While I actually do support the smoking ban, using restaurant receipts to prove their point is deceptive. This county has seen massive growth in the last 4 years which much more likely explains the restaurant tax receipts than the smoking ban.

Unfortunately, unless you have a smoking ban in a stagnant-growth area, there's no way to tell the net effect.

Liz,

your comment that "This county has seen massive growth in the last 4 years"

seems ill founded.

MoCo has certainly seen growth in the last four years, but, MoCo has also been attempting to restrain growth, for a lot longer than the last four years. So, I wonder about the efficacy of your claims.

I invite you to expand upon your thesis that growth, rather than a reduction in smoking,has contributed to the ills of society.

Per the census bureau; in 2000 there were 873,341 persons in MoCo, as of 2006 the estimate is 932,131, which corresponds to a 6.7% increase in population over 6 years. No numbers are available for 2003-2007, however.

Also, don't discount the inflation of prices over that time frame as well to add to the restaurant tax receipts.

I never said that the no-smoking policy did NOT increase revenues; what I said was that because this number has not been regressed against certain variables there's no way of telling what actually increased the tax revenue. Ergo, using that number to toot the line that "The smoking ban increased restaurant revenues" is dishonest.

I applaud the Smoking Ban and I think we can all agree that lives have been saved by it. Also, I cannot take my family to restaurants that allow smoking (we all know the no smoking area eventually gets all the 2nd hand smoke eventually) which rules out spending much money in Virginia...though Va has some great places. I choose to spend nearly every dollar in MoCo (I live there) and feel the sales taxes I pay go to supporting a successful American community. Thanks.

Every young person should know that smoking is the number one health hazard. It takes ten years off your life.

"At no cost to taxpayers?"

Yeah, if you don't count lost revenue on cigarette taxes.

Most people forget the majority of restaurants(Wendys, McDonalds, Popeyes..etc) were not affected by the smoking ban, so the receipts are deceptive. MoCo provides all liquors sales to bars in the county. Look at their sales over the same time period. That is a better indicator.

"I applaud the Smoking Ban and I think we can all agree that lives have been saved by it."

...meaning that but for the smoking ban 4 years ago, there are people alive today that otherwise would have inhaled smoke in a Montgomery County restaurant, quickly contracted some dreaded smoking-related malady and perished. Thank God we have politicians here who know what is best for the rest of us - esp. those of us who, despite constantly be bombarded with anti-smoking messages, would still frequent a bar that allowed smoking. We need to be protected from ourselves...which I guess is why God - or more likely the secular state - gives us liberals to take care of us.

To Maryland Conservatarian: They're not protecting you from yourself. They're protecting me from you.

To the MD Conservatarian, it may be wise to not complain about being protected from smoking or even from yourself. I've seen fights break out at two seperate establishments, where a smoker refused to stop puffing into other customers' breathing space...and the non-smoker basically physically crushed the problem. I don't know how the law handled the resulting injuries, but the smoker was in violation and ended up with some non-smoke related injuries. You never know when the airspace you violate will belong a violent or impatient person. If you plan to smoke in public non-smoking places, please be careful. Both of these events were disturbing. In the final analysis, smoking is unhealthful even on its own. Thanks.