Clearing the air

N.C. TAKES BIG STEP: NO-SMOKE LAW STARTS

Clearing the air Smokers must resist urge in public bars, eateries

RALEIGH -- A turning point in North Carolina's long tobacco history has arrived: Today is the first day of a strict new law that bans smoking in restaurants and bars.

The ban was a long time coming. About 20 other states have similar restrictions on public indoor smoking, and state Rep. Hugh Holliman, D-Davidson, fought for years to pass a smoking ban in North Carolina.

He and other legislators finally succeeded last spring, striking a compromise to get enough votes to pass the law. They argued that employees and members of the public should not have to be exposed to secondhand smoke, which can cause cancer.

The law takes effect today, and now anyone caught smoking in a restaurant or bar could get a $50 fine. Restaurants or bars that repeatedly fail to enforce the smoking ban could get a $250 fine.

For some people, the new law is a major change in a state where tobacco still carries an iconic cultural status.

"For a lot of folks, especially over the age of 50, in their mind when they go to a bar and have a beer or a drink, they ought to be able to have a cigarette," said Lance Sawyer, the owner of First Street Draught House in Winston-Salem.

But bar owners also said that their employees and nonsmoking customers will enjoy the smoke-free environment. Several owners said they think the smoking ban may increase business in the long run.

Smokers and businesses have had a long time to get used to the new law, which was signed by Gov. Bev Perdue on May 19. New laws often go into effect on the first day of a new year, but legislators didn't want to have the smoking ban officially begin at the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve. So they made the effective date Jan. 2 instead of Jan. 1.

That means that, just before midnight last night, bar-side smokers across the state snuffed out their last legal cigarette.

Some bars that have long been known for their smoky atmosphere are using the new law as an opportunity to refurbish their entire establishments, scrubbing nicotine-filmed walls and ridding the air of cigarette stench.

The idea is that, as long as they must go smoke-free, they might as well reap the benefits of having a fresh-smelling bar, said Todd Walls, the owner of Carlisle's Pub in Winston-Salem.

"If we're going to have to do it, whether we like it or not, I'd rather the place look really good and nice and clean," he said.

Holliman said he believes the transition is going smoothly. Restaurants and bars have been mailed information about the new law and have been given no-smoking signs to display.

"We're not being heavy-handed," Holliman said. "I don't think it will be too dramatic."

Local health departments are responsible for enforcing the law, investigating complaints and issuing the fines. Dr. Tim Monroe, the Forsyth County health director, said that his department has a policy of investigating all complaints, and he said that inspectors will check for compliance with the no-smoking law during their quarterly inspections of restaurants.

But he said he does not foresee an aggressive campaign to send inspectors out with the sole intention of catching smoking violations.

For the most part, officials and bar owners expect the ban to be self-enforcing.

That's how it's worked in Virginia, which like North Carolina has a long tobacco heritage and recently passed smoking restrictions in restaurants. Virginia's new law took effect last month, and Barry Hawkins, the executive director of the state's hospitality association, said that other than a few isolated holdouts, there have been few problems.

"I think you'll find the changeover should be smooth," Hawkins said.

He added that some restaurants reported seeing a slight dropoff in business for a week or two immediately after the law took effect, but that the numbers quickly returned to normal.

North Carolina's smoking law is more restrictive than Virginia's. In Virginia, restaurants are allowed to set up a separately ventilated room where they can continue to allow smoking. There is no such option in North Carolina's law.

Customers, however, can still smoke outside in an outdoor seating area or patio, and some restaurant and bar owners said that they are taking steps to make those areas more comfortable.

A few types of establishments are exempt from the new smoking law. Bars that meet certain criteria can be classified as "cigar bars" and can continue to allow smoking inside. Country clubs and private, nonprofit establishments -- such as Elks lodges -- are also not covered by the ban.

But other than those exemptions, the law applies to any place that serves food or alcohol to the public.

Monroe said that the law will make people healthier because it will reduce the amount of secondhand smoke people inhale. It could also help some smokers quit -- studies have shown that smokers are more likely to quit if they work in a smoke-free workplace.

The law is also important for symbolic reasons, Monroe said.

"It begins to change the culture and makes a public-policy statement that being exposed to secondhand smoke is unacceptable," he said. "Particularly in a tobacco state like North Carolina, we've gone from a culture where smoking is accommodated, to moving toward a culture where the nonsmokers sort of have prerogative."

jromoser@wsjournal.com
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