Posted on 01/06/2003 6:58:16 AM PST by SheLion
It's been in place for five years now, but many Yuba-Sutter bar owners and patrons said they have yet to become accustomed to California's ban on smoking in bars.
At establishments such as Stassi's Fourth Ward Tavern in Marysville this weekend, business owners were still fuming over the ban, which took effect in January 1998.
The ban - a first for the nation - was intended to protect bartenders from health risks posed by second-hand smoke.
Yet Roy Newlove, the owner of Stassi's for roughly 10 years, said it does nothing more than slow business and cause headaches for his employees. Like many, Newlove called the ban a misguided attempt to protect public health.
"I think if the government helps me one more time I'll be out of business," Newlove said as most of his customers nodded in agreement.
Many bar owners throughout the area agreed the ban is a nuisance that has diminished the charm of going out for a drink.
Debbie and Doug Erhardt, the owners of Field and Stream Tavern in Marysville, said business has fallen off by as much as $2,000 on weekends since the ban took effect.
Fewer people want to go to Field and Stream now because the smoking ban forces them to go outside whenever they want to have a cigarette, Debbie Erhardt said.
"Nobody wants to go outside in 100 degree weather or in the cold," Erhardt said.
Ernie Leach, owner of the Corner Bar in Yuba City, said the ban has not been a major obstacle to building a clientele. Since he opened the bar a year ago, Leach said he never had to face the difficulty of telling loyal customers to put out their cigarettes.
However, the ban often causes him to force customers outside when they want to light up, Leach said.
"I have people complain about it all the time, but they just have to go outside," Leach said. "I think a person ought to have a choice and especially at a place called a bar."
The ban also has caused frustration among bartenders, who say it has added stress to their jobs.
Nancy Simpson, 40, a bartender at Jack's Tavern in Marysville, said the ban hurts bartenders who smoke by forcing them to leave their customers behind whenever they want to light up.
The ban also encourages smokers to sneak drinks outside the bars so they can drink while smoking, she said.
"They walk out with their drinks and then I have to ask them to leave," Simpson said.
Newlove said the ban also adds noise to streets and creates unsightly - and sometimes unruly - crowds outside bars.
"As soon as you've got everybody outside you lose control," Newlove said.
Some bar owners have managed to circumvent the ban by taking advantage of areas not covered in its language. Since the ban is intended to protect bar employees - and not bar owners - some entrepreneurs have exempted themselves from the ban by making all of their employees part owners.
Since they technically have no employees, owner-operated establishments can apply for exemptions through county agencies.
In Sutter County, there are at least three bars which have obtained such exemptions. They include Yuba City bars such as the Spur, Dowers Tavern and the 21 Club.
No information was available Saturday on whether there were any owner-operated bars in Yuba County.
Mary Benedict, a part owner of the Spur, criticized the ban and said the exemption has helped her clientele stay steady.
"You're supposed to be able to smoke and drink in a bar," Benedict said. "Governments hurt small businesses too much anyway."
Some bar owners in Marysville said exemptions in Yuba City bars have affected their businesses.
George Matsuda, the owner of Daikoku restaurant in Marysville, said fewer customers want to come to the bar in his business.
"The people that like to smoke, they've got to leave and go to a place where they can smoke," Matsuda said.
Bar patrons also criticized the ban. Some called it an infringement on their civil liberties.
Smoking outside Stassi's Fourth Ward on Saturday, Strawberry Valley resident Dennis Travis, 61, said the ban sometimes makes him think of moving to a state where smoking bans aren't in effect.
Travis said public officials are going too far in their attempts to eliminate health risks.
"We're trying too hard to protect people," Travis said.
Marysville resident Carl Supler, 59, said the ban is an affront to veterans who fought in foreign wars in an effort to preserve civil liberties.
"It's just one more of our freedoms taken away," Supler said. "We fought for this country and most of us didn't come back. Now we've got these bleeding hearts telling us what we can and can't do."
Let's ask Max about this. He lives out there.
If not, perhaps, bars could identify themselves as a "private club." Once a non-member enters, they could be sponsored for membership by any member inside.
Personally, I would construct some sort of oath disparaging the Democrat party and make it part of the induction ceremony, just to weed out the anti-tobacco totalitarians.
So, your chit don't stink, eh? You a vegetarian? How about beer? You like beer? Ever smell ole Beer Breath? Give me a break!
You tire me, Hitlery.
In a free society, people aren't required to get government to "allow" them their property rights.
Maybe you can find a restaurant that allows diaper changing at the table. To each his own.
So because you don't want to smell it the owner of every single establishment everywhere must be forcefully prohibitted from permitting it?????
What about the places ownedby smokers???? because you don't want to smell it, they should be prohibitted from smoking on their own private property????
Let me get this straight. If I don't want you poisoning me, I don't want you stinking me up and I do want to be able to smell taste and enjoy my food, I must forgoe any further exercise of my Constitutional rights.
Wow, that's a new one. Because you want to smoke I should sit down and shut up, breath your carcinogens, pay for my own laundry bill to clean up after you, forget about smelling or tasting or enjoying my food, then abdicate my Constituional rights for not keeping a proper attitude about it.
Tell you what, you probably shouldn't have appreiciated my posts quite as much as you did. I think you had me confused with a person who actually gave a rats arse what a person who exhibits your consideration for his fellow man would think.
It isn't about smoking, even though that's what you want it to be about.
Are you saying there are no places you can go to that prohibit smoking? Or, are you saying you want to go to a place where smoking is allowed, but YOU don't like smoking, so no one there should smoke?
Hugh? My name is SheLion.
If I don't smoke, I don't stink you up. I can sit less than five feet from you and your clothing won't cost ten dollars to clean before you go to work the next day.
Honey, I will lay a bet that my personal hygiene far beats yours anyday! You know the scene: take bath daily, brush teeth after every meal and wash hair a lot.
I have had to clean pants, shirt, coat and overcoat after visiting an establishment so full of smoke that it practicly made me sick just to patronize the place. And if I mention it, I'm the bad guy. LMAO, you folks take the cake.
Then why the hell do you go? Find another place that fits your needs. You must be a germ-a-phobic.
As for the heavy hand of government, it really is a shame the government had to do what simple good manners could have accomplished all along.
Why don’t you get on a soap box to have tobacco banned? How’s that? Would you be happy then? But of course, you couldn’t go anywhere to vent, then, could you? My goodness, you sure would make a GREAT DemocRAT. Hmmmm
While the line of smoke goes right in my face they're just happy as little larks looking in every direction but my face. Then they take another drag and momentarily forget to move their hand away from their own face. All of a sudden they get a line of smoke in their face and they rinkle up their puss, shake their head and fan the smoke away.
Well, it just dawned on ME that perhaps this smoker realizes how nasty you are and they do it just for the kick! Hehe! That’s how most of us are becoming when we encounter a prissy nose in a place that allows smoking. Hey! If you don’t want to be around smokers, just hang out at places that does not allow smoking. In this day and age, I am sure that can’t be too hard to do.
Hope the Government doesn’t come after your DIRT BIKE next! They stink and make too much noise! IMHO.
I fire up the grill all year round.
I am also originally from NY and my husband originally from New England.
However, one does not sit on the outside patio of a restaurant in 30 degree weather (or colder)- unless of course they have more serious problems than just wanting a cigarette with their drink or meal.
I don't smoke. And it's not about smoking. You can eat whether or not others smoke. You have no right to eat in a certain place.
I'll have to think about that one.
Good idea, when will you start?
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