Posted on 01/01/2004 7:30:23 AM PST by SheLion
Del Merritt, owner of Patýs Cafe and Judyýs in Bangor, believes that 70 percent to 80 percent of his customers smoke. He is looking into options to accommodate them after the smoking ban that went into effect today. NEWS Photo by Gabor Degre
BANGOR - Tell Del Merritt that more than 90 percent of Mainers told pollers their visits to bars would increase or remain the same if the bars went smoke-free, and he probably would let off a hearty, skeptical laugh and tell you that no one polled his customers. Tell him that the smoking ban in Maine 's bars and taverns that takes effect today has bolstered membership applications at private fraternal organizations, such as the Elks, by about 20 percent, and he'll tell you that if he loses 20 percent of his business he's "done."
Merritt, of Brewer, has owned Bangor 's well-known Judy's Bar on State Street for 30 years and its next-door sister beer pub, Pat's Cafe, for 15.
"For all those years I've paid my taxes, I've paid my steadily increasing licensing fees, and I've paid my bills. But despite that, I don't have a say in how I get to run my own business that I operate on my own property. I've never seen such a ridiculous law," he said as he stamped out a cigarette in an ashtray at Pat's on Tuesday afternoon.
Now, he says, his patrons who want to smoke will be forced to huddle outside on the State Street sidewalks, which could cause a whole host of other problems.
"You'll have a woman walking along the sidewalk, pushing a stroller, and you'll have a big group of my customers standing out there smoking. Yeah, that's a great way to fix things," he said with a shake of his head.
The law banning smoking in bars and taverns passed overwhelmingly in the Legislature last summer, by a vote of 32-2 in the Senate and 95-45 in the House. The primary premise behind the law was to protect those who work in bars and lounges from having to breathe in secondhand cigarette smoke.
Most bar owners, however, complained this week that they would have less trouble with the ban if the issue had been put out to voters through a referendum.
"Professionally, I don't think it's going to hurt us too bad," said Peter Geaghan, who runs Geaghan's Restaurant and Roundhouse Lounge off Main Street in Bangor . "But personally I don't like the way they did it. I made my phone calls and wrote letters to my representatives, but it didn't matter. The state's supposed to want to help the small-business owner, but this is going to put some small-business owners out of business, there is no doubt in my mind."
Dr. Dora Mills, director of the state Bureau of Health , said the goal of the bill was to make all indoor public places in Maine smoke-free and "that's good news for Maine ," she said. "This law gets rid of the loopholes that let some establishments remain smoking while others had to ban it."
Mills recalled September 1999 when Maine first banned smoking in restaurants and most bars that served food. Some pub owners, however, were able to get around the law by changing their establishment from a Class A "restaurant" to a Class A "lounge."
Now that loophole is closed, Mills said, and the playing field is even.
She noted that for two months after the 1999 ban, "there was this huge uproar and people thought the sky was falling. Everyone threatened to submit legislation to overturn it. Well, by that January not one bill was submitted to repeal that law and things settled right down. I predict that the same thing will happen this time."
Wayne Craig of Hampden, an occasional customer at Geaghan's, however, said his trips to the Bangor bar probably will be fewer and shorter because of the ban.
"I think I'll move to Cuba where they have some rights," Craig quipped earlier this week.
He's one of an increasing number of area residents who have put in an application for membership at either the Elks Club in Bangor or the Eagles Club in Brewer.
Skip Ayer, manager at the Elks Club on Odlin Road, said the number of membership applications began increasing at the club about two months ago, "when people began to know it was really going to happen."
Private organizations, many of which offer their own private lounges, are mostly exempt from the law, with some exceptions. For example, the clubs must be nonsmoking unless their employees are volunteers or if they are paid employees and they all agree to allow smoking to remain.
Bob Gross, chairman of the board of trustees for the Elks, said the club had just one bartender who didn't smoke and that all of the club's employees had agreed to allow the club to remain smoking.
Both the Elks and the Eagles have full-service lounges that operate typical lounge hours. They have pool tables, large-screen TVs and entertainment on the weekends. The Eagles charge a $25 application fee and $30 a year dues for men and $15 dues for women. The Elks Club charges a $30 application fee and dues of $46 a year.
Representatives of both groups said the increase in applications was a positive thing.
"We're ready to welcome [smokers]," said Larry Dawson, secretary at the Eagles Lodge.
That irks BobModery just a bit. Modery owns City Slickers, a smoking bar and restaurant with a Mexican theme on Broad Street in Bangor.
"You know, where are our rights? I'm a smoking establishment. If you want to come in here you can. If you don't, you don't have to. It's your choice. As far as the health of the employees ... well, guess what, the Elks and the Eagles have employees and the off-track betting facility has employees and they are allowed a smoking area. How come I'm not?" Modery said.
On Tuesday he cursed his "so-called representative government," saying that it's possible the ban could kill his business.
"This is a bar, not McDonald's. I'm telling you, this state has become a nanny state. That's just what it is. I hope they have a lot of good welfare programs so I can get on them when I'm out of business," he said.
Julia McCarthy, who has tended bar at Geaghan's for 27 years, said she is a former smoker and figures she doesn't need the state looking out for her.
If the smoke at the bar bothered her, she could get a job elsewhere, she said.
"You know, it's not the same as it used to be. Now they have these huge smoke-eaters and ventilation systems so that you don't see the smoke hang in the air like it used to," she said.
Despite the outrage among some bar owners and customers, most agreed that there probably was little to be done, and some, like Merritt, have started to prepare for the change.
He'll pack away his ashtrays when he opens up this morning and he'll roll out a large metal barrel that he will place outside his door for the disposal of cigarette butts.
Then he and his bartenders will sit and wait to see what happens.
Happy New Year!
Amen!
Maybe now Maine will allow the growth of pot just like Canada. Just do away with legal tobacco altogether!
Yes! Lets all smoke pot! heh!
Smoking could cost bar owners, patrons $100
BANGOR - Maine 's new smoking law for bars, lounges, taverns and pool halls prohibits smoking in "all enclosed areas of public places and all restrooms made available to the public." It takes effect today. Maine is the fifth state in the nation to adopt such a ban.
Both smoker and business owner can be fined for violations, said Janet Spencer, director of Bangor Region Partners for Health.
"The penalty is $100 for each offense," she said. "Both the smoker and the owner get the penalty. (Snitch Line)Just about anybody can report a violation," she said. "The easiest way is to call the 1-800 number." (Snitch Line)
People can call (800) 560-5269 or visit the Partnership for a Tobacco-Free Maine Web site, www.tobaccofreemaine.org, and select "compliance complaints" to register a violation. An assistant state attorney general has been assigned to work on compliance full time.
Callers or e-mailers will be asked their name, contact number, the date and where the violation occurred along with a description of what occurred.
Spencer said the facts support such a smoking ban in public areas . According to the partnership's Web site, one Mainer dies every day from exposure to secondhand smoke. (Absolutely not true. I have NEVER looked at an OBIT column and read where ANYone has died from SHS).
"Besides protecting people who are in a bar to have a drink or two, you also have to think about the people who are stuck in the place to make a salary," Spencer said. "They're breathing someone else's smoke. People die from secondhand smoke at an alarming rate - this protects them." (LIES)
In an eight-hour work shift, nonsmoking bar employees can inhale secondhand smoke equal to smoking 16 cigarettes a day, Spencer said.
The public also may report violations to the state Bureau of Health , the Attorney General's Office or local law enforcement.
"You may choose to file the complaint anonymously, but we strongly urge you to fill in the contact information to make follow-up more efficient," the partnership Web site says. "If you choose not to give contact information, enforcement actions available may be limited."
Brewer Police Chief Steven Barker said the department doesn't have the resources to add patrols under the new law.
"We're going to be reactive instead of proactive," Barker said. "We're not going to be taking a walk through the bars to see who's smoking and who's not. We just don't have the resources to do that."
Instead, Barker said, his department would rely on the people who run the bars.
"If there is a problem I would expect they would call us. We have very good relationship with the bar owners and employees locally, and I trust their ability."
Police would respond if a person called to make a report, Barker said.
"All it would take would be a complaint from a nonsmoker in their bar to cause us to respond," he said.
Barker said he expects businesses in his community to adhere to the law because the owners also could be fined and possibly could lose a liquor license.
Private clubs such as those run by the Elks can allow smoking if they close their doors to the public and have no paid employees or close their doors to nonmembers and all of their employees agree to allow smoking indoors.
Smoking has been prohibited in work areas and other common areas in places of employment since 1985 and in most enclosed public places since 1993. In 1999, restaurants in Maine also went smoke-free.
There are exceptions to the law, including smoking in theatrical performances that require a performer to smoke or as part of a religious ceremony or cultural activity. There are 14 such limitations on the books.
One that takes effect today deals with smoking in designated smoking areas in an off-track betting facility or simulcast racing facility at a commercial track, if the facility is licensed and in operation on June 30, 2003 - the date of the law signing.
According to the law, "No sales or services" can be provided in the designated area except that "TV equipment and stand-alone betting terminals or other means of placing wagers may be provided."
No employees can work in the designated smoking area or be required to pass through the area and the area must be restricted to those 18 years old or older. Members of the public, except for those who choose to be in the area, must not be required to use or pass through the area for any purpose.
When asked whether cleaning crews would fall into this category, Dr. Dora Mills, (Queen of Ridiculous Mean-Control Freak), director of the state Bureau of Health, said yes.
There is one simulcast facility in Scarborough , and five off-track facilities in the state, including Miller's OTB in Bangor .
George Pooler, manager for Miller's OTB, said the business has created a designated smoking area and is installing a new ventilation system that will be up and running by today. "The smoking area was the nonsmoking area before," he said. "Now it's insulated and it's going to be separate from the rest of the operation and the employees."
Because the June licensing date is tied to the new law, any racing casino in Maine will have to be smoke-free.
Don't want to drink in a smoking environment, don't pay the buck. Pay and accept the environment in the business.
Full disclosure rule: I only smoke cigars, never indoors except where specifically allowed.
Why bother opening up your own dream business in Maine when the Maine Government will have complete control over it, you and your money, anyway.
Some places tried that, but the Board of Health has that covered as well. It's like the Elks Club:
"Private organizations, many of which offer their own private lounges, are mostly exempt from the law, with some exceptions. For example, the clubs must be nonsmoking unless their employees are volunteers or if they are paid employees and they all agree to allow smoking to remain.
Bob Gross, chairman of the board of trustees for the Elks, said the club had just one bartender who didn't smoke and that all of the club's employees had agreed to allow the club to remain smoking."
They sure are, and we can't even vote these people in. They are "appointed." We have NO say in our lives and it's getting worse.
They put their own spin on everything and then they think we are all dumb azzes out here and we should believe them.
I don't know about you, but I am sick and tired of Maine's Big Brother attitude. I knew this would get worse once Baldacci was elected into office. He is another control freak. How come all "little men" in power are always control freaks? To overcome their height? Or lack thereof?
If there's been any difference from one Maine Governor to the next since Jim Longley got elected thirty years ago, I don't know what it is.
I know King got us deep in dept with the budget, but personally, I think the Partnership for a Tobacco Free Maine, the coalition of the Maine Board of Health is really running this state. And Partnership sure doesn't want to loose the big bucks they receive from the cigarette taxes, yet they are determined to really stick it to the people. They must not think that most of us know how they get their pay checks.
Leisler, Madame Dufarge and I were at Judy's for breakfast yesterday morning. Dufarge counted the house and figured that 90% of the patrons were smoking, including Dell's daughter who was tending bar.
We talked with her for a while and the whole family is very upset that the state could destroy what Dell has worked 30 years for on the dubious theory that SHS "kills".
I was hoping you would weigh in, metesky. You all living in southern Maine would have a better feed back on this issue. Up here, everyone just takes one day at a time, unfortunately.
I feel sorry for business's like Dell's. He realizes that his bread and butter comes from accommodating all the people, and not just one group. Maine Partnership's are going to be the ruin of Maine. Tell Dell to contact THEM! Give them a piece of his mind. I think the lawmakers have their hands tied, and Partners are very powerful to be able to lord it over even them. Maybe Partners are a subsidiary of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. One never knows what goes on behind closed doors.
metesky? Do you get any feedback on this?
Maybe Bangor area residents should meet in Mama Badaci's parking lot one day a week for a smoke.
Well, I have seen pictures of her restaurant. It's pretty dried up right now, isn't it? If nothing else, that parking lot would be a great place to dump car ashtrays. hehe!
Oh yes! And since this is apart of New England, I wonder if THIS guy has anything to do with all of this..........
...and McKernan, and Brennan.... Admittedly, Brennan was kind of special when it came to jumping on any political bandwagon that came along and whipping the horses bloody, but in the last twenty five years we have not had a Governor of any sort - 'pubby, Dem or Independent - who didn't act as though the way to a better Maine was through more government.
We came up here in 1983 when Brennan WAS the Governor. I wasn't into politics like I am today, so really can't remember much about what he did or didn't do. Then, we had Kernan, Olympia Snowe's hubby for 4 years. Then, King and down hill ever since.
Boston already went smoke free. You mean the whole state is going to do this as well? Makes me wonder why they just don't pull cigarettes off of the shelves and be done with it.
But oh! Then the jerks wouldn't be getting our tax dollars, would they?
I'm with you. For three years now I haven't had to pay into the state coffers. The gluttons got all they are going to get out of me! I just wish we could get the word out to the rest of the Maine smokers.
I've got an idea.................Let's utilize their snitch line website for all of us out of staters to register the violation of our vacation rights. Tell them how this law now removes Maine from the list of possible vacation spots. Heck even winter sports fans don't want to spend ALL of their time outdoors..............
heck between the various puff and png lists we have, plus the other lists that you and I belong to we could absolutely overwhelm them with complaints - not about violations - but about the law.
What do you think?
Upon Observing "Said Unit,"--the Woman Stated,"It Looks Like a Penis--Only Smaller!!"
& THAT is the Problem With our Current, DYSFUNCTIONAL "Governing Bodies!!"
There is a "Majority Rule" abberration (Smoking Bans) SPECIFICALLY FORBIDDEN by our Constitution.
UNLESS our (Crippled) Judiciary REMEMBERS the PRECEPTS OF our "Constitution," our "Culture" is DOOMED.
SERIOUSLY!
The UNCONSTITUTIONAL BANS on "Smoking" are an Aberration of Otherwise Constitutional Rights of Individual Americans.
OUR "Forefathers Smoked!!"
UNTIL there is IRREFUTABLE PROOF that "Smoking" is "Universally Harmful to the 'Smokers-who ACCEPT the "Potential Harm"--& to the "Poor Recipients of the 'Second-Hand Smoke'"--there is NO Justification for ANY "Anti-Smoking Legislation!!"
AT THIS TIME, there Remains NO "Justification for" "Anti-Smoking Legislation!!"
NO ONE has YET PROVEN that "Smoking" has harmed ANYONE exposed to "Second-Hand Smoke!!"
OOPS!!
Doc
SOUNDS GREAT!!!!
That's one thing I never tried in my life. Skiing.
High!
This type of roller,also...........heh!
I tried it once - got about half-way down the "bunny slope" saw those t-bars up in the air and promptly planted my butt in the snow, unhooked my skis and walked back up.
If seasoned skiers can hit a tree and splatter all over the snow, then I know it sure isn't for me! The lodges are great though!
I always did call him a "little Hitler."
Everybody from the Merrimack Valley shops NH. 125 in Plaistow and Rt. 28 in Salem are jammed up with people who don't want to pay sales tax.
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