Smokers in the nation’s fourth-leading tobacco-growing state would be banned from lighting up in restaurants and most other indoor public places if a bill endorsed Thursday by a Virginia Senate committee becomes law.
The Education and Health Committee voted 9-5 to send Sen. Brandon Bell’s bill to the Senate floor, where similar legislation narrowly passed last year only to die later in a House of Delegates subcommittee.
Bell, R-Roanoke, said the measure is needed to protect Virginians from the hazards of secondhand smoke, which has been proven to cause cancer and other diseases.
“It is a powerful carcinogen,” said Dr. Antonio Longo, an Alexandria pulmonary specialist who was the only witness Bell brought before a committee that heard extensive testimony on the issue last year.
Philip Morris USA, the nation’s No. 1 cigarette maker, is based in Richmond.
According to the anti-smoking group American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation, 19 states have banned smoking in restaurants, and 15 of those prohibit lighting up in all workplaces. Bell said four states approved bans just last year.
“There is a great deal of momentum across the country for this measure,” he said.
But Christopher M. Savvides, owner of the Black Angus Restaurant in Virginia Beach, said he should be allowed to determine his own smoking policy.
“It’s not about smoking, it’s about myright as a business to do what I need to do to attract customers,” Savvides said.
He said many restaurants have gone smoke-free voluntarily, while others continue to accommodate smokers, providing plenty of options for Virginians no matter what their smoking preferences.
