Health officials in Kansas say the 2010 statewide smoking ban there has not had a negative effect on food or liquor sales in restaurants and bars there.

That’s according to a new issue brief released by the Kansas Health Institute. (Read it here)

The 2010 Kansas Legislature passed the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act, which prohibits smoking in most public areas.

The ban prohibits smoking in places of employment, restaurants, bars and the lobbies and hallways of apartments and motels.

Outdoor smoking close to doorways and windows of nonsmoking buildings also is prohibited.

Some people have questioned whether the smoking ban has negatively affected sales at restaurants and bars in Kansas. To examine the smoking ban’s effect on restaurant and bar sales, KHI gathered sales and liquor license information for eight years before and the two years after the statewide ban was implemented. KHI examined information from the Kansas Department of Revenue in three categories:
***Sales of food and other non-liquor items subject to state sales tax at full-service restaurants, limited-service eating places, special food services establishments and drinking places.
***Sales of liquor subject to the state liquor excise tax, including all liquor-by-the-drink sales in restaurants and bars.
***The number of alcoholic beverage licenses issued for drinking establishments, including private clubs, hotels, caterers, microbreweries and bars and restaurants that serve alcohol.

By including sales for eight years before the ban was enacted, the analysis incorporated the fact that most Kansans already lived in areas covered by a local smoking ban before the statewide ban took effect.

“Our analysis indicates that bar and restaurant sales in Kansas did not go down after the statewide smoking ban was enacted,” said Duane Goossen, KHI vice president for fiscal and health policy. “We undertook this analysis so that policymakers could consider the evidence on the law’s economic impact if and when they choose to discuss the future of the Kansas Indoor Clean Air Act.

The City of St Joseph is considering a draft ordinance to limit smoking in public places. The first in a string of public meetings on the ordinance is scheduled Tuesday at 9am at St Joseph City Hall. Find the schedule here.