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."
I'm not sure how they can do that, without taking the good taste out of them.
It's like french fries and alcohol. How can you remove the bad ingredients without removing the good taste. Not sure if this can be done. They tried it with hamburger...some kind of bean sprouts. But it's tastes terrible.
I know that smoke is foul. I would consider myself weak if I could not control the urge to wait until I were in an area that no one could be offended before lighting a cigarette.
However, If a bar owner wishes to allow smoking, they should be allowed to. Patrons have the right to not enter. It IS a private business, and while that still means something, it should be respected.
Stop the flaming now, or move on. Or is smokers the biggest thorn in your side post 9-11?! If it is, must be nice!
I think we lost DoughyOne. Some RAT has taken over his computer. ugh!
You stink up the place.
You expose me to carcinogenic smoke.
You prevent me from smelling my meal.
You prevent me from tasting my meal.
You cause me to have to send my clothes to the cleaners.
If I happen to have a wife, I get to pay for cleaning her clothes as well.
If we have children, we get to clean their clothes as well.
A family of four is exposed to your smoke.
All I ask of you is not to smoke.
You'll be able to taste your food better.
You'll be able to smell your food better.
That's it. God I'm a meanie!
More LIBERAL then I thought, too. Even in Free Republic. Go figure.
EXCUSE ME - who are you to tell anyone what they MUST do? if I am in an establishment that welcomes smokers and smoking, the only offenders are those complaining about the smoking.
They must make every effort to gain acceptance by the rest of us.
To be honest, I really don't care if I am acceptable to anyone taking that type of position. I only go places where I am welcome. If you don't find smokers to be acceptable, don't bother going places where smokers are welcome and considered acceptable.
It's very simple.
Ask people not to smoke on YOUR own property.
Don't worry, soccer mommy. We don't want to be around YOU, anymore then you want to be around us.
Dream on. You sure are gullible!
As for stinky clothes: one can wash clothing. But one cannot wash off bigotry. And that is where your coming from, my friend. Your a bigot.
The vast majority of the seats at the track are outdoors. As far as I know there is not going to be a prohibition for smoking in the stands.
Banning smoking in the outdoor stands at the track is hysterical. As if the outdoor air at the race track is so clean and pure during all those hundreds of miles of those three days!!!!
Is it your premise that a business can poison the public in other ways too? I mean it's guaranteed by the Constitution isn't it? Come on hot shot, tell me how any proprietor should be able to place a known poison filler in patron's food if that's what he wants to do.
I'm waiting. Why don't you change your pseudonym to Barnie Jefferson?
I think the anti's have that covered. If you have just ONE employee working for you, smoking is not allowed. Something about protecting the health of the employee. Even if the employee is a smoker himself.
The only thing that bothers me about you is your narrow-minded thinking. All for you and none for me.
Well, rest easy. You do not pay my bills, and I only hang out with friends (smoking and non-smoking alike) who do not have this midget mentality against smokers. And we only spend our money in the places here that allow smokers. Life is good. Until I come into Free Republic and see the people that really don't want us to be Free. That's my beef right there. And that's what worry's me about your kind.
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