Business owners should take stand on smoking, health

|tab|

It is the classic choice will it be principle or profit? For me, it has become very personal.|ret||ret||tab|

At age 56, every morning is a consolation prize to living. I am not using the word "old" yet, but there are parts of my body that seem to be headed in that di-rection. |ret||ret||tab|

Since I enjoy breathing in and out, and want to keep up that practice as long as possible, I've got a problem with some of you who make a profit, at the expense of my health, because you have cashed in principle.|ret||ret||tab|

The issue is smoking. Yeah, yeah, I know if you don't smoke, don't rag on people who do. The problem is smokers and I have to share the same square footage. And smokers are killing me.|ret||ret||tab|

The facts are mind-numbing. The En-vironmental Protection Agency estimates that 3,000 nonsmokers will die every year from second-hand smoke. Former U.S. Surgeon General, C. Everett Koop said, "It is now clear that disease risk due to inhalation of tobacco smoke is not limited to the individual who is smoking."|ret||ret||tab|

So, there I was with my wife, in a local Springfield restaurant the other night, wondering why the non-smoking area seemed so smoke-filled. I called the manager over, and he proceeded to tell me, with a wave of his hand, that we were in the nonsmoking area, but sometimes "it drifts this way."|ret||ret||tab|

I asked, "Why don't you make the en-tire restaurant nonsmoking? He said, "The smokers would have a fit and take their business somewhere else." He went on, "If City Council would pass an ordinance then I could blame the law."|ret||ret||tab|

Here is the principle/profit issue. Why does profit jerk us around when lives are at stake? Why do we have to wait for some outraged legislator to pen a new law every time we do not have the glands to do what is right? |ret||ret||tab|

What is right? Well, 32 percent of all adults in Missouri report they are exposed to second-hand smoke in the workplace (Missouri Department of Health, 1995). For every eight smokers who die from smoking, they take one nonsmoker with them from second-hand smoke (Glantz and Parmley, American Heart Association). And second-hand smoke leads to approximately 47,000 heart disease deaths per year and nearly three times as many nonfatal heart attacks (Journal of American College of Cardiology, 1994).|ret||ret||tab|

As a frequent traveler, I am looking for hotel and restaurant owners who can admit that "nonsmoking areas" are a joke (separated by latticework draped with fake ivy) and declare their businesses to be off limits to lighting up. |ret||ret||tab|

If you are working in an environment where the ventilation system makes everyone a smoker, you have a right to breathe without fear.|ret||ret||tab|

This appeal is made based on mutual respect. I respect your right to get into any addiction you choose until you threaten my health or well-being. If you want to snort coke, gamble on the ponies or work 16 hours a day, it is all right with me unless you invade my world.|ret||ret||tab|

If you are a smoker, I respect your need to inhale one after another. But your cigarette has no right to prematurely end my life. |ret||ret||tab|

Businesses that choose to make a profit at the cost of my health will not get my money or endorsement. |ret||ret||tab|

But when I travel, I do not have a choice when I have to find a place to eat and sleep. Those needs are at the bottom of Maslow's Hierarchy of needs. |ret||ret||tab|

In Springfield, I am challenging the hotel and restaurant owners to take the principle-driven position of creating "smoke-free" environments for your customers. Yes, it would be easy to wait until the government "makes" you clean up your air, but don't you really want to be a leader instead of a follower?|ret||ret||tab|

For me, every morning is a consolation prize to living. Please don't reduce the number of mornings I have left by asking me to sit in the nonsmoking area.|ret||ret||tab|

(Dr. Cal LeMon solves organizational problems with customized training and consulting. His company, Execu-tive Enrichment Inc., can be contacted via the Business Journal at sbj@ sbj.net.)[[In-content Ad]]