Category: default || By jt3y

If I were a tavern owner in North Huntingdon, Penn Township or Murrysville, I'd be salivating right now.

Not over the Friday night fish sandwich specials, though those are pretty good. No, I'd be salivating over the thought of Allegheny County banning smoking in bars and restaurants.

If I were a tavern owner in McKeesport, White Oak, Monroeville or any other border community, however, I think I'd be beside myself in white-hot fury.

As I may have mentioned in the Almanac, I have asthma and I'm allergic to dust, pollen, animal dander, chemical fumes, smoke and pretty much everything else, I think, including rainbows, sunny days and gentle ocean breezes.

OK, maybe not that bad, but they're pretty miserable. Suffice it to say that cigarette smoke isn't one of my favorite things, though I have plenty of friends and relatives who do smoke, and I don't begrudge them. Worry about them, yes. Begrudge them, no.

Anyway, when I visit a bar or tavern, as I have been rumored to do from time to time, I'm fully aware that someone's going to be smoking. Years ago, I interviewed a specialist who treated drug addicts. Many of them had kicked addictions to heroin, cocaine or meth, but couldn't give up cigarettes --- and they most wanted a cigarette when they were at a bar with their friends.

From talking with other smokers over the years --- especially people who smoke only occasionally --- almost all told me that if they're at a bar, enjoying a colortini, they reach for their Pall Malls or Virginia Slims.

So, if I'm going to be at a place where people are smoking, I make sure to pack my allergy medicine. I understand that not everyone's allergies can be controlled with medication, or that some people choose not to use medication. Obviously, that option won't work for them, and those people can't go into a bar or tavern if there are smokers present.

But frankly, there's no constitutional right to be able to enter a bar or tavern.

Also, frankly, I have never, ever seen a bar or tavern that was "no smoking." They may exist in some swanky suburb like Fox Chapel or Sewickley or Bunola, but I haven't seen them.

That tells me a couple of things. First, that there's little public demand for "no smoking" in bars and restaurants, and second, that restaurant owners are afraid of losing a large portion of their trade if they forbid smoking.

To get back to my opening sentences: If I were a tavern owner in any of the communities that border Allegheny County --- say, McMurray in Washington County, or Cranberry in Butler County --- I'd be rubbing my hands with glee. When they ban smoking in bars and restaurants in Allegheny County, my strong suspicion is that smokers and their friends will find new places to hang out.

Or else they'll spend a lot less time in their existing hangouts in Allegheny County, because they'll be going home or someplace else to smoke.

Either option will mean they're spending less money in Allegheny County's bars and taverns and restaurants.

Is there some reason that Allegheny County Council works so hard, each and every day, to drive people out of Allegheny County?

. . .

And on a related note, here's something else that bugs me. The same Post-Gazette story that talks about the proposal to ban smoking in bars and restaurants notes that the Allegheny County Health Department is operating in crisis mode.

Frankly, that isn't news. If you've ever visited any of the ACHD's facilities, you know that "dilapidated" doesn't begin describing them. "Disgrace" comes close, as does "embarrassing" and "condemnable." This county hasn't invested a nickel into the Health Department in years.

Over the years, however, ACHD has attracted and retained some pretty talented scientists and physicians and conservationists who are obviously working there because they love their work, not their disgusting and deteriorating facilities.

The news is that one-third of those people will be able to retire within five years, and the starvation wages that the county pays Health Department employees will not allow them to attract the same quality of people.

Nobody asked me, but in an era where we're constantly being warned about things like E.coli, avian flu and bioterrorism, I sure wish Allegheny County Council was working on finding more funding for the Health Department, and not on banning smoking in bars and restaurants.

Secondhand smoke is bad, but given a choice between breathing some smoke or spending two days in the bathroom with food poisoning, I say go ahead and light up a Lucky.

. . .

To Do This Weekend: The sun'll come out tomorrow. On the other hand, this is Western Pennsylvania, so I wouldn't bet on it. Go see "Annie" tonight, tomorrow and Sunday at the McKeesport Little Theater, 1614 Coursin St., near the library. Times are 8 p.m. tonight and Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Call (412) 673-1100.