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."
The stink of nanny-state is wrapped around you like a cloud.
(I'll take these one at a time as time permits. So many goofy things and so little time,,,,)
I don't demand my way, I demand my rights. Property rights. It is you who is doing the demanding.
You have the right of free association as well as the right to deny that to others.
Wrong, I have it and so do you. Stay out of places where you don't choose to associate with smokers.
You have the right to the persuit of happiness but nobody else does.
You have no "right" to be happy about violating my rights.
Everyone has equal rights to run their business as they see fit in the absence of force or fraud. You want to be "more" equal. You want to have the power to usurp my rights.
Childish and crude, I rest my case on your personality.
Truer words have never been spoken.
No where in the legislation of the Delaware smoking ban is the Alcoholic Beverage Control Commission (ABCC) mentioned.
Yet 3 weeks after the ban went into effect, and one establishment had already been cited for non-compliance 2 times - the ABCC was quick to state that any repeat violators of the smoke ban were in danger of losing their liquor licenses.
You can't be that dense. You do not have to go to a place where smoke is allowed. No one forces you to do that.
Your charge is the absurd thing. Strawman again.
The government has an interest in defending rights, nothing more. They should "control" behavior that violates rights.
We've got a PRIZE WINNER here!!!!!!!
I never said that, you lied. They are to rightfully govern actions which violate rights.
I merely pointed out that you were the one who started the name calling. Its a fact.
....WHO, WHEN & WHERE....at your local spa?
....most bartenders/waitresses are smokers themselves and find it quite annoying that they have to go outside to smoke.
Why is it that you think the owner should be deprived of my business so you can smoke?
....It is a wide known fact among wait people & owners that smokers spend more money, are alot more fun, and tip better!
....truth be told, they really don't care for boring non-smokers.
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