Bar and restaurant owners come out against smoking

Arguing that hospitality workers? lives are at stake, a group of restaurant owners, bartenders and waiters assembled at Timothy Dean Bistro in Fells Point on Wednesday to support a city council bill that would ban indoor smoking in restaurant and bars.

“I don?t see why I cannot be afforded a safe working environment” said Dana Koteen, a waiter at Roy?s restaurant in downtown Baltimore City. “Every other occupation works in a smoke-free environment by law. Only restaurant workers can be legally exposed to cigarette smoke.”