Hopefully smoking change will occur sooner

To the Editor:

I would like to thank your new reporter, Steve Kadel for the excellent article he did on the controversy around the new smoke free law, just passed by our state Legislature.

I believe he did a great job of capturing all sides of the issue. In the years Libby Community Interagencies Inc. has worked for getting clean-indoor air policies in place, it is surprising the number of bartenders and wait persons whom we have spoken with who have lamented over the fact that they were being subjected to the toxins in secondhand smoke. Because jobs are so hard to come by, they felt they had no alternative but to remain in their job.

As alluded to in the article Emily Enger, a server at the Pastime Bar, and others are cheering this new law and are hoping that many of the bars and casinos will move to smoke-free ahead of the October 2009 requirement.

I appreciate Steve covering the Red Dog Saloon's highly successful move to a smoke-free bar/casino atmosphere. I hope the owner, Bruce Mohr's comment "Business has never been better" encourages other bar owners to adopt a smoke-free environment before being required to do so.

Pam Rhodes

Chair, LCI