RICHMOND Va. Virginia’s House of Delegates has approved a bill that would require restaurants that allow smoking to place a sign at the entrance publicizing the policy. The measure also would eliminate the legal obligation for operators to provide no-smoking sections in restaurants.
House majority leader H. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, the bill's sponsor, maintained that the legislation would help to persuade restaurateurs to go smoke-free. Griffith explained his rationale, saying his "constituents would like to have more places to eat that are no-smoking" and making restaurants hang "smoking permitted" signs would induce diners to patronize smoke-free operations instead.
AHouse subcommittee had rejected an outright ban on smoking last week. Virginia ranks as one of the nation's largest tobacco producers.