Amend the Smoking Ban Bill  Destito-Meier Bill Legalize is pleased to support the New York "Amend the Smoking Ban" Bill .  Introduced by State Senator Raymond Meier and Assembly Member RoAnn Destito, this legislation would permit smoking in bars, bowling centers and billiard parlors under certain restrictions where certified air purification devices are in operation. This legislation is in the process of being reintroduced in the new session of the state legislature.  Please check back over the next few weeks to read the exact language of the bill.   Send Your Petition Click here to write a personal e-mail to your New York State representatives asking them to co-sponsor the Destito-Meier "Amend the Smoking Ban" Bill. Latest Legislative News Update Courtesy of the New York Nightlife Association (http://www.nyna.org) LEGISLATION THAT WOULD HAVE AMENDED THE STATEWIDE SMOKING BAN IS DEFEATED IN ASSEMBLY HEALTH COMMITTEE By a vote of 16-8, the Assembly Health Committee voted down legislation that would have amended the statewide smoking ban by allowing smoking in bars that installed state-of-the-art air filtration devices.  This legislation, known as the Destito/Meier bill, was introduced in both houses of the legislature and had numerous co-sponsors. While the committee vote count appeared to be much closer leading up to the actual vote, all of the undecided members, as well as some of those members we thought were with us (including one co-sponsor) unfortunately voted the other way.  In addition, the State Senate adjourned on Tuesday without taking any vote on the bill. The practical effect of this disappointing defeat is that this bill has no chance of passage during this legislative session. While we always knew from the beginning that amending the smoking ban would be an extremely uphill battle, we gave it our very best efforts.  Along with our friends and allies, we collected 50,000 signatures from patrons and citizens who supported this bill, brought over 200 people to Albany for a lobby day, made thousands of phone calls and sent thousands of emails to our legislators, and garnered significant press attention to our cause. Comments? Compliments? Criticism? E-mail me at scott@legalize.com. Legalize®, Legalize Bandstm, and Legalize Patriots® are trademarks of Scott Jeffrey. Copyright © 1996-2005 Scott Jeffrey. All rights reserved.