The thing to remember about freedom is that it is not given, it is taken

As a lead sponsor of the County's Smoke-free Restaurant law, I am proud that the law protects restaurant workers and patrons from hazardous second-hand smoke. People can breathe easy, knowing that the air is safe in the County's restaurants/bars. The law is necessary to protect the public health. Its success has encouraged several neighboring jurisdiction to join us in going smoke-free.

Meanwhile, the restaurant industry continues to thrive. Sales tax revenues of the County's restaurants rose more than 7% the first year of the law. I provided testimony to the City of Gaithersburg, the Howard and Prince George's County Councils, the District of Columbia and the General Assembly about the law's effectiveness, refuting unfounded claims of the Maryland Restaurant Association.

[Note how the words "Smoking ban" have been deliberately omitted from his statement, replaced by the much softer "smoke-free" phraseology. Very weaselly.]

Aside from getting the name of the Restaurant Association of Maryland (RAM) wrong, Phil Andrews' article is accompanied by a photo of his smug mug standing beside an overly simplistic, blown-up line graph. The graph, entitled Restaurant Sales Tax Receipts Up 7% in Montgomery County in First Year After Smoking [Ban], is laughable in its bias, showing a single, 45 degree angle line from $57.7 million to $62.1 million. No axis labeling is included, and of course, the y-axis is sufficiently incremented to show a steep slope. I'd be curious to get the opinions on this graph by such graph-o-philes as Captain Capitalism and Atlas Blogged's Wulf.

What is even more peculiar is that the graph shown in his printed newsletter is not nearly as bolstered as his online copy, found here.

Now, Mark Twain said that there were lies, damned lies, and statistics, but there's something about this graph that seems particularly disingenuous. First and foremost, this chart is based solely on Montgomery County sales tax receipts. The 7% (or 19.2%) increase statistic completely ignores the restaurant growth in the same time period. As a resident of Montgomery County, I can tell you that - particularly in the Germantown area - there seems to be a new restaurant popping up every week. Where are the sales tax figures taking into account the positive net growth of restaurants?

Second, I am highly skeptical (perhaps overly) of use of sales tax receipts as a measuring stick (vs. gross sales). In a county as tax-happy as the People's Republic of Montgomery County, I would not be surprised to see an inherent change in the taxing structure to gloss these statistics. Where I'm most suspicious (and admittedly uneducated) is the already convoluted taxing scheme that follows the county's monopoly on the supply and distribution of all alcohol sales, universally hated by all restaurants in this county. Some restaurants, due to the heavy taxation, forgo their liquor license and make do with only beer and wine. Could this be tied somehow to an artificial increase in sales tax receipts?

Phil Andrews claims that his data refutes "unfounded claims" made by the Maryland Restaurant Association [sic]. According to their website, RAM

opposes state/local restaurant and bar smoking bans because of the negative economic impact such ordinances impose on smaller independent establishments. Contrary to what smoking ban supporters say, restaurants and bars do suffer significant revenue losses as a result of smoking bans.

So which is it? Phil Andrews' graph, or the Restaurant Association of Maryland's formal position? I don't have the answers to these questions. But I would be extremely interested in getting feedback from any Montgomery County restaurant or bar owners. Has your business been hurt or helped by the county's smoking ban? Is this graph of Phil Andrews legitimate, or is it as I suspect, a public relations ploy?

On this Fourth of July - a celebration of independence from an oppressive government - I close with this quote from Radley Balko:

"Let's put today's events in perspective. At this moment, we're meeting in Washington, D.C., the capital of America, the country that's done more for the freedom of man than any other nation, kingdom, or state in the history of the world. And what are we discussing? A law that would ban a man from opening a business on his own property where people can come smoke a cigarette and drink a beer."

We have the collectivist weasels to thank for that.

Update: From WTOP -

The Restaurant Association of Maryland, which opposed the smoking ban, disputed the figures.

Melvin Thompson, the group's government relations director, said one of County Executive Douglas M. Duncan's main pitches for the law was that 77 percent of the county's restaurants were already smoke free.

"We question whether looking at the sales figures from 100 percent of the restaurants is indicative," he said. "We believe it's more accurate to look at the figures from the 23 percent that allowed smoking before the ban."

Several restaurants have closed in the meantime, Thompson said. The Anchor Inn in Wheaton, Dietel's Tavern in Silver Spring and the Montgomery Grill in Bethesda were among the eateries that failed and cited the smoking ban as the reason, he said.

Related: Angela Bradbery, Pastel Vampire