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."
You make the claim, you cite the evidence.
You would attempt this ONCE where I live. You would be shown something that you have probably never seen before.....the other end.
Eaker
You are a liar. Why come here and lie??
No airport that I know of in Texas has a "smoking" section.
Eaker
LOL! Me arrogant from someone who wants to ban a legal activity just because you don't like it on someone else's private property including ones that you will never set foot in and even though you know it will cause the buisness to lose money. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black
Cats also trigger my asthma as does grass.
From the above I can tell your asthma attacks are caused by allergies and it is impossible to be allergic to cigarettes because allergies are a response to foreign proteins and proteins break apart when burned and are not in smoke.
I won't deny that some people with asthma can be negatively effected by cigarette smoke though most people exagerate it because where were all these people 20+ years ago when 80% of the population smoked, And my point still stands about if we are to take it to the extreme since some people are allergic to beestings all buisnesses should be banned from having live flowers.
The chemical contents of the smoke from a cigarette is much different than the exhaust from a car. Grant it, I also don't have car exhaust directly in my face. So maybe if the car exhaust was as concentrated as smoke is when I have been exposed to smoke, maybe I would get an asthma attack.
No not really, Petroleum products are all derived from dead plants and animals. The smokey end result is pretty much the same. Yes Cigarette smoke contains a small amount of nicotine but nicotine by itself isn't harmful if it were people would be getting sick all the time by eating tomatoes and Eggplant which also contain it.
And I bet you have been in places where car exhaust is more concentrated that cigarette smoke like a toll booth, parking garage, Auto repair shop, etc. Car exhaust is so much worse because there is so much more of it produced. 1 gallon of gasoline weighs ~7.5 pounds, Just look how light a cigarette is It would take hundreds if not thousands of cigarettes burned to equal just one gallon burned.
If you think cigarette smoke is so much worse than auto exhaust I will challange you. I will sit in a garage with 100 smokers puffing away while you sit in a garage with an automobile running lets see who comes out alive.
Really, So smokers are grabbing non-smokers at gun point and forceing them into bars and restuarants?
This one has been around the block sooooooo many times, it needs new sneakers, please be a little more creative.
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