Missouri Gets Tobacco 'F' Grade: Do Ballwin and Ellisville Deserve the Low Mark?
The American Lung Association's annual report card on tobacco issues gives Missouri F's across the board, and Ballwin and Ellisville stakeholders voice their concerns.
I remember going into a nightclub in California several years ago, when the smoking ban had recently been put in place. When parts of St. Louis put a smoking ban in effect, it felt as if Missouri was catching up with the health initiatives of the rest of the country.
Not so, according to the American Lung Association’s annual report on smoking-related issues, as reported in The St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Missouri is one of five states who failed in all four categories: Cigarette taxes, tobacco prevention funding, smoke-free laws and insurance coverage to help people quit smoking; the other states who failed were Alabama, Mississippi, South Carolina, Virginia, and West Virginia.
Ellisville is covered under the county law, which has exceptions for retail tobacco stores and cigar bars, outdoor dining areas, private clubs or residences as well as “drinking establishments” that get 25 percent or less of their revenue from food; Ballwin also falls under the county smoking ban, although the City of Ballwin has had its own smoking ban in place since 2006.
A little over a year ago, Ballwin-Ellisville Patch contributor Brian Conradi spoke with several area businesses about the impact of the smoking laws. One of those was Clancy’s Irish Pub, which didn’t mind the change. I caught up with manager Tyler Tampow to see how he thinks smoking laws are being received a year after being in place.
“Families are worried about their kids getting second hand smoke,” Tampow said. “But obviously you’re still going to have smokers who want to smoke, but we’ve still been fine.”
Both Ballwin and Ellisville also are subject to state cigarette taxes, which are the lowest in the country at 17 cents per pack. State tobacco taxes are distributed to counties on a per capita basis.
In terms of local tobacco use prevention programs, I spoke with Renee Heney, Director of the Rockwood School District's Drug-Free Coalition. She said their approach to tobacco and other substance abuse is threefold: a combination of efforts by the Coalition, the Rockwood School District and students themselves.
The Coalition recently sponsored a public service announcement poster contest, which is in the process of being judged. Three teens from the school district were trained in advocacy and spoke to legislatures on a trip to Jefferson City. A major issue they addressed was the low tobacco tax rate.
Teens are also trained in a program that helps them educate middle schoolers on the dangers of tobacco and other substances.
The school district utilizes a 1 year, $92,000 Communities Putting Prevention to Work grant from the St. Louis County Department of Health to engage teens in a poster campaign, as well as tobacco-specific peer training. In addition, the district maintains a tobacco-free policy with disclinary standards in place. Communication is key throughout administration.
"Sharing of information can help keep kids safe," Heney said. "The teachers, the nurses, the SROs [School Resource Officers] all communicate."
She also points out that students are becoming involved in groups like Air O2 Dynamic, the youth portion of the Let's Face It campaign from the Department of Health.
However, Missouri's smokers haven't necessarily embraced such changes. Harry Belli, owner of several establishments in St. Louis including Harry's Downtown, felt that the smoking ban caused closure of their businesses.
Do you think Ellisville and Ballwin need stronger enforcement of the smoking bans? Should our schools be handling tobacco-use prevention differently?
Tell us in the comments.
Ballwinner
11:09 am on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
I am the former Ballwin Alderman that introduced the Ballwin Clean Air Ordinance that passed in 2005 and went in effect in 2006. I am also on the St. Louis County Health Department CPPW Leadership Council, invited due to my work in chairing the Proposition N (County-wide clean air law). Ballwin has the singular honor of being the first St. Louis County community to pass such a comprehensive ordinance, and is often cited in Missouri for it's success. The last time I asked City Administrator Robert Kuntz, he told me the city has had no need to do enforcement, as only one problem has been reported, which was resolved with a telephone call. I have personally witnessed how it works - if somebody lit up, they were quickly and politely advised by an employee to put it out or go outside.
As far as business impact, Ballwin tax revenues from affected establishments remained about the same over the years, per the City. One business, Bones French Quarter, took the opportunity to freshen up the location and now appeals to a larger, younger crowd - and their revenues have doubled, in spite of a former owner's projection that they would be closed within three months of the ordinance going in effect.
Throughout St. Louis City and County, a great many people have noticed the change and are appreciative. I have returned to several businesses I had abandoned due to the smokiness. Ain't it great!
Ballwinner
11:11 am on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Rockwood School District also deserves special commendation. From being the lowest ranked County school district in a survey by the Health Department two years ago, they have enacted new tobacco policies that place them among the best in the Count and the State. Congratulations!
BillHannegan
9:14 pm on Wednesday, January 25, 2012
The former Ballwin alderman fails to mention that his smoking ban caused the revenues at the French Quarter to immediately plunge and the original staff to quit. Elsa Barth, owner of the Seventh Inn, blamed the ban for a 35 percent drop in revenues before the five star restaurant was destroyed by a mysterious fire. Harry Belli, owner of Harry's West, blamed the ban for an immediate 15 percent decline in revenues and the loss of 40 jobs.
Ballwinner
8:48 am on Thursday, January 26, 2012
Harry Belli has an extremely selective memory. He never mentions the high level of competition from new restaurants in Chesterfield Valley, the loss of lunchtime business from Citicorp's Headquarters move to O'Fallon, and the disruption caused by road construction in front of Harry's west county location. He admitted to the Ballwin Board of Aldermen that those factors resulted in a loss of more than 30% of his business. Any impact he might have experienced from the smoking ordinance is a fraction of those. It is the rare restaurant owner who will admit he could not meet or beat the competition. Sadly, even though Bill Hannegan has been told of these factors repeatedly, he apparently suffers from the same faulty memory and never mentions them.
French Quarter's original staff? Marilyn still works at French Quarter. Maybe he means Tom, who died some time ago - of lung cancer! And let's talk about Elsa and her mysterious fire. She was claiming that revenue drop before the ordinance took effect. Sadly, her claims were never reflected in her sales tax reports. She had lost her lease - new management at the apartment complex had notified her that it would not be renewed. And I repeat - French Quarter's Revenues have doubled since the ordinance took effect. Bill also has a tough time with businesses like Senor Pique, which moved to Ballwin after the ordinance took effect, and has succeeded, and Mia Lupita, where revenues immediately jumped up. Keep spinning, Bill.