Taverns brace for smoking ban in different ways

Kennebuc Journal ^ | 12-15-03 | CHUIN-WEI YAP

[SheLion]

Smokers will face a new choice of bars in the new year ahead. While some bars will be entirely smoke-free, including many in the greater Augusta area, others have spent thousands of dollars to build covered annexes for their smoking clientele in preparation for Maine's ban on smoking in bars next year.

Maine legislators (AND THE RINO'S INCLUDED) passed the ban on smoking in bars and taverns in June, joining New York, California and Delaware in extending smoke-free environments to one of the last bastions of public indoor smoking. The ban takes effect Jan. 1, and experience in other states suggests the crowds will spill onto the sidewalks to light up.

Bravo's Mexican Restaurant in Augusta is one outlet that built a patio specially to accommodate smokers.

"We built it this (past) fall, so we can have people eat and smoke outside if they want to," said Brodie Tewkesbury, the outlet's manager. "So when (the smoking ban) comes into effect, we can have people smoke outside."

The concrete patio, which is uncovered, is behind the Bangor Street restaurant.

But by and large, bars in the Augusta area are not trying to soften the blow for smokers. Those include The Wharf and The Liberal Cup in Hallowell and Tilbury Town Tavern and the Depot Pub in Gardiner.

"We're sticking with the ban," one employee at The Liberal Cup said.

Bars farther north are beating the ban, however. At least three have completed or are erecting such smoking rooms. Their owners are motivated mainly by business motivation -- to keep their smoking patrons -- but some of them also are trying to dissuade smoking customers from illegally taking their drinks with them outside for cigarette breaks.

"We don't want people going out on the street to smoke, so we're building a deck for smokers to go out and smoke in," said Jibryne "Gubby" Karter, owner of Waterville's Bob-In Tavern.

"(Otherwise) we'll have the police coming round. We want to make sure (customers) are not trying to sneak out (to smoke) with beers. That makes more of a mess on the sidewalk."

Karter is building a 12-by-20 feet enclosure. The roofed space will be open on one side, according to directions laid down by the district attorney's office. The rest of the walls are wooden, with tinted glass windows and a space heater "to take the chill out."

In all, Karter said he will sink $5,000 to $10,000 into the project.

"We got the platform section built," Karter said. "It will all be under construction until the end of next week."

On Skowhegan's Main Street, the South Side Tavern is building a latticed enclosure for its smokers.

"I'd much rather have (smoking customers) in a controlled area like that," said owner Bart Hughes, a nonsmoker.

Like the other tavern owners, Hughes had to wade through a small sea of bureaucracy to get the annex up. That includes inspections by the Fire Department and the state's liquor licensing agents. The Waterville bars got approvals from the local code enforcement officers as well as the district attorney's office.

South Side's smoking patrons are pleased.

"I like it," said Eben Miller, 48. "Ninety percent of people who come in here smoke."

Other bar owners, including nonsmokers, are more strident in opposing the ban.

"The more comfortable I make it, the less it hurts me," said Fred Karter, the nonsmoking owner of Waterville's Chez bar. "I want to show my customers I appreciate them. It's pretty unfair. They let private clubs do it (allow indoor smoking). I've never smoked in my life, but I don't consider smokers criminals. We think we have to regulate everything."

Fred Karter is building an 11-by-20-foot latticed annex shielded with glass panels. He is spending more than $4,000 on construction materials and building much of it himself. He estimates that 98 percent of his customers smoke.

But for the annex builders, it is a matter of doing business.

"It's an intangible -- 75 percent of my people drink and smoke, and a lot of people tell me they only smoke in bars," said Bob-In's Gubby Karter. "How much will (the new ban) affect us? Initially about 10 percent. I'm hoping it's not worse than that. We're doing everything we can to accommodate (the smokers). We don't want 20 people outside with their butts on the ground and everything."

Chuin-Wei Yap - 8619253

ychuin@centralmaine.com

[Great Dane]

Public health issues are what health codes are designed to help with, it is not a conspiracy to attack your freedom or mine.

Even politicians long ago stopped with the health issue claim, it is now openly, "Budget shortfalls."

It never was a health issue, if it was thousands if things would be banned.

[whaleyman]

Maine has decided to impose Jim Crow segregation laws on smokers? Which of the Rhodes scholars in your state thought this up?
Have they been paying any attention to what's been happening in New York, California, or Delaware? It would seem not. So I will give you the good news. You are about to loose 30%-40% of your tourist dollar. You are also about to loose 30%-40% of your bar and restaurants business. Sounds good HUH. But. Hey, don't believe me, check the Internet, the ugly truth is all over it. Additionally, your state is about to get the distinct honor of being sued by various civil rights, smokers rights, business rights groups, have fun raying for the lawyers. Then when it is all done, you will be hit with "Takings" suits by the owners of the business your state government has ruined. Ruined I might add, using bogus science. Maine a tourist Mecca? Not anymore. I do hope the people that were conned into passing this new form of Jim Crow segregation are also willing to make up the short fall that is about to appear in your state budget. Otherwise, all Mainers are about to get there pockets picked once again.

PS I love Maine, But I won't be spending a single dime there or on any Maine products till these Jim Crow anti smoker segregation laws are repealed.

[Rapunzel]

The great state of Florida has had a smoking ban in place since July 1st of this year. My favorite BBQ place in all the world and owned by one family for at least a couple of generations will probably be out of business this time next year. It just really stinks a hell of a lot worse than any cigarette smoke ever could. But damn I'm gonna miss that bbq.

In all seriousness, I am surprised someone hasn't sued the state yet for contracting West Nile because they had to stand outside and smoke and fight them durn black helicopters they call skeeters in Florida.

[metesky]

Geezum Crow. You put a couple of simple questions to a guy and he disappears.
;O)

[Not_Who_U_Think]

Someone smarter than I once said, "Democracy is two wolves and a sheep trying to decide what's for dinner."

Letting the 'majority' have its way is the path to mob rule. Personally, I don't have a boat and think it's a waste of resources. I propose a $250 a year tax on boats.

I also don't play golf. It's fine with me to throw a large tax on golfing equipment.

Since 65% of the population doesn't smoke, they have no vested interest in the matter other than some nebulous (to them) personal freedom argument. An they are propagandized constantly about how awful smoking is - so of course they don't care.

As an aside, we all see these constant anti-smoking ads. Do they have any effect in convincing people to stop? Hardly any. But I'd would be interested in knowing how many domestic disputes caused by this tripe.

[SheLion]

LOL, but it is a beautiful picture.

Heh! Thanks!

Just a minor inconvenience of what we have to live with up here 6 months out of the year. LOL!

[SheLion]

Me, I like freedom, and I don't like your position one bit ... not one little bit. I despise the position you hold.

Your my kind of friend!!

[SheLion]

PS I love Maine, But I won't be spending a single dime there or on any Maine products till these Jim Crow anti smoker segregation laws are repealed.

I live here and I won't be spending MY money anymore in a restaurant/bar/tavern that cannot accomodate all the peoples. And that includes smokers. I can stay home and order in and have a party where everyone are equal. Be they smoke or not!

[SheLion]

My favorite BBQ place in all the world and owned by one family for at least a couple of generations will probably be out of business this time next year. It just really stinks a hell of a lot worse than any cigarette smoke ever could. But damn I'm gonna miss that bbq.

Is this the place?

[lockjaw02]

OPS4 wrote, "The best thing here would be to have all of this put to a nationwide vote and let the majority rule on it. Smokers would erve themselves best by creating a referendum.

Afterall that is a true test in a democracy."

That's pure bullshit. Democracy is overrated. Lynch mobs were microcosms of the democratic process and a fine example of tyranny of the majority. Perhaps you'd like to put it to the democratic process here to ban you from this board and take away your right to free speech? The US was supposed to be soundly based on the rule of law, so that lady justice can weigh the facts, blind to the attributes of litigants external to the facts of the case. This country's principles were supposed to be soundly embedded in private property rights and capitalism, not socialism or communism. You don't like smokey barrooms, you have every right under the law to put your own capital on the line and take the risk to open your own.

It doesn't "take a village" to raise a child. It takes parents teaching them survival skills, something that your parents apparently ignored since you espouse having a nanny government to help you make it through the day and fight off the big bad bogeymen infiltrating your dreams. Those who would trade a little bit of liberty for either safety or security don't deserve any of the three.

[Gabz]

but no one is banning smoking, they are banning the use of smoke in Public places for people not to have to feel sick from the smoke.

WRONG - they are banning smoking in PRIVATE places that invite members of the public to enter of their own FREE WILL.

I'm sorry your mother has asthma - it is well known (any typr of) smoke is one of the triggers for attacks. But doyou think the government should FORCE every establishment to be smoke-free just on the off chance that your mother or others with the same condition may decide to someday enter the establishment?

Merry Christmas to you . And I hope the government bans JUNK SCIENCE for how it make decisions.

[Gabz]

I smoke cigars outdoors and in cigarbars,

Yet you support laws that forbid those types of bars......Why????

[Gabz]

Have they been paying any attention to what's been happening in New York, California, or Delaware?

Of course they have ---- unfortunately the only information coming out to the rest of the world is that which already has the anti-spin already put on it.

[Gabz]

I can stay home and order in and have a party where everyone are equal.

Catering, takeout and "restaurant delivery" businesses will drastically increase - and very quickly. They did in California, which has a much more outdoor friendly winter environment than Delaware. And they did in Delawre which has a much more outdoor friendly environment than Maine. (unless you are a skier or a bear)

[Cantiloper]

CSM wrote: "Junk food won't be banned, instead it will be heavily taxed. Just like cigs!"

Big Macs kill, when used as directed. Roughly half of all those who establish an addiction to Big Macs and related products will contract heart disease and die from it. In addition, many innocents who live near Big Mac production facilities will die from the air pollution caused by their cooking. As the Antismokers have pointed out so thoroughly, ventilation and filtration are NO solution. Those living in cities where Big Macs are prepared are ALL vulnerable, particularly children and the elderly, as various carcinogenic, mutagenic, and ciliatoxic elements are released into the air.

At particular risk are those children dragged into the dens of corpse eaters as the compounds pour out of the kitchens into the dining rooms. Without the safety marker of tobacco smoke in the air very few customers are aware of the lack of ventilation signified by the slight aroma of stale grease and french fries, and yet these toxins permeate into the deepest and most delicate recesses of lung tissue.

While it is not practical at this point to jail those who gnaw on the flesh of dead animals, the practice CAN be reduced with proper social engineering techniques. The easiest path of course is simply taxation. Most people will actually be grateful to have their diets enriched by soybeans and wheat paste even if they experience an initial annoyance at no longer being able to rend flesh with their teeth.

Ultimately we can move into the schools and give out tshirts and prizes to students who come up with creative poster ideas such as "My Mommy Loves Me: She's a Vegan!" and as we popularize the idea that bits of rotting corpses stuck in the teeth are a turn-off for kissing. Removing meat eating from films and banning it on the streets is of course a long term necessity, though, as with smoking, a certain level of population reduction through proper taxation (i.e. 300 - 800% of basic product price, as with cigarettes) will be necessary before a final solution is at hand.

- Cantiloper
www.Antibrains.com

[Leisler]

Pneumonia is the fourth numerous written cause of death on death certificates. Not one certificate has ever been written for second hand smoke.

[Dec31,1999]

Here in NY, the bars are dying. And the part that gets me PO'ed is that the non-smokers aren't there to enjoy their smoke-free environment! I've been to a bar only twice since the state-wide law was passed in July. Pretty much, all the bars are empty all the time. The problem is that most smokers don't vote.

[Dec31,1999]

The best thing here would be to have all of this put to a nationwide vote and let the majority rule on it. Smokers would erve themselves best by creating a referendum. Afterall that is a true test in a democracy.

Democracy = 2 wolves and one sheep deciding what's for dinner. Guess what's for dinner? Remember: Hitler was elected!

[lewislynn]

Catering, takeout and "restaurant delivery" businesses will drastically increase - and very quickly. They did in California,

So what?...Here in my town in California we get "takeout" from our Outback restaurant because it takes a min. of 30 minutes (weeknights) to 75 min. (weekend nights) to get a seat to dine and there's standing room only at the bar

Oh and did I mention all the NEW sit down restaurants vs. all the closed Burger King, Taco Bell's etc. not to mention the Record Liquor License Applications in California for on sale (bars and restaurants) as well as off sale....

[lewislynn]

Rose and I won't go out anymore.

You're right, it is more noble to give in to paying high cigarette taxes and cower at home than it is to go out, enjoy yourself, and support your local small business owner....