Recent claims that smoking bans have no negative effect on business are based on statistical manipulation so shabby that it makes the science of ‘passive smoking’ look reliable. Here’s one story (from New York State, rather than City) that points the other way.

“ITHACA — For now, the smoking room in the Fraternal Order of the Eagles No. 1253 is two green metal chairs and a tin can that greet visitors outside the front door. Within weeks, though, the club will become the first establishment where smoking is permitted since the Tompkins County Legislature passed a law in August 2003 outlawing smoking in bars and restaurants. The Tompkins County Board of Health Tuesday approved its first waiver to the New York State Clean Indoor Air Act. The board ruled that the Eagles were able to show a loss of income since the smoking ban took effect, and were able to provide a separate room where smoking will be allowed. “They showed they had a significant decrease in income since the enactment of the ban,” said John Andersson, director of environmental health services at the Tompkins County Health Department. “They clearly had a loss of income.” According to figures submitted to the Health Department, the Eagles revenue dropped from $92,343 in 2003 to $57,327 in 2004. The revenue drop almost crippled the organization’s ability to donate to charitable causes, members said. Donations went from $60,000 before the ban to $12,000 after it went into effect. “

Of course you can’t build a counter argument (so to speak) on the basis of just one bar, but this story is a reminder that the costs of smoking bans can run beyond the small things like, oh I don’t know, freedom, personal responsibility and the right of a proprietor to run his establishment in the way he sees fit.

Via Radley Balko.