Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000 | 9:49 a.m.
The second annual Smoking Is Out campaign has been scheduled for this weekend, and a group of upscale restaurants is taking part.
The event, sponsored by the Clark County Health District, has been designated to raise community awareness about tobacco use and the health implications involved for users and those who experience second-hand smoke. It has been scheduled for this weekend to coincide with the American Cancer Society's Great American Smoke Out, a national program.
Local restaurants taking part include Spiedini, Oxo, Pamplemousse, Osaka and Ferraro's.
Smoking Is Out is bound to be a thorny issue in Nevada. According to Carla Freeman, a health educator with the health district, Nevada ranks No. 1 among states in per capita smoking. That means, by extension, that a large number of local citizens may feel pinched by any nonsmoking initiative.
That won't be true for all smokers, of course. Howard Belkoff, proprietor of Ace Camera in Henderson and a smoker, says, "I don't like it when I'm eating in a serious restaurant and I have to breathe someone else's smoke. Besides, most of the places I eat in have nonsmoking and smoking sections stuck in right next to each other, which turns the whole idea into a joke."
A recent Gallup Poll reflected the sentiments of Belkoff and many others. The survey found that more than 90 percent of diners outright prefer a smoke-free dining experience, and that 35 percent of the respondents were actual smokers, who felt the same way as Belkoff.
What complicates the matter is that Nevada is far from being an ordinary state. Nevada's live-and-let-live traditions, not to mention the powerful casino industry (where the right to smoke is sort of a sacred cow), won't be easy to tamper with. Any change with regard to personal rights is apt to require a high-pitched battle.
Perhaps with an anti-smoking groundswell of epic proportions, a public smoking ban (such as the one California adopted three years ago) might get onto the books in this state. But until that time most restaurants, fearing that they will lose business by enacting strict nonsmoking policies, will probably maintain the status quo.
But for those of you who are really enthusiastic about advancing this concept, consider the second annual Smoking Is Out a beginning. Some really fine Las Vegas restaurants will be participating, and what's more, they'll be offering initiatives for their dining guests in the process.
Gustav Mauler is chef owner at two restaurants taking part: Spiedini Italian Cuisine, and Oxo, a contemporary steakhouse, both at the Regent Las Vegas.
Says Mauler: "The smoker who calls in a reservation on either of these days will get a commemorative plate and a free dessert." In fact, each one of the restaurants participating are preparing special desserts to go along with the event, and secret judges will be visiting all the participating restaurants in order to judge one of them "Best Dessert" after the event is concluded.) But Mauler's creation, a chocolate hazelnut torte topped with mocha ice cream, sounds simply too good to miss.
Mauler is fairly vocal on the subject.
"Up here in Summerlin, I'd say around two-thirds of my customers are nonsmokers, and so I have my restaurants divided up accordingly," he said. "I happen to have lots of regulars who are serious nonsmokers. This event gives me an opportunity to do something for them."
One of the more venerable local restaurant involved in the event is Pamplemousse, 400 E. Sahara Ave., one of the city's oldest and most- celebrated French restaurants. Owner Georges Laforge has strong reasons for wanting to be a part of the event as well.
"This concept could take hold fast," he says. "Years ago cigarettes were offered free of charge at the casinos, to seated players. But no more, because fewer and fewer people are smoking now. I have a large party and usually only a few of the people in it are smokers.
Besides, he says in a charmingly Gallic manner, "when you don't smoke, you taste the flavors of the food much more."
Freeman is even more vocal about the importance of the event.
"As it relates to second-hand smoke," she said, "studies by the EPA state that environmental tobacco smoke exacerbates conditions such as asthma, and increases your chances of getting cancer."
The remaining two restaurateurs involved in the event, Terence Fong of Osaka Japanese Cuisine, 7511 W. Lake Mead Blvd., and Gino Ferraro of Ferraro's in Summerlin, 1916 Village Center Circle. These men agreed to participate because of the damage smoking inflicted on their parents. "I have never smoked," Fong said, "because of the health problems smoking caused for my folks."
Smoke-related diseases are everyone's concern, in fact, because there are financial implications. According to Freeman, Nevada spends 50 million dollars per year on tobacco-related diseases, but only $3 million per year on tobacco control. Even that money is taken from a tobacco settlement that was brokered by the federal government.
Whatever your position on smoking, it is clear that movements such as these are gathering steam. Comedian George Carlin says, in his clever tome called "Braindroppings," that he "never attends the first annual anything." But this is, once again, the second annual Smoking Is Out, not the first. More, it would appear, are to follow in years to come.
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