NoSIR Contradicts himself
Mr Benton is contradicting himself in this article and I quote "I have no problem with people smoking, and they can smoke anywhere they want, just don't make me breathe it" and he has 171 choices of where to go out to eat, then why is he trying to get all restaurants smoke free?
WATE TV 6 News
Local restaurant decides to go smokeless
May 2, 2005
By JEFF LENNOX
6 News Reporter
KNOXVILLE (WATE) -- A restaurant in Knox and Blount Counties has joined the push to go smokeless.
A 1994 Tennessee law doesn't allow cities or counties to ban smoking in restaurants. But there's nothing to keep a restaurant from doing so on its own.
Several bars and restaurants in the area are already smoke free. Now, Sullivan's Fine Food has joined them.
"I think in the long run, it'll have a positive impact," says Sullivan's owner, Charles Irvine. "We'll have a little grumbling at first from our regular smoking customers but I believe they'll understand and come back."
The group called "NOSIR" stands for No Smoking in Restaurants. It's lead by Blount County's Douglas Benton.
"I have no problem with people smoking," Benton says. "They can smoke anywhere they want, just don't make me breathe it. Just like alcohol, you can drink anywhere you want to drink. Don't pour anything down my throat."
The bar area at Sullivan's will allow smoking for the next month.
One out of four people in Tennessee smoke. State lawmakers voted in 2003 to ban smoking in the state capitol building in Nashville.