Sunday, August 17 2008
This article in the Charleston Gazzette (http://wvgazette.com) reports that The West Virginia Association of Club Owners & Fraternal Services feel that Kanawha-Charleston Board of Health members "overstepped their authority" when a countywide smoking ban for bars and gambling parlors went into effect on July 1. Moreover, the group believes the law that has led to a significant drop in profits including state revenues from video lottery poker machines, but they'll have to prove it.
The amount of money bar and gambling parlor patrons pumped into the poker machines dropped by $1.2 million from June to July in Kanawha County - a 9 percent decrease, according to state Lottery Commission data.
The health board doesn't have the authority to completely ban smoking and destroy a business," said Jesse Bane, spokesman for the club association. "They should regulate, not legislate."
Bar and gambling parlor owners have repeatedly criticized the smoking ban, but health board members say they have no plans to rescind it. They say the criticism is premature, and that bar sales will rebound in time.
Smoking ban an abuse of power, bar owners group says
