By Darryl Davidson
I’m writing to express my opposition to the Wisconsin Assembly/Senate Bill 211, otherwise known as the Tobacco Bar Bill. The bill would allow new tobacco bars to open in Wisconsin and indoor smoking. I feel that the bill is inconsistent with what the state says it values. Wisconsin’s State Health Improvement Plan (SHIP) laid out a pathway to improve the health and well-being of residents and communities in the state. In addition, the Healthiest Wisconsin state health plan also promotes goals to improve the health of all residents and desires to support “Everyone Living Better Longer.”
WI AB/SB 211 devalues the meaning of “Everyone Living Better Longer” and the goals laid out in SHIP.
The very nature of this bill is misleading. According to Wisconsin DHS, in 2023 close to 80% of Wisconsin residents supported statewide smoke free environment laws that included bars, restaurants, and workplaces. Indoor smoke free laws have improved the health outcomes of residents and have been praised as a way to motivate smokers to quit.
The priority of a new law is obviously money, but at what cost? Do the very minimal restrictions imposed in the bill that people must be over 21 and workers must agree to be exposed to smoke change the rules of environmental health or how the human body works? Cigar and pipe smoking do not improve mental health, it increases the heart rate, stress and causes a number of additional health problems.
Tobacco products deliver nicotine, an addictive chemical to the brain. Tobacco use kills 7,900 residents in the state each year.
If the concern is not with the smoker who chooses to use tobacco and its impact on their health, then our focus should be with the patrons and workers of these establishments who have increased secondhand smoke exposure. Support for this bill is a backward step in the fundamental goal of supporting all Wisconsinites in achieving their optimal health.
Unlike other tobacco products, cigars are closely associated with male bonding and relaxation. Based on current research, Black men are disproportionately smoking more cigars than their nonblack counterparts. Cigar regulation is much weaker than cigarettes which make them easier to buy and they are perceived as a status symbol. The number of Black-owned cigar bars and lounges are growing in the U.S. and this is held up as an example of overcoming a racial barrier.
But, again, at what cost? The tobacco industry has targeted Black communities throughout history. Using or being exposed to tobacco is a key driver of chronic diseases and death. As a result, African Americans continue to experience the negative effects of this targeting through wide health disparities, disparate rates of chronic disease and death related to smoking, high rates of lung cancer, and higher rates of exposure to secondhand smoke. The adult smoking rate in Wisconsin for African Americans is 20% compared to 13% for whites.
As a Black man who has worked for over 20 years to reduce health disparities and improve health outcomes, particularly for Black men, Assembly/Senate Bill 211 disheartens me. It’s another example of profits being prioritized over health and our state’s outlined goals to promote the health and wellbeing of all residents. I speak out urgently in opposition of this bill. The health and wellbeing of our communities is at stake.