comment I recently posted to a San Antonio smoking ban article

I totally refuted the lies of this anti-smoking poster, RBearSAT, on the San Antonio blog Off the Kuff. Original article is here:

http://offthekuff.com/wp/?p=29459&cpage=1

My comment:
Ha, I always love how smoking ban supporters always dismiss claims of truth about bans hurting privately-owned businesses catering to smokers in any way, when all the honest evidence our side brings up about ban losses is completely true. Smoking ban supporters should be extremely ashamed how they distort the truth about bans hurting businesses, when the data is out there all over the internet showing how past smoking bans have hurt businesses to this day. Many businesses and bars under bans ignore them to stay in business, and do I need to mention how many times your side has made tired and deceptive claims about bans causing fewer heart attacks? I won’t even begin to discuss the latter, due to the fact ALL of these fraudulent ’studies’ have been debunked.

What do anti-smoking supporters not understand about how smoking bans take away the rights of entrepreneurs to freely cater to smokers if they wish, smokers to assemble indoors if the owner wishes to permit smoking, and the right of employees(yes, there are many workers who don’t prefer smoke-free environments) to work in a smoking environment? There is no more right for one to smoke, nor is there one to breathe smoke-free air. People should vote with their wallets, and not patronize smoking or smoke-free establishments if their indoor policy bothers them.

Here are numerous examples:
Metropolis, IL casino laid off 30 people, and has a 23% drop in revenue after the Illinois smoking ban took effect:
http://www.jsonline.com/news/wisconsin/29455559.html

Illinois gaming board said statewide gaming revenue down 21% in 2008, and 9% in first 10 months of 2009:
http://www.nwitimes.com/news/local/illinois/article_1fba2616-a58e-5af2-
b81e-674639f8964e.html

multiple antidotes about rural Iowa bar business down, and NOT having the means to attract any new non-smoking customers, unlike chain restaurants:
http://www.dailyyonder.com/without-smoke-rural-bar-missing-characters/2009/03/01/1960

Saint Louis County, MO bar chooses to close, instead of taking the risk of an upcoming county smoking ban putting it out of business:
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Local-bar-to-close-due-to-impending-smoking-ban-95383524.html

former owner of country music bar Hoot-n-Anny’s clearly says the Columbia, MO ban put it out of business:
http://www.columbiatribune.com/news/2010/feb/13/the-kings-pickle-l-restaurant-and-bar/

Michigan bars doing lottery boycotts to protest state smoking ban:
http://www.detnews.com/article/20100619/METRO/6190356/1409/metro

Minnesota bars did “theater nights” to briefly defy the smoking ban, and bars got 2x to 4x as many crowds as they did right after the effective date of Minnesota’s ban:
http://www.startribune.com/local/15859722.html

Ohio smoking ban defiance to this day, including many mom-and-pop bars:
http://www.smokechoke.com/