware, which went smokefree in November 2002, employment in the hospitality industry increased from 27,900 in September 2002 to 28,100 in September 2003. In California, which has had smokefree restaurants since 1995 and smokefree bars since 1998, beer, wine and alcohol sales increased after those laws took effect.

The same would occur if the District were to go smokefree. After all, 80 percent of District adults don’t smoke. Further, smokefree workplace laws create an even playing field. Smokers do not stop going out; they adapt to stepping outside to smoke.

We should, though, focus on health. Secondhand smoke is more than just a nuisance; it causes lung cancer and heart disease, and is responsible for an estimated 38,000 to 65,000 deaths per year in non-smokers.  The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recently issued a warning to those at risk of heart disease that exposure to secondhand smoke for as little as 30 minutes can increase the risk of a heart attack.

Smokefree workplace measures are good for business and good for health. We urge the D.C. Council to note this study and act swiftly to enact a smokefree workplace law in the District.

Smokefree DC (www.smokefreedc.org) is a nonprofit membership organization that supports 100% smokefree environments for all workplaces, including offices, restaurants and bars, because no worker should be forced to breathe smoke on the job.