So far, surveys show public split on smoking ban

Leaders of a local coalition advocating a ban on smoking in Corbin restaurants say they have hit a few snags in getting final results of surveys distributed to local restaurants, but plan to release a full picture of public sentiment on the issue by mid-January.

Corbin Community Coalition Director Leah Norvell said this week that about 50 percent of the four-question surveys distributed to local restaurants have been returned. The questionnaires are intended to get a sampling of public opinion about a proposed ordinance that would ban smoking in eating establishments inside the city limits.

“There are a lot of surveys that didn’t get out in a timely fashion and a lot that we had to wait on,” Norvell said. “Come time for our January meeting, they will all have to be turned back in to be counted. There should be no reason not to have them by then. It’s my job to make sure we have them at that time.”

The coalition, a non-profit organization made up of local school system officials, government and business leaders, chose the issue of a smoking ban as one of three focus areas for 2009. Members of the coalition, along with the Whitley County Health Department, plan to present the surveys, along with other research and statistics on the health effects of secondhand smoke, at the February meeting of the Corbin City

Commission in an effort to convince the city’s elected officials a smoking ban is necessary.
So far, Norvell said feedback the coalition has received on the surveys has been mildly surprising. More people seem to oppose a ban than support it.

Coalition member Christie Van Norstran, who has been helping distribute the surveys, said early opposition to the ban does not surprise her.

“There’s this buzz on the street that’s sort of a ‘how dare you’ thing,'” Van Norstran said. “I think there are more people for the ban than people against it. The people that would rather see things stay as it is … their voices are just a little louder.”

The coalition has had some problems with distribution of the surveys. At least one local restaurant would not accept them at all. Others will take them, but when coalition members return to pick them up they can’t be found. Van Norstran said some restaurants, that are already smoke free, were curious why they were being included in the survey group.

Norvell said many of the early returns on surveys have come from restaurants that likely have a dedicated clientele of smokers. A number of surveys, she said, seem suspicious because a large number of people claimed to be non-smokers, but were also not in support of a ban – a combination Norvell says is unlikely. She admitted that restaurant owners or patrons could easily attempt to stack the deck either way on the surveys, but contends that the limit of 50 per restaurant will, in the end, provide a good representative sampling.

Regardless of the outcome, Norvell said she would be steadfast in including every survey received, regardless of how it is filled out.

“I don’t think it should be up to me or anyone in our organization to pick and chose,” she said. “I don’t want anyone to think we are culling these. We are not. As of right now, the stack of no’s are bigger than the yes’s.”

No matter the final result, the coalition plans to take their case to the Commission. Norvell said a ban on smoking is more than just an issue of public opinion.

“I still think it should be passed simply for the health benefits the Health Department has provided us,” she said. “The information on this lately is astonishing as to the risks of secondary smoke, much less the discomfort. Most of us don’t like the discomfort of having to cough and smell like a cigarette whenever we leave a restaurant, but it’s more than that. Even if the surveys come back against it, I still think we have a strong enough showing of people out there who don’t want smoking to be allowed in restaurants.”