To borrow a phrase attributed to that sage of baseball, Yogi Berra, an attempt in the Indiana General Assembly to adopt a meaningful statewide ban on smoking in public places is “déjà vu all over again.”
No matter how the state of affairs is emphasized, the reality is that we’ve been down this road before, and we’re no closer to our destination.
Wednesday, the Indiana Senate approved a modified smoking ban, an action that some described as an achievement since it was the first time the body has even voted on any kind of measure relating to limiting smoking in public places.
But the Senate version was much milder than a measure that has been adopted by the Indiana House. Under the Senate bill, bars and taverns would be exempted from the stricture.
It was a familiar outcome. Similar anti-smoking measures that started out as comprehensive approaches but were later diluted to exempt businesses such as bars and taverns have been adopted by a number of local Indiana governments.
The Columbus City Council followed that course of action in 2005 in adopting its own watered down attempt to protect the health of residents, exempting bars and private clubs.
There still is hope that a comprehensive ban could yet emerge from the General Assembly, but that is dependent upon a House-Senate conference committee which is charged with working out differences in the bills passed in both chambers.
Supporters hope that the exemption on bars and taverns will be removed, but that wish flies in the face of powerful lobbying efforts by bar owners and other interested parties who were instrumental in getting the exemptions adopted in the first place.
The argument by these lobbyists that the House version would lead to a massive loss of business for bars and taverns to casinos and private clubs is based on anecdotal and unproven assertions.
That kind of mass exodus has not been the case in restaurants and other public venues that were covered by local smoke bans, such as those passed in Franklin and Greenwood.
Casting the smoke ban as an assault on the rights of smokers is a familiar refrain, but the other side of that argument is the right of all residents to go about their business and not be endangered by the bad habits of others.
That applies not just to business patrons but most especially to employees of smoking establishments who are exposed to secondhand smoke for their entire work shift.
Diluted measures such as the one adopted by the Indiana Senate protect only a portion of the population.
All Hoosiers deserve to be safe.
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