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 owner isn't desperate to let people smoke, except for the childish attitudes of people who smoke and want to punish anyone they can since they can't smoke inside any longer. If they can't smoke, they just won't go out. Now there's an adult attitude for ya.
I fixed your little intentional error.
Good point.
The casinos in West Virginia and New Jersey are doing major advertaising campaigns bout the fact that they permit smoking and the Delaware ones don't.
At 3 o'clock Saturday afternoon there was not one single bus in the lot of the casino at Dover downs.
The local tour bus company is loving it - they have seen a huge increase in their trips to Atlantic City - their trips had dropped dramatically after the openning of the three slots locations in Delaware.
Your self-righteous comments aside - what about the business owner who is a smoker??? And since it is perfectly legal in about 20 states to refuse to hire someone based upon whether they smoke or not, why shouldn't a smoking owner who only hires smokers have the freedom to cater to smokers???
A common enough and legal business practice is the posting of the sign "We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone."
It's been snowing in my part of Delaware since this time yesterday - it's very difficult to sit sit and enjoy a drink and meal on the patio or deck of a local bar or restaurant at this time of the year.
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.
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.
You state that I still don't get it. How charming. One evening my wife and I took our two young children to the Spagetti Factory. We sat down and were eating dinner when it hit my wife and I at the same time. All of a sudden there was an overwhelming amount of smoke at our table.
When we walked in there were a couple of people smoking about twenty feet from our table. When we looked up there were ten people smoking within five feet of our table.
Well, you're right. One of us certainly doesn't get it.
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.
One of my absolute favorite observations of all times is this. I can't tell you how many times I've had a smoker hold their cirgarette out in my direction because they didn't want the cigarette smoke in their eyes. 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. Hell, smokers can't stand the same thing they do to non-smoking fellow patrons constantly. And it never even dawns on them.
But I am not among the "reformed" ex-smokers.
I do wish they'd spend as much effort developing a safe cigarette as they spend figuring out how to ban them.
Then I can go back to smoking my brains out.
Yep it is sad isn't it. The Constitution doesn't guarantee you the right to be an idiot.
As a non-smoker I have talked to management about the problem of smoking. I knew some restaurant owners quite well. They wanted to ban smoking but felt it would hurt their business. They were as thrilled as I was when the ban went into effect. As a matter of fact they get more business from from me now. And smoking patrons can't go down the street to stink up some other place to stick to the owners that were doing the right thing. Gotta love it.
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