Pulling rank on voters

Friday, April 10, 2009 | 2:07 a.m.

It is not hard to grasp why tavern owners support Senate Bill 372, which would allow them to once again serve food even if their patrons are smoking — as long as there are no children present.

Under the Clean Indoor Air Act, a law initiated and passed by voters in 2006, owners can either ban smoking in their bar/restaurants or simply become a bar where no food is served.

Either way, they say, they lose money.

On the other hand, however, it is very hard to understand why the Senate Judiciary Committee this week voted 6-1 in favor of SB372, which clearly goes against the election results. Does the will of tavern owners rank above the will of voters? To the six senators who voted for the bill, apparently it does.

We strongly agree with the one member of the committee who voted against the bill, Valerie Weiner, D-Las Vegas.

“I believe that what was done in the Clean Indoor Act was the proper thing to do to protect the public health of the people of Nevada, and I didn’t see that any modifications would be appropriate,” Weiner said.

Her point is well taken. One of the most serious issues confronting Nevadans is health care, yet the committee’s vote is evidence that the Legislature isn’t serious about fully addressing it.

Preventive measures, such as quitting smoking and avoiding secondhand smoke, are known to be among the best ways of improving health and keeping down the cost of care.

Watering down any part of the Clean Indoor Air Act invites other modifications, which eventually would render the act worthless. The act specifically bars smoking in “bars, taverns and saloons that serve food,” but it also bars smoking in virtually all indoor places of employment in Nevada except the gaming areas of casinos.

The act was passed to protect nonsmokers from secondhand smoke, which poses serious health threats. We hope the full Senate rejects this bill.