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 were at a party, someone lit up a cigar. Other than the obvious bad manners, I'm assuming the person did not ask permission. While it was wrong on the part of the person who did it, if the person hosting the party was not offended, or chose not to say anything, you could have either said something to you host, or left. Those were your choices. However, to remove the responsibility of any action on your part, you would rather the mushy collective action and responsiblity of passing a law against such behavior, so no blame or or responsibility rest directly on your shoulders.
As for a loaded diaper, whatever, tell you what, why don't you go ahead and pass a law agains that, also. While your at it, pass a law against smokers smelling like smokers.
Let's see, an ice tea for me, a water for my wife. The kids will just go play the video games.
Tip? What for? All I had was ice tea.
Yep, the bar owner can really make a living off of you.
That makes a whole lot of sense, doesn't it????
Exposure to raw shrimp causes my eyes to swell shut rendering me nearly blind for up to several hours. Other people I know are allergic to all types of shellfish. Therefore shellfish should be banned in all public places so our health is not jeopardized by selfish shellfish eaters.
Smoking and the non-smoking sections are great. That is the way to go. And most places (bars/restaurants) invested in big smoke eaters, and they do wonders. They make it pleasant for everyone.
I know I have been in places years back, where there were no smoke eaters, and you could cut the smoke with a knife. I, being a smoker, didn't like THAT either. But today's innovations with smoke eaters are just wonderful.
However, even that isn't enough for the smoke nazi's. 
Let's see, an ice tea for me, a water for my wife. The kids will just go play the video games.
Tip? What for? All I had was ice tea.
Yep, the bar owner can really make a living off of you.
Oh! For sure! Take a peek at this article telling us how some bars/restaurants in California have taken the prohibitionist way around smoking bans, in order to hang onto their business:
From Fox News:
While cops try to sniff out the worst offenders, in many cases they're butting up against organized opposition. Bartender phone trees warn each other of impending busts, powerful fans blow away tell-tale scents of "smokin' in the boys room" and tin cans double as ashtrays in case of an unexpected visit by police.
California Smokers Use Prohibition Tactics to Get Around Ban
Also, check this one out:
While I don't speak for all smokers, I know I speak for many - our problem is not with businesses that choose to go non-smoking to cater to a clientele such as you and your family.
Our gripe is with the anti-smoking zealots that insist the government must force every establishment to cater to them - whether they plan to ever set foot in an establishment or not.
Yep I can go down the street. How nice of you. Can I really? I mean that's really going beyond the call. I can actually go back out to the car and leave. Wow, I never imagined someone would be so thoughtful. Thanks.
Two people walk into an establishment to patronize it. One person pulls out an item, lights it and stinks up the whole restaurant. The other person doesn't invade anyone elses space. Nothing they do affects the person five, ten, twenty or more feet away.
To the smoker the guy who is at fault here is the person who doesn't smoke, doesn't inflict the residual effects of his habbit on everyone else. In fact, he should even be there. It is unreasonable for that person to think that he should be able to eat in an establishment with affecting anyone else.
The non-smoker hasn't taken an action. The smoker is that person. You would think that the non-smoker was doing something. He isn't. All he asks is for the other person not to do something.
If I went into a resturant, opened up a can of rotten fish, and let it sit on the table because it was a custom from the old country, I'm sure you'd think it was acceptable. Right? The smoke does essentially the same thing every time they light up.
You may not realize it, but hair picks up odors. If you don't wash your hair, you stink when you go to work. Yep, I've gotten all cleaned up after work, gotten dressed in a nice clean outfit. Put on a coats and gone out. And when I came home my clothing was unfit to wear again.
Go down the street? In an open smoking environment the restaurant down the street has smokers too. As I stated, I'm not willing to stay home so someone else can practice their filthy habit to my detriment.
You might not be a Liberal, but you can talk the trash with the best of them!
You people who have swallowed with out a second thought all the lies put forth by the anti's about second hand smoke have to be pitied. Why don't you do some research on your own. Or are you to afraid that you might learn the truth?
That the anti's are saying what you WANT them to say, therefore , you take their word as the word of God. I got a newsflash for you! You've been duped. Second hand smoke is NOT the killer the anti's make the gullible believe. It's just another ploy to control smokers.
When the anti's war on the smoker didn't work, they got on the band wagon telling the non-smokers that we are killing them. Also, if you believe all this garbage, why don't you believe that smoking is down, and most places are smoke free, so you prissy noses don't have to worry about being around the evil smokers anymore?
Just where DO you go today that your forced to be around smokers? And just WHEN did you take your BABY to a BAR? I'd love to have seen THAT!
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