Name:______

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2/23/07

RE: HB 1800 Smoking ban Exemption

POSITION: Support

Dear Honorable Committee Chair RepresentativeWaters and Judiciary Committee Members:

I was always taught to offer hospitality to family and visitors alike. These smoking bans disenfranchise the very people who come from all over the world to relax and enjoy our island paradise. Many of our visitors are smokers not to mention the 200,000 plus smoker residents of the state. No minors are allowed into bars. We are talking about adult behaviors in an adult establishment. Tax paying citizens of the state havebeen now deprived of enjoying a legal substance in a secure environment. There have been too many studies recently debunking the Second Hand Smoke threat. Un-Biased Scientific evidence is available at:

. Do not let the rhetoric of the opponents of this bill fool you. They have a large war chest to work with. I am a private citizen. This is the only way my voice can be heard. I hope you are listening. Further, the public notice of this hearing was inadequate.

I encourage you to Support HB 1800 for the following reasons:

1-The above bills are not justified by empirical scientific evidence. They are exclusionary and based on ignorance and bigotry that has been propagated against smokers by The American Cancer Society and The Coalition for Tobacco Free Hawaii. The 85% support of the ban figure comes from a phone interview of 605 people done a year before the ban was implemented. No comprehensive surveys or studies have been done by the Coalition since the law that was put into place. Hawaii already held the lowest death rate in the country for deaths from all cancers and cardiovascular related disease for the past 8 years in a row.

2 - The current law is a micro-management of citizens and business owner’s rights. I do not believe the studies that were bought and paid for by special interest groups and the Coalition for a Tobacco Free Hawaii. I choose to rely on sensible, scientifically empirical data as provided by the link above, therefore, the original smoking ban was forced upon me without thought or consideration of my rights and the right to have the freedom of choice. I believe that patrons should decide whether or not to enter a bar that is smoker friendly. I believe in the words of Thomas Jefferson “If a law is unjust, a man has not only the right to disobey it; he is obligated to do so”. I believe in every person’s right to freedom of choice and personal responsibility.

3 – HB 1800 is a step in the right direction to correct the discriminatory nature of Hawaii’s current smoking law. It will permit Business Owners the right to choose whether to allow smoking in their own establishments. Employee’s have the right to seek employment based on their own smoking preference. No one has ever been forced to work aroundsmoking. The current law forces businesses to discriminate against their loyal customer’s; we are forced out into the streets. As it stands now, only non smokers are afforded the right and courtesy to choose freely where they can, but by looking at the business losses, do not seem to go.

Thank you for your attention and consideration of this opinion

Sincerely,

Signature Please circle one: Smoker Non Smoker