An application for an initiative that would allow smoking in businesses, as long as prospective employees and patrons are informed that tobacco use is permitted in the establishments, has been filed with the Secretary of State’s Office.
Filed by Keep Arizona Free, the proposed initiative is the second tobacco-related item to be filed with the Secretary of State’s Office. It seeks to find a “common sense balance between the concerns of non-smokers, smokers, business owners and communities alike,” according to the document. The group is led by Eric Ulis of the Arizona Cigar Lobby, an organization made up of cigar and tobacco shop owners.
If passed, the initiative would maintain the right of local communities to enact stricter smoking measures and would not alter those already set by cities like Tempe, which banned smoking in restaurants and bars in 2002, Mr. Ulis said.
Mr. Ulis said that he filed the application to help maintain personal and private property rights, which he feels are under attack from those who seek to ban smoking.
“We feel very passionately about talking a stand and saying enough is enough,” he said. “The government should not be in the business of regulating every aspect of a person’s life. The cornerstone of American democracy is the rights of the individual.”
To collect the necessary 122,612 signatures of registered Arizona voters, Keep Arizona Free will use volunteers and paid signature collectors, Mr. Ulis said. He estimates that 30,00-50,000 signatures will be collected from cigar shop owners in the state who have well-established electronic mail listings. Restaurant and beverage groups will also probably help raise money to pay contracted signature collectors, he said. In total, he expects that the group will raise and spend $175,000 to put the measure on the 2006 ballot.
Opponent: ‘Step backward’
One opponent said the proposed initiative will fail to gather support due to its connection with the tobacco lobby and to already-formed public views of smoking and its effects on health.
“It’s a terrible step backward for the health of non-smokers, smokers and role modeling to our young people,” said Dr. Leland Fairbanks, a retired physician and current president of Arizonans Concerned about Smoking.
The first smoking related application for initiative, filed by Smoke-Free Arizona, seeks to ban smoking from all enclosed public spaces and places of employment, including areas a “reasonable distance from entrances, windows and ventilation systems” of such buildings. It was filed on August 31.
Keep Arizona Free has until July 6 to submit the necessary signatures to the Secretary of State’s Office.
The serial number issued to the Dec. 20 application for initiative is I-17-2006.