The Dallas Business Journal reports that State Rep. Myra Crownover's proposed smoking ban for restaurants and bars is gathering more support from sensible poll participants: 68 percent of Texans asked said they're for the new rule, and 72 percent said customers' and employees' right to inhale with ease in dining and drinking establishments is more important than the rights of business owners and smokers.
The poll was conducted by backers of House Bill 5, yes. But we count any part of the accumulating enthusiasm for enforcing health standards a victory after publications like Men's Fitness have ousted Texans as a slothful and self-destructive bunch — more than half of the top ten fattest cities plopped on the U.S. map by the magazine in 2008 fell in this state, Dallas and Fort Worth ranking high.
Could the discussion sparked by the initiative to protect people from lung cancer, massive allergies, and headache associated with cigarette smoke be a staggeringly constructive start to a new age in Texas wellness? The City of Dallas has already tightened its belt on smoking after heavy civic opinion was expressed on both sides.
Whatever your leanings on the issue, take a peek at the newest development on the risks-of-smoking front. The danger to yourself and others doesn't stop when you put your cig out at the bar.
