Some in Siloam Springs worry about statewide smoking ban
Posted on Sunday, April 30, 2006
SILOAM SPRINGS — Smoking in many places in Siloam Springs will be snuffed out soon because of two laws passed April 7 by the Arkansas General Assembly that ban smoking in many public places statewide.
Senate Bill 19, now Act 8 of 2006, which prohibits smoking in most public places, was signed into law by Gov. Mike Huckabee and will take effect in 90 days, sometime after mid-July.
House Bill 1046, which prohibits smoking in motor vehicles in which a child in a passenger safety seat is riding, was also passed and signed into law by Huckabee Monday.
There are some exceptions to the law: All restaurants and bars licensed by the state of Arkansas that prohibit at all times anyone under 21 are exempt form the ban. "Well then, we’ll just put a sign outside that says 21 and over,"said Missy Dalton, manager of the Hillbilly Cafe in Siloam Springs.
Some restaurants and business owners in Siloam Springs who have a large contingency of customers who smoke have expressed concern that they may lose smoking patrons. "We’re all smokers here, needless to say, and people like to come in here and relax and have a cigarette. If people don’t smoke they have the right to not come into a place where there’s smoking,"Dalton said of the Cafe on Main Street.
She admitted that she smokes less when she is at home and doesn’t smoke in her house.
A regular customer at Hillbilly Cafe said," I think it’s a bunch of bologna. Nonsmokers are taking over the whole cotton-picking world."
Sheila Tilghman, manager of Eastgate Restaurant in Siloam Springs, said," We have enough nonsmoking restaurants in this town, and if people don’t like smoking they don’t have to patronize my restaurant. Leave my smokers alone."
Tilghman said she is a nonsmoker and is allergic to cigarette smoke. She takes medication every day to be able to work but doesn’t mind it and said," It’s my choice."
She said," It sucks. Over half of my customers are smokers. We have a separate area for smokers to sit; this shouldn’t be hurting my business. I pay taxes and for the food here and I do my part to support the government, so it shouldn’t come in and tell me who can and can’t smoke."
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