Posted on 01/05/2006 4:47:43 PM PST by grimalkin
CLARKSTON, WASH. - Washington smokers facing a ban on lighting up in bars and restaurants are taking their habit - and money - to Idaho.
"I've had regular clientele tell me right to my face they're going to Idaho to smoke," Tony Salerno, owner of Hogan's in Clarkston, told the Lewiston Tribune.
Washington voters approved Initiative 901 in November, which bans smoking within 25 feet of doorways, windows and air intakes of public places and workplaces. It took effect Dec. 8.
That has left some establishments in Washington near the Idaho border having to compete with bars and restaurants in Idaho that allow smoking.
Salerno measured out a spot where people could stand and smoke, but that caused the sidewalk to be littered with cigarette butts and garbage. He said lunch and dinner crowds haven't increased enough to replace patrons that went to Idaho. Now he's trying to bring in more customers with music on additional nights.
"Trying to survive on one good night out of six isn't going to cut it," he said.
Smitty's Barrel had to let go of four employees, said manager Kelleigh Fowler.
"We're almost going out of business, it's been so bad," she said. "Our biggest money night is New Year's Eve, and we had 10 people in here and did less than $300 in business from opening to close."
Clarkston Police Chief Joel Hastings said the department has received some complaints about smokers in illegal areas, and officers did find people smoking in one tavern. The business owner was given a warning.
Despite the ban, some businesses are doing fine.
Station 3, which serves lunch and dinner and has some gambling, has made up for disappearing smokers with people coming to eat who wouldn't have entered before the ban.
"We have a good reputation for our food, and it's saved us," said owner Tom Scher.
But Scher said the anti-smoking law is too broad and could put some bars and restaurants out of business.
Fowler said she wrote a letter, which has been signed by patrons of Smitty's and other taverns, and plans to send it to state representatives and senators requesting that the law be modified. If that results in any action, though, she said it might not be in time to help Smitty's.
"We could be closed in three months," she said. "You never know."
All you Smoking Nazis should be doing cartwheels and wetting yourselves!
Smoking nazis? Perhaps we're just addicted to oxygen not nicotine.
I personally could care less what you use to kill yourself just don't force it on me. If, in your mind you think that makers me a nazi you're wacked.
Oh no...much more fun to 'wet' a steenking smoker.....;)
I'm with you friend. High minded sophistry, bowing at the altar of government which continues to infringe upon liberties.
Screw 'em, I'll eat elsewhere.
All this "public health/environmental" anti-private property BS starts in Calipornia and spreads like a disease elsewhere.
Actually, we do not force you into an area where smoking is present. You do so by your free will
However, smoke nazi politics have taken many people's ability to go into a smoker friendly environment. So the reverse of your statement seems OK when it suits you? .
If the anti-smoking lobby had any ba*lls, they would outlaw tobacco products altogether. However, addicted to a stronger drug, taxes, it will never be done.
-A non smoker
I never thought I'd say this, but the ban in Georgia wasn't as bad as most everyone thought it was going to be. It has the important clause that smoking is still permitted as long as no one under 18 can come in at any time, or if a completely separate and walled-off room with independent ventilation is installed for smoking.
I only know of one bar that I've gone to that actually divided itself in half and installed ventilation to have a smoking and a non-smoking section. But the result of the "ban" is that the places where people go out to have a good time - bars, sports bars, clubs, etc. - limited themselves to 18 and up (if they weren't already). They do a good business because the younger go-out-and-have-fun crowd gets more concentrated in the adult establishments, and families with little ones are kept out of places that are probably inappropriate for them and guided to the more kid-friendly restaurants.
Having said that, the loss of private property rights is a sad commentary on our little local tyrants. But for those in states and locales where it looks like an outright ban is unavoidable, the "18-and-up" clause is a lot better than nothing.
If they legalized pot in Idaho, imagine what a popular tourist destination that would be.
I like going to sports bars sometimes to watch games, and I don't mind the smoke at all.
Yeah, I mean, since we force you into bars and restaurants where smoking is allowed at gunpoint, and we threaten to blow up bars and restaurants that individually decide to NOT allow smoking, I suppose that a uniform smoking ban is the only solution. I mean, it beats forcing you into a smoke cloud, right?
Nobody is forcing you to go into a bar where people smoke and drink. It's the bar owners decision whether he wants his place to be smoke free or not. Not yours. Therefore smoking Nazi is quite fitting.
As a self-righteous non-smoker, you must be affected by some other malady that prevents you from using proper English.
You stated, "you could care less", rather as you opined, the statement should have read that "you could not care less".
You don't smoke, great, I'm sure you have no vices.
Guess what? I think you're, as a non-smoker, blowing blue smoke up my a$$.
If you don't like where I dine, then don't enter the door, and if you do, don't let it hit you on the way out.
"Smoking nazis? Perhaps we're just addicted to oxygen not nicotine.
I personally could care less what you use to kill yourself just don't force it on me. If, in your mind you think that makers me a nazi you're wacked."
I'll bet you are a "vegan" also. Stay out of my bar, thanks.
You non-smokers are so intelligent. It's spelled "whacked."
Spare me, O great healthy one that treasures personal liberty.
Go climb on your treadmill, but leave me the hell alone.
Pompous ass.
If we are truly interested in protecting patrons from perceived dangers, perhaps we should ban queers from businesses that think homosexuals present a danger to the health of normal customers? Or at least make the queers who come in take an AIDs test? Or maybe, why don't you just stay the hell out of a bar that allows smoking? Or even better, why don't you just stay at home? Second hand smoke has NEVER, NEVER, EVER, KILLED ANYBODY!!! It has, however, allowed idiots to exhibit a degree of ignorance that offends any sane person.
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