Williams Lets City Smoking Ban Move On to Congress for Review

Two years ago, Schwartz did not allow a smoking ban bill to be reported out from her committee, and a D.C. Superior Court judge blocked an effort to place an initiative on the ballot that would have achieved the same goal.

During those years, the cities of New York, Boston and Chicago passed bans, as have the nations of Ireland and Italy. In the region, Montgomery, Prince George's and Talbot counties in Maryland have instituted smoking restrictions.

"I commend the mayor for doing what makes sense,'' said council member Kathy Patterson (D-Ward 3), a smoking ban supporter.

Angela Bradbery, co-founder of Smokefree DC, a group that pushed for the ban, said she was very pleased, but she said she was disappointed in Williams.

"It's sad that the mayor did not show leadership on this," Bradbery said. "Eleven states are smoke-free. I just don't know what planet he's on that he thinks this will be the end of D.C. nightlife as we know it."

Bradbery and others argued that workers in bars and restaurants should not be exposed to harmful second-hand smoke.

But ban opponents said the ban would limit freedom of choice. They said there are 200 restaurants and bars in the District that already prohibit smoking.

A New York government study showed that the city's bar and restaurant industry was thriving one year after its ban was enacted in March 2003. And in Massachusetts, the Harvard School of Public Health found little or no change in bar and restaurant patronage or tax collections after that state's ban was put in place in July 2004.