N.H. Senate panel backs smoking ban

CONCORD, N.H. -- Chris Kozlowski's cigar-smoking customers would have to find a private club to enjoy an after-dinner smoke with their scotch if New Hampshire bans smoking in restaurants and bars, he told state legislators yesterday.

"At least consider other options," Kozlowski, owner of The Orchard Street Chop Shop in Dover, asked a Senate committee considering legislation for a ban.

But after a two-hour hearing, the committee voted 4-2 to recommend that the full Senate pass the bill. Last year, the same measure passed the House, but died on a 12-11 vote in the Senate.

Supporters are optimistic they will succeed this year with Democrats' takeover of both legislative chambers. Governor John Lynch said yesterday he will sign the bill.

More than a dozen states and hundreds of cities and counties around the country ban smoking in restaurants, bars, or both. New Hampshire is the only state in New England that does neither.

Senator David Gottesman, Democrat of Nashua and the measure's prime sponsor, testified yesterday the ban is needed to protect the health of workers and customers.

"This is an economic issue and a health issue," he said. "It will protect New Hampshire workers and their employers from higher medical costs. All other New England states have gone smoke-free and New Hampshire should not be left behind."

Gottesman said restaurant employees working in a smoke-filled room inhale the equivalent of two packs of cigarettes.

He said the workers have a 50 percent greater risk of dying from lung cancer than the general public, in part because of secondhand smoke.

But opponents like Kozlowski said government has no right to interfere with a business decision. They argued that workers and customers can choose to go elsewhere.

Senator Jack Barnes, a Raymond Republican who once owned McDonald's restaurants, was one of the two committee members who voted against the bill. Barnes said he voluntarily banned smoking years ago at his restaurants.

Representative Rip Holden, Republican of Goffstown, said he has worked in restaurants for 25 years and worries more about making good wages than being in a smoke-filled room.

"Restaurant people follow the money," he said. The state should not mandate a smoking ban on business, he said.

Tom Gillis, co-owner of T.R. Brennan's in Manchester, said that he allows smoking in the bar and that many workers choose to work there because they make more money.

But LeAnne LeClair, a 17-year-old student from Farmington, said she works in a restaurant that allows smoking because she likes the pay and people she works with, but does not like being exposed to smoke.

She said she had trouble finding a job as a high school student.

LeClair urged the committee to pass the bill so others won't face her choice: "Should I sacrifice my health or keep my gas tank full?"