Thread: How has a smoking ban worked out in your State?

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I know that 37 states currently have a ban on smoking in public places and Michigan is set to become #38 this Saturday.

So I want to know, from those in areas that already have a ban, how has it affected businesses and life in general for your area?

I've heard, read and even debated both sides of the issue, so I don't want to hear gripes and complaints about ones right to smoke, businesses rights to choose, so on and so forth. I know both sides of the issue pretty well now and I don't need more personal opinion and information.

I just want to know how it's fared in other states.
*Do businesses conform to the law?
*Do people obey the law or ignore it and do as they please?
*Are there any special exceptions to the law?
*Have any businesses be hurt in the long term by the ban?

As far as I have seen:
Casino gaming floors and specific tobacco lounges are exempt from the ban, unless they serve food. This may be a loop hole for businesses, but we will have to see.
Private citizens can smoke in their own homes and on their own property.
There may be specified smoking areas in public places such as parks, college campuses and so forth, but again we will have to see how this plays out.

So anyone in a smoking ban state, I want to hear how it has affected your state!

**Please, keep personal gripes, political views, and other unrelated propaganda out of this thread.**

Well I dont live in a state but the country where I live has imposed a nathion wide ban on smoking in public places.
The law was designed to protect employees from the effect of second hand smoke. That's the legal base of the new law. What has happened since the law went into effect, is that people have found creative ways around the ban/law. One of the most creative is a glass wall around the top part of the bar with different air pressure behind the bar which prevents smoke from coming near the person behind the bar. Patrons have to pick up their own drinks at the bar.

The ban has hit the small cafes and bars the most. These owners have challenged the ban/law in court and have won. The basis of the claim is that....as small bar with no employees...the law doesnt apply to them. The courts agree. So now the govt has to revise the law.

Another thing you notice is waves of people leaving a restaurant in the middle of a dinner or night out, to go outside to smoke.

MsM

The ban has been in effect in Western Canada for several years now, and it has changed the face of "Publc Places". As a staunch anti-smoking advocate, I never thought I'd see the day when smoking would be disallowed in Bars. But there it is, and the world's a better place.
You still see kids, teenagers, dragging on butts walking to and from school, so there's still a long way to go. Same old story, habits, good or bad, are picked up at home.

California has the ban in place and as a chef, I must say that it has improved things around here greatly. People are now able to taste the food they're eating instead of the smoke they're inhaling. Granted, I don't work in a restaurant, my work is done on a contract basis but I've found that if approached with a possible job, then I meet with the people in a smoke free environment so that way they can make a proper choice not based on what they THINK it tastes like.

Remember taste involves smell, if you can't smell it then it doesn't taste like anything.

Minnesota started it about 5 years ago and we love it! We only smoke cigars once in a blue moon so it's not effecting us. Especially when you could smoke in places but, still couldn't smoke a cigar! It's nice to go into a public place and actually be able to smell the food and taste it without a mouthfull of smoke. I don't know how many smokers know that they permeate with smoke. Their clothes, breath and actually their skin. You can always tell if you are sitting near a smoker.

People seem to have a sense of impending doom here. One radio show this morning mentioned a party out at a bar this Friday and threw in as a side note that it's the last time you can smoke in a bar.

I hope people don't get too bent out of shape about it. There are too many businesses that are seasonal and struggling as it is. A boycott could kill the northern section of the state, and I have heard quite a few murmurings of such.

They talked about doing the same here. Then about a month later is was old business and everyone loves going out to bars and restaurants. Most bars made outside patios so people could smoke. Now the non smokers go out there at night because, it's so nice and they put up with the smoke. The non smoking didn't close any of the places and actually brought in the people that were asmatic and allergic.

The whole "business will suffer" argument was shot down here in GA after everyone realized that more people ate out and went to bars since they didn't have to worry about the smoke. I love it...

If you want to have a smoking section, you have to have doors and separate ventilation systems. This works for bars, pool halls, etc... where you'd expect to have to deal with smoke.

It is really nice to go into Appebee's (for instance) and not be seated 2 feet from a smoker and it being considered sufficient.

The next thing I'd like to see enforced is that smokers aren't supposed to be within 100 or 150 feet of entrances, yet they congregate there...

And maybe also arresting people that smoke in their cars with small children and babies. ;-)

Yeah, I'm hardcore... my mom is a smoker and it disgusts me. She smoked with us in the car, as if the tiny crack in the window kept us all safe.

;-)

Here in Colorado, Boulder was the first city to ban smoking in public places. So I boycotted Boulder. To this day, I have not spent one dime in that city and probly never will!
Since the state banned smoking in public places, I have seen the little hole in the wall bars go out of buisness, some people stopped going out to clubs and restrants.

Some bars have been able to create a covered area outside their bars to be able to drink and smoke.

Smokers are the new Leper.
You cannot discriminate against people of color
Or people of different beliefs
Or people of different sexual orientations
Or their sex.
But hey! Now we have a new group of people to kick around!

We should just make smoking illegal! It worked for drugs!
Didn't it?

Originally Posted by wilbret

And maybe also arresting people that smoke in their cars with small children and babies.

They have a ban here in Ontario making it illegal to smoke inside a vehicle carrying children. It came into effect in 2009.