back to news Michigan is one of 18 states that has not passed some form of smoking ban for restaurants and bars. But the next time you go out to see live music, the air in the place may be a little cleaner, and you may have the band to thank. In a cinder block basement scattered with musical instruments and mic cables, the band My Dear Disco is rehearsing for a show. Michelle Chamuel is My Dear Disco's lead singer. She says before joining a band, she never spent much time around smoking. "So going to a club where everybody was smoking was pretty shocking," says Chamuel. Chamuel says smoke gets in the way of her singing. She says it´s especially hard singing with a band. "They play pretty fast, and you have to breath really deeply really quickly. So if you just inhale an entire lung full of smoke, trying to hit the next note is going to be super hard." So the band started asking venues to go non-smoking while they play. Tyler Duncan plays keys and bagpipes in My Dear Disco, and he´s booked most of the band´s shows. He says he tried to make a business argument. "What we´re here to do is to play music for you, and the focal point of our music is our singer. And smoking is bad for her instrument. We will not be able to do as good of a job for you," Duncan said. He says he asked the popular Ann Arbor club, The Blind Pig to go non-smoking, and he was surprised by the booking agent's answer. "He was not only willing to do it. He was thankful. He was like, ´Aww man, I´m so glad you asked. I´ve been trying to get the pig to go non-smoking for like 10 years, and you know, they won´t do it. So any time a band wants to do a non-smoking show, I´m totally on board." said Duncan. Jason Berry is that thankful booking agent for The Bling Pig. He says it does come down to a simple business decision. "The patron who smokes is not going to stay home, because the show is non-smoking. On the other hand, a lot of patrons who don't want to get the smoke in their clothes and in their hair and are worried about second hand smoke, will, in fact, think twice," Berry said. In a line outside the Blind Pig at a recent show, fans basically agreed with Berry´s point. DeDe Ulintz said, "We actually debated this before we came here. We were concerned about the smoke level in the blind pig." Lindsay Byers is a smoker. She said, "Even as a smoker, I still do laundry. And it sucks to go home after you just washed your entire outfit, to go home and wash it again." Another man, who did not want to give his name, said, "If it´s the band you came to see, and they request that you do not smoke inside, fair enough." Jason Berry at the Blind Pig says while more and more bands are requesting their shows be non-smoking, he wishes the state would just step in and end the debate. Ken Sikkema is Senior Policy Fellow at Public Sector Consultants and lead author of a new study out this week, commissioned by The Campaign for Smokefree Air. Sikkema says a patchwork of some bars and restaurants going smoke-free creates unfair advantages. "If there´s any competitive advantage enjoyed by an establishment that decides not to go smoke-free vis- -vis the one that does, you eliminate that with a statewide statute," said Sikkema. A bill passed by the state House would ban smoking in almost all workplaces in Michigan, including restaurants and bars. It still needs to pass the state Senate. But Restaurant and Bar associations have killed such bills in the past, by arguing a smoking ban would severely hurt their business. Ken Sikkema says his new study concluded otherwise, "After reviewing literally dozens of studies on that issue, we came to the conclusion that, no, there will be no net economic impact on the restaurant and bar industry." Tyler Duncan of My Dear Disco says regardless of whether a law banning smoking passes or not, he wants a simple choice for fans of the band. "You know, I want people to come to our shows and not be less healthy if they don´t want to be," said Duncan. back to news Sponsored by the Macomb County Tobacco Prevention Coalition, Macomb County Health Department. 586.469.5373. Disclaimer