Kodiak Business Goes Smoke Free Next Month

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Mary Donaldson/KMXT

Following trends from the rest of the nation and even Anchorage, some businesses in town are going partially smoke free, while one bar and restaurant is about to be completely smoke free. Mary Donaldson has more.

Henry’s of Kodiak will be 100 percent smoke free beginning August 1st. Co-owner Victoria Ellis says this came about from listening to customer input.

(Ellis 1 :15s “…for our customers.”)

Ellis says her business has been slowly integrating being completely smoke free over the years and that so far, she hasn’t run into any smokers upset over the changes.

(Ellis 3 :18s “…going outside”)

Eliminating second hand smoke in public areas is not only courteous to others, but provides a healthier environment for everyone says Betty MacTavish, KANA’s tobacco education coordinator. She says a nonsmoker’s brief exposure to second hand smoke produces the same harmful effects, up to 80 or 90 percent of them, as the smoker inhaling the cigarette. She says with all of the statistical data on second hand smoke, smoke free is the way to go.

(MacTavish 1 :18s “…with them.”)

The Chartroom lounge located inside the Kodiak Inn started smoke free Fridays this summer. Susan Johnson is the general manager there and says they had always toyed with the idea of incorporating smoke free nights in their lounge.

(Johnson 1 :20 “…worked pretty well.”)

George Gatter and his business partners have owned Tony’s bar for about a year now. He says they usually have one smoke free night when a band performs two nights in a row.

(Gatter 1 :21s “…nice mix of people.”)

MacTavish says she has seen evidence that businesses will have an initial drop in their sales when they go smoke free, but that sales rise in the long run.

(MacTavish 2 :24s “…smoke free environment.”)

She says other benefits for a businesses going smoke free are increased productivity for employees, a decrease in health risks, a rise in applicants because of healthier work environments and that the duration customers spend in the business increases.

I’m Mary Donaldson. ###

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