"What did El Paso's 2002 smokefree measure do to our business? Helped grow sales 10% to 15% a year." Rosa Saenz & Family | Owners, Carlos and Mickey's, El Paso, Texas "Were we nervous when El Paso restaurants and bars went smokefree on New Year's Day, 2002" asks Rosa Saenz. "With casinos that allow smoking outside town and Ciudad Juarez just across the river, sure, we thought we might lose some business. "Instead, our sales are up the last two years. People actually thank me for being smokefree. And we don't have the lines waiting for a smokefree table anymore, while the smoking section wasn't full. "The bar business is no different. We always had live entertainment. But now, without the smoke, our singer can really sing out. Our cashier can leave her contacts in. Our wait staff pick up the same tips they did before. And I can go home, kiss my five-year-old, and not smell like an ashtray. "I started in restaurants when I was twelve, at my parents' place, and I've run my own business here for twelve years. If anyone claims that going smokefree will cost you, take it from Rosa Saenz: that's nonsense." Get the facts at TobaccoScam.ucsf.edu tobaccoscam Big Tobacco is lying. Again. TobaccoScam is a project of Stanton Glantz, PhD, of the School of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, CA 94143-0130.