The invisible damage done by Charleston's smoking ban

Tuesday, April 08 2008

The first time I heard about the proposed smoking ban in Charleston I was working on a construction site in Goose Creek alongside a block mason, whose continuous brick cutting filled the air, my nostrils, and my lungs with a thick cloud of concrete dust. I fetched a mask, which helped a little, as I continued to listen to the man on the radio insist that an indoor smoking ban was necessary to protect workers and customers. It wasn't a pleasant job, and it probably wasn't healthy, but I agreed to do the job at hand, hazards and all.

Kevin Young has been a bartender at A.C.'s Bar & Grill on King Street for over a decade. He is a non-smoker who has worked in a smoking environment for most of his adult life, until now. Since the smoking ban went into effect, Young has consistently worked eight hours longer than he used to each week and earns roughly $200 dollars less each week. Visiting my friend Kevin at work in the early evening is much easier these days, because the ban has literally cut his bread-and-butter happy-hour shift in half. He says, "Bring back the smokers."
Story continues at charlestoncitypaper.com...