SMOKING BAN HURTS BARS, SAYS SURVEY.Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer Nearly 60 percent of California bars and restaurants surveyed have lost a quarter of their business since the no-smoking ban took effect Jan. 1, a industry trade group said Thursday. The American Beverage Institute The American Beverage Institute is a restaurant industry trade group. They are actively involved in public relations campaigns supporting various interests of the restaurant industry, particularly with respect to alcohol consumption. It is based in Washington, D.C. , with some 5,000 members, said a survey commissioned by KPMG KPMG Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler (accounting firm) KPMG Kaiser Permanente Medical Group KPMG Keiner Prüft Mehr Genau (German) KPMG Kommen Prüfen Meckern Gehen Peat Marwick showed that 59.3 percent of 300 bars surveyed across the state reported losses averaging 26.2 percent. ``This is not a good law,'' said John Doyle John Doyle may refer to:
Doyle said the Beverage Institute could not estimate exactly how much money has been lost because sales tax sales tax, levy on the sale of goods or services, generally calculated as a percentage of the selling price, and sometimes called a purchase tax. It is usually collected in the form of an extra charge by the retailer, who remits the tax to the government. reports have only now been completed. In addition to damaging business, the owners surveyed said the law has: caused regular customers to go elsewhere; increased customer complaints and fights; resulted in layoffs and fewer business hours BUSINESS HOURS. The time of the day during which business is transacted. In respect to the time of presentment and demand of bills and notes, business hours generally range through the whole day down to the hours of rest in the evening, except when the paper is payable it a bank or by a ; and fewer tips for workers. The Beverage Institute plans to launch a statewide effort to try to build support for eliminating the law. ``This should be a free market issue,'' Doyle said. ``This is a new wave of the nanny culture where government wants to take care of us . . . something where California seems to be in the vanguard.'' However, the American Cancer Society American Cancer Society, n.pr established in 1913, this national volunteer-based health organization is committed to the elimination of cancer through prevention and treatment and to diminishing cancer suffering through advocacy, scholarship, research, said it conducted its own survey this year that found 61 percent of registered voters support the ban. A spokeswoman said sales tax figures will determine clearly whether the law has damaged business. ``This is all anecdotal information and it's unfortunate they are doing this now when figures will be available soon to see what the impact was,'' said cancer society spokeswoman Ann Wright Mary Ann Wright (born 1947) is a retired United States Army colonel, retired official of the U.S. State Department, and now full-time anti-war activist. Wright is most noted for being one of three U.S. . Also, a survey released in February by the county Department of Health Services Department of Health Services may refer to:
``They were taking the survey of people after the law took effect,'' Doyle said. ``Even then, 33 percent strongly opposed this law. If only 20 percent of Californians are smokers, this shows there is widespread opposition to this law.'' An effort to ease the law by giving a two-year window to bar owners, proposed by Assemblyman Edward Vincent Edward Vincent was elected to the California State Senate in November, 2000, and represents the 25th Senatorial District which includes Compton, Gardena, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Lawndale, Lynwood, Los Angeles, Long Beach, San Pedro and the Palos Verdes Peninsula. , D-Inglewood, has been locked up in committee. The Peat Marwick study was conducted the first week of March and involved interviews with the owners or managers of 300 bars and restaurants selected at random around the state. It has a 5.5 percent margin of error. David Berryhill, a bartender from the South Bay area, said his bar has a ``smoker friendly'' policy while attempting to obey the law. ``We have a sign up that says smoking is prohibited and we tell the customers about the law,'' Berryhill said. ``We also have a log that customers sign, saying they have been told about the law. But, then, we let them smoke.'' Several other bars have taken a similar approach, such as Crazy Jack's Bar and Grill in Burbank, the first bar in Los Angeles County to be prosecuted for violating the ban. |
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