Smoking ban brings tourists back to Vegas

Bill Kerschner, Cherry Valley, Ill.

Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.

My wife and I had stopped spending our vacations in Nevada years ago because of the prevalence of secondhand cigarette smoke in the restaurants, malls, offices and in several bars that we liked.

Now, because of the smoke-free law in Nevada, we intend to visit more often and will spend more of our hard-earned vacation dollars in Las Vegas. We just returned to Illinois after spending a full week on the Las Vegas Strip and visiting some other great vacation spots in Nevada — and we loved the smoke-free air. What a tremendous change for the better out there!

Every Nevada voter should be proud of your smoke-free law, and supporters need to fight to protect it from the tobacco company lobbyists, pro-tobacco politicians and others who want you, your family, friends and loved ones to go back to being forced to breathe in disgusting and health-harming secondhand smoke.