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November 22, 2009

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Letter: Without enforcement, law goes up in smoke

Garth Courtney

Monday, Jan. 29, 2007 | 7:26 a.m.

Regarding reports in the media about the health district receiving complaints about lack of enforcement involving the smoking ban:

I can't believe the arrogance of the bar owners who are ignoring the smoking ban and it is no surprise because they stand to lose nothing. It makes little sense that the health district is left to enforce the no-smoking ban when it has zero law enforcement training.

Let me explain: Say a smoker in a bar is gambling and drinking and is confronted by a health district agent and is advised to surrender his or her ID so that he may be cited for a smoking violation. The smoker now either complies or goes into a tirade that escalates into who knows what because this poor old health district worker is dispatched to do the state's dirty work.

Plain and simple, if the gaming license is at jeopardy here, we will have enforcement of the law. If it is left up to fines by the party involved, it is going to get nasty. As a nonsmoker, I was looking forward to a smoke-free environment to eat and drink in peace, but there will be no such luck. The winners are in fact the smokers, not the voters.

Garth Courtney, Las Vegas

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