The Baltimore City Council will vote tonight on whether to snuff out smoking in restaurants and bars.
The vote will come down to the wire, said City Council Vice President Robert Curran, the bill?s sponsor.
“I feel I?m closer,” Curran said. “But it?s going to be a photo finish.”
Supporters of the bill expressed hope that Councilwoman Paula Branch, D-District 13, and recently nominated Councilwoman Sharon Middleton, D-District 6, were leaning towards voting for the ban.
“We?re optimistic, but still working,” said advocate Johanna Neumann, spokeswoman for Maryland Public Interest Resource Group. She dispatched volunteers to Branch?s and Middleton?s districts during the weekend with fliers urging residents to call their council representatives in support of the ban.
Nominated by the vacancy committee on Wednesday and expected to be approved at a special session vote tonight, Middleton said she hasn?t decided whether to support the bill.
“I?m still polling my district,” she said.
Proponents of the bill say roughly 200 city residents die from secondhand smoke exposure each year, while opponents argue the ban will hurt the city?s bars and restaurants, economic drivers of the tourism trade.
Studies of the impact of smoking bans, though, are inconclusive, said John Firey, a fellow at the Maryland Social Policy Institute.
“There isn?t much overall effect if you look at bars and restaurants combined,” Firey said. “A ban would simply cater to one group of consumers over another.”
A recent study by the American Academy of Actuaries estimated that the overall economic costs of secondhand smoke are high.
“The effects of secondhand smoke on nonsmokers in the United States cost nearly $6 billion in medical and economic costs in 2004,” said Andrew Simonelli, spokesman for the organization.
Montgomery, Prince George?s, Howard and Talbot counties already ban smoking in restaurants.
Baltimore’s Erik Matthews talks about the city’s proposed ban on smoking in restaurants and bars.
Dawn Shorter shares her views.
