With the prospects of a possible smoking ban in all businesses, bars and public places around the city of New Orleans, the Cancer Action Network has released a poll that is, well incredibly stupid and unconvincing.

In order to push the smoking ban, which is being trotted by New Orleans Councilwomen Latoya Cantrell (D) and Susan Guidry (D), the Cancer Action Network has released a poll that on the surface proclaims that the majority of New Orleanians are for the “smoke-free ordinance.”

First, notice how the ordinance is named. “Smoke-free” implies a positive, which is very misleading. But, what the name of the ordinance leaves out is that it is a tourism-killer, according to data released by the Louisiana State Police. Also, instead of calling it what it actually is, a smoking ban, individuals who are polled are not made aware that businesses will be mandated to follow city code or be fined and individuals will be fined if they are caught lighting up in a public park.

Secondly, lets look into the poll. The poll found that 66 percent of New Orleanians favor a smoking ban. However, those numbers broken down by how the poll was conducted is what makes this survey so meaningless. The poll was taken between Dec. 16-18 and only includes 200 registered voters’ opinions, as well as 60 cell phone interviews. And the margin error was +6.93 percent.

That is a tiny pool using a broad-stroked “smoke-free” term to paint a picture that everybody wants a more strict New Orleans. And who knows how the Cancer Action Network decided who to call.

Further, a part of the study contradicted what most states have seen when they enacted a smoking ban in their cities, along with what state police has mentioned. The poll claims that 57 percent of New Orleanians would be more likely to ‘go out’ if there was a smoking ban. But, in other states, that is the exact opposite.

In Delaware, the state police said the state saw a 12 percent decrease in revenue after a smoking ban was enacted. And in Atlantic City, a 24 percent decrease has taken place over two years thanks to a smoking ban.

One thing is for certain in the study, though, Democrats love more regulation. Democrats apparently favor the smoking ban on a 69 percent to 30 percent margin.

More and more the smoking ban seems inevitable in the Democrat-controlled city.

Just yesterday, the New Orleans City Council’s Community Development voted 3-2 to bring the smoking ban before the full city council, despite opponents including many French Quarter bar owners and casino owners saying the ban would be detrimental to their business and the city’s economy.

Also, there were tons of individuals who simply argued that business owners and bars should be allowed to decide for themselves and not have another city-wide mandate to follow.