Valley smokers head outside to comply with law
Published 10:39 am Thursday, October 2, 2008
“I just came here to smoke,” one customer said.
Last Wednesday, beginning at Happy Hour inside the bar at Jay Berry’s Gourmet Pizza & Pasta in North Bend, a shout of “Bingo!” earned the winner a prize pack of ashtrays, lighters, matches, cigarettes and nicotine replacement products. That’s because the eatery and bar was celebrating the end of the indoor smoking era with one last goodbye by throwing a “Nic Fit” party.
“We won’t need them anymore,” said Jay Berry’s owner Sema Calvo, a former smoker. “I’m ecstatic [about the ban].”
At 12:01 a.m. on Dec. 8, non-smokers inhaled deeply and smokers in public places throughout the state stubbed out their cigarettes in accordance with the recently passed Initiative No. 901, which prohibits smoking in buildings and places such as bars, bowling alleys, restaurants, clubs and non-tribal casinos, as well as vehicles open to the public and places of employment.
“I think it’s a good thing,” said Cathy Johnson, a bartender at Smokey Joe’s Tavern in Snoqualmie. “A lot of customers are really upset, but a lot of customers are saying that maybe it will help them quit or cut back.”
The ban also forbids smoking within areas less than 25 feet from doorways and ventilation openings. Those passing by are exempted, as are tribal land and casinos. Businesses can apply for waivers concerning the 25-foot rule if they can show that smoke wouldn’t get inside.
The local health departments will be able to enforce the new rule with fines or license restrictions, while local law enforcement can pass out $100 fines if violators are caught in the act.
Cameron Armijo, a seven-year smoker visiting Jay Berry’s for the first time for the Nic Fit party, said that he thinks the new ban is good and bad.
“Cigarette smoke stinks,” he said.
However, he noted that the rule wouldn’t make him want to quit nor would it cause him to think twice about continuing to go out.
His non-smoking friend Michael Tomlinson who was also at the bar said that smoking doesn’t bother him, so his attitude won’t change with the ban.
Non-smoker Windy Nelson, a bartender at Jay Berry’s, said that she is thankful for the new ban, saving her from the smell, headaches and sneezing that she got from being around smoke.
She noted, though, that she thinks smoking is a choice, as is working in a smoking environment.
“I don’t like smoke, but look at me, I’m a bartender,” she said.
Jay Berry bar patron Lisa, a smoker who asked that she be referred to only by her first name, said that she had recently moved to the area from California, where there has been a no-indoor-smoking ban for years.
“I think it’ll be an adjustment for everybody, but long term it’s better,” she said. “It’s just not a good habit to have, so if you can not smoke two cigarettes [because of the ban] then that’s good.”
Passed by 65 percent of the vote on Nov. 8, the controversial initiative raised questions about the rights of smokers, non-smokers and businesses.
Calvo said she still feels that owners should have the right to choose how to operate their businesses, but said she is glad there is one less headache in dealing with the few complaints about smoking that the establishment did get.
She estimated that prior to the ban, about 90 percent of her bar customers smoked, but she said that doesn’t feel that the ban will affect her business, since it is also an eatery. The ban may even bring in new business from non-smokers who may not have come in before, she added.
Though too soon to tell, she said the feedback she has been getting from customers is that they will continue to visit her establishment.
North Bend Bar & Grill owner Keith Mickle said that he was not surprised about the inside smoking ban.
He built a heated and covered area 25 feet from his restaurant to accommodate smokers in anticipation of the ban.
“We’ve done very well the past seven years, so we’ll wait and see and try to be prepared,” he said.
Since the ban went into effect, Mickle said that business has been about the same.
Sahara Pizza in Snoqualmie has been a smoke-free restaurant since its 2000 incarnation.
Vice President Harold Nesland said that not allowing smoking probably helped his business over the years, but he doesn’t think that any customers will be lost to the newly smoke-free competition.
“My general feeling with the [no indoor] smoking is that it’s a positive thing,” he said. “Everybody’s doing it.”
Prior to the initiative’s passing, the Washington Clean Indoor Air Act stated that no person could smoke in a public place, except in designated smoking areas.
Additionally, no public place could be designated as entirely smoking except for bars, taverns, bowling alleys, tobacco shops and restaurants.
The passing of Initiative 901 amended the Clean Indoor Air Act by expanding the term “public place” to include a reasonable distance around public facilities.
The term also expanded to cover private residences used to provide social care services, as well as schools, bars, taverns, bowling alleys, skating rinks, casinos, reception areas and at least 75 percent of the sleeping quarters within a hotel or motel.
Laws allowing owners or lessees to designate smoking areas within public places were repealed.
The voters’ pamphlet given to voters before the election noted that the state and local government fiscal impact would not be significant.
“If you can’t smoke, you can’t smoke,” said Diane Sheets, a Smokey Joe’s bartender who is also a smoker. “It won’t affect me that much … I need to quit anyway.”
