Happy New Year!
Posted on 01/01/2004 7:30:23 AM PST by SheLion
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.
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