Members of the Greater Summerville Dorchester Chamber of Commerce grilled smoke-free advocates Tuesday over proposed smoking bans before the Summerville and Dorchester County councils.

Dianne Wilson of Smoke Free Lowcountry said there’s a lot of support in the community for such ordinances.  People tell the group they won’t eat in Summerville because of the smoke in restaurants and bars, she said.

“There’s been a lot of business lost to other communities in this area,” she said.

Many people are accustomed to smoke-free workplaces because they’ve lived in places with such ordinances, she said.

“They’re rather shocked that we still allow smoking indoors,” she said.

But several listeners disagreed.

Rudd Smith said the speakers at the town council’s public hearing in December weren’t representative of the community as a whole.  Opponents didn’t get much notice that the ordinance was going to be discussed, he said, and not everyone who wanted to speak was allowed to.

He also pointed out that, despite the focus on bars and restaurants, the ordinance actually covers all businesses.  He said that would mean he couldn’t smoke a cigar in his office when he works late nights or weekends, but Wilson said the ordinance applies only to where there are employees.

Rodney Williams of the smoke-free coalition said there are generally three issues that arise when discussing smoke-free ordinances. The first is the balance of individual rights with public health, the second is business revenues and the third is the slippery slope argument.

The South Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that municipalities have a responsibility to consider broad issues like public health, Williams said. A side benefit is that the municipalities that have gone smoke-free have actually seen revenues increase, he said. The “slippery slope” argument doesn’t apply because smoke is a danger that is out in the public, unlike fatty foods which affect only the person eating them, he said.

But Philip Ford said the issue is not a public health issue.  Instead, it’s a freedom issue, he said.

Business owners invest their time, talent and money creating their businesses, he said.

“Nobody should have the right to come in and tell me how to operate my business,” he said.

Others suggested there’s a limit to individual freedoms when a law must be enacted for the greater good – for example, the law requiring seatbelt use.

But Sen. Mike Rose, R-Summerville, said South Carolina passed the seat belt law only because it was coerced by the federal government.

“You go down this road and get used to the government telling you what to do and there’s no end to it,” he said.

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