Stogie News: Westmont Under Siege

It’s no secret that most major metropolitan areas in the U.S. have fallen victim to smoking bans over the past few years. New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago – just to name a few – all succumbed to the tyranny of the majority by prohibiting private business owners from offering smoke-friendly facilities to consenting adults.

Regular StogieGuys.com readers certainly know how we feel about these oppressive statutes.

Needless to say, watching anti-smoking zealots’ totalitarianism sweep the nation like the plague is enough to make a smoker/freedom-fighter enraged. But what really makes me sick is that same tyranny may soon surmount my hometown – beautiful Westmont, Illinois.

Although “The Progressive Village” has yet to take an official stance, last month city bureaucrats held a smoking ban hearing for local business owners and concerned citizens. Fellow western Chicago suburbs Hinsdale and Burr Ridge have already passed smoking bans, and Downers Grove and Woodridge are currently considering similar laws.

An article in Friday’s Westmont Progress highlighted one man’s personal vendetta against possible anti-smoking legislation. Bob Airdo, owner of Vincitori, recently installed a high tech air purification system in the Italian restaurant to “make the dining experience enjoyable for everyone.”

What a novel approach. Unlike unconstitutional blanket laws prohibiting adult behavior, Airdo’s strategy ensures smokers and nonsmokers alike will be able to enjoy the fine cuisine while taking in live jazz.

Air purification systems installed in the restaurant’s ceiling are designed to kill or capture unhealthy smoke. Unlike smoke-eater machines, which just capture visible smoke, Michael Holmes, technical director of Quality Filter Services Inc., said air purification systems trap tobacco smoke, and chemically alter cancer-causing gasses associated with it into harmless vapor.

I should make it clear that I’m not calling on the village to force private businesses to install air purification systems. That would be as damaging to Westmont’s resurgent economy as a smoking ban.

All I’m saying is that the free market works perfectly: Let business owners decide what amenities to offer, and customers can reward or punish them with their money. That way, we can leave senseless smoking bans for dumps like Hinsdale.

–Patrick A