"This is the future. This is the way it is going to be." Rick J. Sampson, president of the New York State Restaurant Association, when asked about a total ban on smoking in restaurants.

American Cancer Society reports that the Massachusetts Restaurant Association dropped its opposition to smoke-free workplace legislation.

The Wisconsin Restaurant Association told members that "A smoke-free environment has the potential of reducing costs to restaurant operators. There is simply less maintenance because there are no carpet or table burns; less ceiling, window, and drapery cleaning is necessary; and the risk of fire is greatly reduced."

"Smoking is no longer acceptable social behavior. We get very few complaints about not having smoking. People are happy to be in a nonsmoking environment. Even people who smoke don't want to sit in it while they eat.

"As far as affecting our business, I think it has helped. We are a family restaurant with a lot of young kids in car seats. It is my personal opinion but I don't think it is a good idea to have them sit in smoke. We also have two regular customers who come in on oxygen tanks. They need clean air.

"For the life of me, you are welcome to go outside and smoke anytime you want. Most of my employees who smoke want to quit smoking and the smoke-free policy limits the amount that they can smoke. We get a lot of people who ask for non-smoking, and it is much easier to say 'take your pick,' it is all non-smoking! I still need to repaint the ceiling that was ruined from all of the smoke. To sum it up… smoke is nasty, dirty, expensive, and it stinks!"

"Going smoke-free has helped us immensely. I think it is a service for our customers to have a place where they can come out and eat and not be exposed to cigarette smoke. I have a baby of my own and I do not want to take my baby to restaurants that are full of smoke. I know that many restaurants feel like they can’t survive if they ban smoking. But if you think about it, people who go to restaurants usually are only there for an hour or so. If they can’t wait one hour to light up then that is a problem.

"At first we thought it would hurt our business. We have many regular customers who smoke but we have had much more positive feedback from the non-smokers. And it has really helped us manage our dining room. If smokers make up 25% of the population then nonsmokers are 75%. It is too hard to divide those people in one dining room. You always end up subjecting non-smokers to smoke and that is not right. I’m not anti-smoking. If you want to smoke, go right ahead. Just don’t subject me or anyone else to it."

"I started Phil’s Deli 25 years ago and we have always had a smoking section. In the last ten years or so, I have felt that no smoking would be made mandatory in eating establishments in Mecklenburg County. To date, this has not been done. I hoped that the commissioners would make this happen because it would be much easier for me if it came as a directive from them to all restaurant owners. That way I would not be at risk of losing any of my smoking customers to other restaurants that still allow smoking. But, I could only wait so long. In fairness to my non-smoking customers, my staff (especially my wait staff), and my family, we are going to be a non-smoking facility as of Jan 1, 2005. I have also discussed this with some of my regular smoking customers and the general response has been: 'I don't blame you,' or 'What took you so long?' I hope the commissioners will seriously consider supporting a ban on smoking in all eating establishments."