No more smoke
Across the country, it is becoming more and more common for establishments to be designated as non-smoking. Because second hand smoke can be just as dangerous to a person’s health as if they chose to smoke themselves; bars, restaurants and now hotels are starting to take action. By eliminating smoking in their establishments, these owners are protecting their workers and their patrons from the negative externalities of second hand smoke.
This article on MSNBC, discusses the actions of the Westin hotel chain. Westin, a company which has 77 hotels in North America, has decided to make it a policy that all of their hotels be free of smoking. Anyone caught breaking this rule will receive a $200 penalty. Westin believes that it may lose the business of smokers initially, but as time passes they expect to attract more guests who prefer the policy.
Do you think this is a good economic decision for Westin or for society? Will other hotels follow suit? If more and more businesses continue to eliminate smoking, do you think this will lead to a decline in the number of smokers?
1 comment:
I believe that the number of smokers in the United States will not decline because of this change. I think that smokers will learn to deal with the fact that the can not smoke in buildings. Like several places already, the smoking zone is and will be out side only. We also have to realize that smoking is very inelastic. whether it be money, or lack of somking areas, people will not be effected as much as if it was something more elastic.
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