Back in September, the Denton City Council sent its proposed smoking ban to committee, eliciting the opinions and remarks of 20 health-care professionals, business owners and other community members. The goal was to craft laws that were both health-conscious and business-friendly. What they came back with was a strange package that bans smoking nearly everywhere, except for bars, the Denton Record-Chronicle reports. But that stipulation doesn’t include bars that serve people under the age of 18.
Bars, that admit patrons under the age of 18. That means restaurants that turn into bars right? Or is it bars that illegally allow 14-year-olds to drink?
The full council will take up the measure Tuesday, but Councilman Kevin Roden took to Twitter last night to suss out his constituents’ thoughts:
@kevinroden for the sake of peeps w/ kids, ban that stuff! We can’t go to some favorite places anymore bc we don’t want R exposed to 2HSmoke
— denise power (@denisececilepow) December 13, 2012
@kevinroden Every bar who allows minors will just not allow them. It’s bad for business if they o/don’t. Just pass a total ban.
— Jaime-Paul Falcon (@JaimesonPaul) December 13, 2012
@kevinroden the truth is we are ready to leave Denton permanently for a place where we can go and dine and be entertained smoke free. đ
— Kelsey Macke (@KelsNotChels) December 13, 2012
@kevinroden Smoking ban timeline: Houston 07, Dallas 09, Austin 11, FREAKING LEWISVILLE 12…Denton should not be so far behind
— Jaime-Paul Falcon (@JaimesonPaul) December 13, 2012
To write to the Denton council about the ban, head here.