Cigar Weekly

By Tracey Amick, Live 5 News

ISLE OF PALMS, SC (WCSC) - Isle Of Palms Council is discussing a proposed ban on smoking in the workplace tonight.

The Mayor of Isle Of Palms says businesses should regulate themselves, and Council shouldn't tell business what they should and shouldn't do.  Mayor Mike Sottile says this means they shouldn't enforce a smoking ban.  Not everyone on Council agrees with him.

"I believe we need a smoking ban I believe we need to protect the employees and give them access to a smoke free environment," says IOP Council member Dick Cronin. Cronin says employees can't just get another job, and the government needs to be the one to regulate. "The businesses will think about their destiny and profit or loss."

But Sottile says these restaurants have already thought about cleaner air and have regulated themselves. "Most of the restaurants and night spots have already enacted a smoking ban," he says.

At Coconut Joe's, for examle, smoking is allowed on the deck but prohibited inside.

Council members are reviewing bans across the state as examples, and say their ban wouldn't be as restrictive as some others.

If Council decides to move toward a ban, their attorney will draw up an ordinance to at a later date for a first reading. Three readings and a vote are necessary to make any ban the law.