I am one of the most effected people by the Ohio non-smoking ban. I'm a bartender. A non-smoking bartender which makes me an oddity. I can tell you that beyond a shadow of a doubt that this ban is terrible for bars. I have a college education, and chose to bartend instead of going into the corporate world. WHY! I was making an excellent income before the ban. A lot more than starting out at entry level or mid level. I have a wife and children and was able to spend quality time with them throughout the day. I had freedom and flexability with my career which not many do. Anyone who thinks that bartending is not a sales career has either never done it or is nuts. Life couldn't get any better. We had built a life around my career. Nice home, vehicles, college education plans, eveything. Now I bring home about 30% less income a week. Now we live so tight fisted that our lives is no longer our own. Why don't I change careers? I still make more than I would starting out at a boring 9-5 job. The sad part is that we as a state did this to ourselves. That includes myself because like many I voted for the ban believing it was for something else. Our ignorance is no excuse. Still there has to be a comprimise. I understand no smoking in public buildings, hospitals, and restaurants. I define restaurant as a place that serves a higher percentage of food to booze. A bar though, you know walking in there is going to be smoking, old men telling tall tales of themselves, a drunk guy hitting on the women. Its as ingrained in society as anything. To me the next step will be saying that people can go to church they just can't pray there. I actually believe the statistic that 80% of ohioans are non-smoking. In a bar though 80% of the regular client base are smokers. I look at it everyday. I have heard all the non-smokers say we will come out more without smoking in the bars. Where the hell are you. The other argument I have heard is that people who smoke will still come out. They do just not as often because they are inconvienenced, and the fact a lot of places have had to increase the price of alcohol to make up for the lack of business. The non-smokers who come out most of them should just stay home. On average they don't spend near the amount of money as the average smoker or on average tip near as well. Another thing that has occurred that I find hilarious is the fact that parents bring in their children now and get pissed that we won't let them sit at the bar. There is a real ban that should happen. Parents feeling all good about their child not having breathe smoke while they get drunk and drive them home. You know children in a bar makes everyone want to stay a while longer. Look there are a lot of people with money (probably a non-smoker since they aren't spending any of it in a bar), there are a lot of smart people, and tere are those who are both. Doesn't someone think that somebody would have opened a bar that was non-smoking if they thought it would make money. If anyone wants to there are 3 that are 4 sale that have closed in the last six months by my home. That way people have options. Lets see whose business does better, smoking or non-smoking bars. The law is not unconstituional, we voted on it, just unfair to bar owners many of whom opened their doors a long time ago with the notion of smoking as part of their business. Take any other business, present a radical chang overnight, and lets see them succeed. What if it was voted that all farmers and trucking companies had to switch to all hybrid machinery. How many could actually make it? Its healthier for erveryone which seems to be a sticking point. Like our local commercial says breathe that clean air. The best comprimise I can come up with is to have smoking licenses for bars. That way it is the business owners right to chose to allow or not allow smoking. People would have options on where they could go. The license would work like our state liquor license where you pay a large fee up front with an annual renewal. That should help the state alleviate some of the 23% sales tax revenue loss from the hospitality industry. That way my children have a chance at going to a scholl that isn't falling apart, or reading outdated text books due to lack of funding.

I think there should not be a smoking ban, but since no one can agree why not segrate the smokers and non smokers.Then all of the people who smoke and apparently do not have anything better to do with their lives but complain would have nothing to complain about. But oops wait a minute, there is always some other organization they can join. So let me see I think the one that says that the people who have soooooo much time on theri hands to think up unjust and rather silly things to do with their time. AI think there should be a BAN on that.