LETTER- Smoking bans do work

The Dish may need to get out a little more [March 23: "Where there's smoke, there's smokers"].

Smoking can successfully be banned in restaurants and pubs. Dave McNair claims it won't work, but one of the most stubborn countries on earth successfully banned smoking in pubs, and it has worked.

I was in Ireland two years ago just after the ban, and the pub scene was delightful. Most pubs had spruced up a patio for smoking out the back door, and I heard no grumbling about that from the smokers.

If a pub wouldn't ban smoking, the government would simply pull the liquor license.

Smoking shouldn't be compared to drinking. Drinking may be considered immoral more than smoking. However, drinking doesn't infringe on other people's right to breathe.

Mike Henrietta
Charlottesville

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