Restaurant revenue in Montgomery County increased in the six months after a countywide ban on smoking took effect, a finding that anti-smoking advocates hope will boost their efforts to enact similar bans statewide and in the District.
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Restaurant industry tax revenue increased by more than 7 percent -- almost $2 million -- over the six months from October to March, compared with the same period one year earlier. The county's smoking ban went into effect Oct. 9.
"The fears we heard that this was going to devastate the restaurant industry don't appear to be true," said County Executive Douglas M. Duncan (D). "These early numbers are very encouraging."
