Smoking soon will be illegal in Dallas bars, billiard halls and most other workplaces after the City Council expanded the municipal smoking ordinance Wednesday.
The council's 10-5 vote generated jubilation citywide, from medical professionals concerned with second-hand smoke's carcinogenic effects to workaday Dallasites who simply hate having a hefty dry-cleaning bill with their pint of pilsner.
It likewise stoked deep worry among bar and billiard hall owners, who fear patrons will take their business to nearby municipalities such as Addison, which feature comparatively liberal smoking regulations.
Dallas will begin enforcing the stronger ordinance April 10. People or businesses found violating it face a $200 fine for each offense.
"Because of this, people are going to lose their jobs," said District 8 council member Tennell Atkins, who voted against the expanded smoking ordinance. "The health issue is a big deal, but people have individual rights. We need to protect that. And we should have vetted this out a lot more before voting."
Said District 14 council member Angela Hunt, who voted for the expansion: "You consistently see bars and restaurants don't generally suffer as a result of smoking bans. And this will make Dallas a much healthier community."
Dallas joins Houston, Austin, Plano and El Paso among Texas cities that have passed strict smoking ordinances. Nearly two dozen states, from New York to California, also feature comprehensive smoking bans.
The council's vote came after a more than four-hour debate on whether to expand Dallas' smoking ordinance, with city leaders entertaining the sometimes emotional comments of dozens of pro- and anti-smoking advocates who nearly filled the council chambers to capacity.
Council members themselves then proposed nearly a dozen floor amendments to the core smoking ordinance proposal.
Some amendments provided additional restrictions - making smoking inside vehicles when children are present a criminal misdemeanor - while others sought to exempt billiard halls, privately contracted meeting rooms and even bars from the ordinance.
All but one failed. The exception: A relatively minor amendment defining a cigar or hookah bar as a business that derives 15 percent of its revenue (down from an original 20 percent) from tobacco products or paraphernalia sales.
That smokers still may puff away in a few, select Dallas cigar bars is little consolation for those who wish to light up in the overwhelming majority of city watering holes.
"I'm a simple country boy from Nebraska, and all I want from politicians is to educate my grandchildren and give me highways I can drive on," said Larry Ihfe, who smoked at the Dallasite bar in East Dallas while watching the council session on television. "I have to have a four-wheel-drive truck to drive the streets in Dallas, and the City Council is more concerned about me smoking in a bar."
Dallas physician Amet Khera disagreed. Today, he said, people who work in bars in an economy where decent jobs are increasingly scarce "choose between their paycheck and their health."
John Carlo, medical director for the Dallas County Department of Health and Human Services, declared flatly, "I have no doubt that second-hand smoke is a risk to the public's health."
Indeed, lobbyists and advocates on all sides of the smoking issue have peppered council members for months with statistics, requests, pitches and pleas in letters, e-mails, phone calls and personal testimony.
Ultimately, however, politicians themselves primarily drove Wednesday's decision, which traces its genesis back nearly two years to Mayor Tom Leppert.
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