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."
My new home in Idaho features no smoking bans. As before, I don't patronize businesses where the tobacco stench is intolerable. The local Denny's has lost my patronage until they bulldoze it. The Pine Ridge restaurant has a separate non-smoking room. The front room just plain stinks. Perkins has the smoking section next to the lobby. If you can get a seat quickly, it is possible to get clear of the smelly part of the restaurant. If there is a wait, I go elsewhere. Many restaurants in town do a credible job of separating the smokers from the non-smokers. Frontier Pies, Eduardo's Mexican and the Continental Bistro do a very good job.
The small number of restaurants in town that have gone non-smoking are always filled. It's harder to get a seat now than before they went non-smoking.
The bars in town are places to smoke, drink and enjoy a good old fashioned bar fight. The bouncers are skilled at hurting people. One kid in his 20's was chased across the street and left most of the flesh on his face plastered to the brick wall surrounding the FBI compound. It knocked him out cold. They left him unattended. He eventually regained consciousness and found his way to a hospital.
That's a right?
When I got out to eat, I accept that I cannot control the behavior of others. That's why I ask for a seat in the non-smoking section. If people want to smoke in the smoking section, it's fine with me.
I didn't raise this issue. I entered the thread to let smokers know how their habit affects others. I can't stop breathing. Smokers can hold off on smoking for an hour or two.
As far as I am concerned, this has been an academic exercise.
Of course the smokers will go where they are welcome. Why in heaven's name would the owners of the other places change?
Only about 25% of the adult population smokes and you're saying that 25% of the establishments would permit it and the other 75% wouldn't - it looks like a balanced situation.
Your all or nothing attitude is wrong.
Just because anti-smokers wish to impose there will upon every single business owner does not mean others should be forces to forego their pleasures.
That is the truth. DoughtyOne did not make anyone (smoker or not) feel uncomfortable.
I'm just against the ban for smoking in bars. Smoking in dining areas, I totally understand. It makes me ill, too, even though I smoke.
Interesting question, but now anachronistic; the gov has mandated smell-scrubbers on bakery oven exhausts to stop air-pollution.
The government permits numerous "known carcinogens" to permiate the atmosphere of restaurants. Check out all of the natural occurring carcinogens in nearly all food you eat. And the wonderful aroma of fresh brewed coffee wafting through the air - 19 known carcinogens.
And don't forget exposure to the sun is a known carcinogen - there goes outdoor dining experiences.
In other words, the poison is in the dose. Any one with a 5th grade education knows that.
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