Posted on 12/30/2003 5:30:22 AM PST by SheLion
Monday, December 29, 2003
It's nearly the last gasp for smoking bar patrons
University of Southern Maine student Ben Theriault, of Buxton, takes time out from class to enjoy a cigarette in 2002. Starting next month, smoking will be banned in bars in Maine. Smoking is already banned in restaurants and in most public buildings.
To some bar patrons, the haze padding the ceiling and hanging over pool tables is as much a part of a bar as a bank of beer taps.
Those who have become accustomed to the sight, as well as those who are used to puffing on cigarettes between drinks, now have just a few days to savor it - the state's ban on smoking in bars is due to go into effect Thursday.
While officials at the state Bureau of Health and anti-smoking groups have touted the ban's health benefits since it was passed early last summer, bar patrons who frequent Portland's hazy, smoke-filled watering holes view the ban as another example of well-intentioned, yet misdirected legislation.
"(Smoking) is an easy scapegoat for our society's health problems," which are also caused by pollution, fast food and a number of other factors, said Clifford Brown of Portland, who lit a cigarette as he sat at one end of Amigo's Mexican Restaurant on Dana Street. Well over half of those who frequent the bar and restaurant - which has separate smoking and non-smoking sections - smoke cigarettes.
Brown, along with other patrons gathered at Amigo's on Friday, said he opposes the ban on principle. The state should not try to legislate health consciousness, he said.
"If you don't smoke, you don't have to come into a place like this," said Arty Tavano, 40, a cook at Gritty McDuff's on Fore Street. "Bars are here to be smoked in."
Tavano said the ban will not only change the character of many bars in the Old Port, but fill the area's sidewalks with smokers who must go outside to feed the habit. This will cause a slew of new problems that Portland's Police Department does not have the resources to deal with, such as fights and patrons walking out on their bills, he said.
"They're gonna ask cops to tell people not to smoke," Tavano said, laughing.
The ban has also rendered obsolete Gritty McDuff's $60,000 ventilation system, purchased after the state banned smoking at restaurants in 1999 so the bar and grill could continue to allow smoking in one section, he said.
Some smokers said they think the ban will go largely unenforced. Most, however, said they think bars in Portland will adhere to the ban.
"I'm trying to live it up until Thursday," said Brown, 21, as he smoked a Lucky Strike cigarette.
The smoking ban means that virtually all public workplaces in Maine, barring a few exceptions, do not allow smoking indoors. Private clubs such as the Elks may only allow smoking if they close their halls to the public and have no paid employees, or if they close their halls to non-members and all of their employees agree to allow smoking indoors.
Questions remain about who will enforce the ban after it goes into effect.
Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood says he has received "no direction from the state" as to how his officers should enforce the ban.
The state eliminated the Bureau of Liquor Enforcement in June. The department used to make sure bars and convenience stores didn't sell alcohol to minors, so local police departments have already picked up those duties. The smoking ban adds another regulatory duty to the agendas of local police, he says.
"It's not a priority," Chitwood said. "I don't have the manpower to deal with it all."
Although it seems it will take time to figure out the best way to enforce the ban, the law has teeth.
The state will assess a fine of $100 per offense to smokers and bar owners caught breaking the law, according to Dr. Dora Anne Mills, director of the state Bureau of Health. Mills says bar owners may also be fined for failing to post signs informing patrons of the ban and that liquor licenses may be suspended or revoked after repeated violations.
Local police, the Bureau of Health and the Attorney General's Office have enforcement powers, Mills says, adding that the bureau has set up a Web site and toll-free number (www.tobaccofreemaine.com; 800-560-5269) where bar patrons and employees may report violations of the ban anonymously.
California became the first state to ban smoking in bars when it put a stop to lighting up in taverns and restaurants in 1998. A restaurant-only version of the smoking ban took effect in Maine in September 1999.
Supporters of the law tout the ban's health benefits, as fewer bar patrons and employees will be exposed to second-hand smoke. Mills says the ban may also convince smokers to fire up fewer times while out on the town, and minors to stop associating smoking with recreational drinking.
Opponents of the ban, however, say the financial impact on bars that cater to those who want a cigarette with a drink will be fierce.
Tracy Knight, owner of the Loose Moose Saloon in Gray, owned a bar in Whittier, Calif., when smoking was banned there in 1998. Knight says although she hopes to see no decline in revenue, she expects a 30 percent drop in sales after Thursday.
"I dealt with it in California," she said. "My customers say, 'We'll just stay home and drink a six-pack there.' "
Knight and an association of mostly bar owners have fought the ban since it was passed last summer.
The group tried to gather enough signatures to force a "people's veto" referendum on the legislation, which would have taken place in June 2004, but was unable to meet a tight deadline. It is now trying to gather enough signatures to force a referendum to repeal the ban in November 2004.
That may be too late for a small number of struggling bars and their employees, Knight says.
"The majority of bar owners are struggling anyway - people don't have a lot of expendable income in today's economy. . . . A fourth of the businesses I talked to (during the referendum campaign) were just hanging on."
Staff Writer Elbert Aull can be contacted at 791-6335 or at: eaull@pressherald.com
The State Boards of Health and their Coalitions are UNDERMINING our Economy!
Think about it.
Next stop: The bars will still be allowed to open their doors, but no alcohol allowed!
I often wonder where all the militia are that we heard were hiding in the hills????
As for Clintoon, he sure loves his CIGARS!
Thank you! I am the same way.
I know we shouldn't take it out on the business when the STATE imposes these bans, but the business owners should have seen this coming and done more to fight this ban.
I figure if they didn't fight to keep my patronage, then I won't be taking them anymore of my money.
Isn't the run for the President all about the ECONOMY? Well, these anti-smoking states and the Health Coalitions are undermining our economy and people need to wake up and smell the coffee??? (Or the richness in tobacco smoke).
We sure can!!! There are a few non-smoking places here, but by and large the majority do permit smoking. There are 3 places I frequent on a regular basis and the smoking sections in them are at least twice of the size of tthe non-smoking areas. Of course all the owners of those places are also smokers!!!
I don't know if Ann Coulter has moved or not, but the Florida ban is not as insidious as the NY ban, plus the weather is much more conducive to outdoor dining areas.
WHAT??!!
They're going to FORCE those agents to breath second hand smoke, of ANY type?
This agency should be SUED! </sarcasm>
And we wonder why our economy is suffering............with coalitions like this living and controlling the U.S.A. our economy will NEVER be good again!
You KNOW it's always about POLITICS!
There's no real Constitutional basis for any such challenge. This type of regulation falls squarely within the States' right to regulate businesses.
Denver too. But can you even imagine the big Casino's or even the little ones in Las Vegas being forced to go smoke free? It's mind boggling.
Smoking in the casino's in Atlantic City is still allowed as well.
The Health nanny's started in Las Vegas a year or so ago, but it soon became history and we never heard anymore about LV going smoke free. Too much money involved.
Read all the links I provided. It's killing businesses. So many closures and lay-offs. They tell the general public what they WANT the general public to believe. It's all spin. Professional Spinners are hired to sugar coat the truth.
Tell a lie often enough and people will start to believe it is the truth.
The geography of Delaware is different than Maine because at most it is only 35 miles to a state without a smoking ban. The smoking has helped business immensely, in bars and restaurants just over the line in Maryland.
And even a year after the ban has been in effect it is still happening.
I met a number of people this summer who in the past vacationed at the Delaware beaches, not this year. The did vacation on the Delmarva Peninsula, but chose either Maryland or Virginia beaches to spend their vacation dollars.
The only businesses helped by smoking bans are those in nerby areas with out them.
There's always Daddy Gov't. He'll take care of 'em.
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