Smoking Ban in Restaurants/Bars?

I live in CT and there is a smoking ban in effect here, as well as all of the other New England states (ME, NH, VT, MA and RI) as well as NY, NJ and DE.

A lot of the upper east coast is smoke free and I LOVE it. There is no decline in business. Waits at restaurants are just the same.

It's weird for me to think of "smoking" in restaurants now because all of the states I have lived in (CT, MA and FL) all have smoking bans.

I do think it's good for business because I do remember though when there was smoking the wait list for smoking was always less and if you were seated in first available it was more than likely in the smoking section.

Now, the restaurants are packed because you know you can breathe in clean air and not have to worry about 2nd hand smoke. A lot of smokers have said in fourms like this one "Well just go to a smoke-free restaurant" Well, from a non-smokers point of view, it's not fair that their bad habit has placed limitations on where I can go.

Now, I don't have to worry about that anymore - plus besides cleaner air to breathe in - the food is going to taste better too!

Congrats on quiting by the way! Keep it up! :)

While I do not condone smoking, I will not ridicule or judge somebody else for doing so. I am not a smoker and have never been. I am a bit allergic to smoke and it will give me an asthma fit more times than not. I have really enjoyed going to restaurants much more since California has banned smoking in public establishments. Minnesota has gone further than California has with providing smoking areas outside with heaters, etc. There was a bit of fuss when the no smoking law was first implemented, but now I do not hear of any complaints. People will just simply step outside for a few minutes and have smoke or they just wait until they get to their vehicles or houses, etc. Smokers have the right to smoke if they want to. It is their own bodies after all. On the other hand I have the right to a smoke free environment and to not have my health impacted by someone else's smoke. Where do you draw the line? Either way you go it will impact one group or the other.

By the way, congratulations on quitting smoking. I know it is hard to do. My grandmother was a multi-pack per day smoker who never could quit.

I live in NY where there has been a bar on smoking in just about all public places (bars, restaurants, office buildings, etc...). I'm not a smoker, so it was great because despite the fact that most places had set up designated smoking areas the smoke still co-mingled with the rest of the place. Public establishments just want to provide an environment for people that is a little healthier by banning the smoking.

I think it's good that they found a loop hole. People in a democratic society should be able to make up their own minds about whether or not they want to enter a bar/restaurant that allows smoking - we don't need the government making that decision for us.

Some bars/restaurants will notice more business since the ban, some less, so why not let the owner of the venue decide whether or not they want it to be smoking/non smoking or have two seperate areas. Government should back off and stop turning western countries into nanny states.

Most likely the city would revoke their business license for a period of time. There might be a warning first, but if the business continued to violate a local ordinance, the city goverment (or county, if that's where the restaurant was located) could force the place to close it's doors, using local police if necessary. I mean they can shut a bar down for serving to minors, so they can also shut a restaurant down for violating a smoking ordinance. If the business were fined, and failed to pay, that would be contempt of court, punishable by jail time. I've never heard of this actually happening over cigarette smoking. But it probably has happened somewhere.

I read the articles in the local Minneapolis/St Paul area newspapers regarding the "actors/play/stage" matter and smoking. Apparently these folks have a lot of time on their hands. I get their point, but no smoking means no smoking. Personally, I think bars that do not serve food, [real food -not frozen pizzas and bar peanuts] should be allow to have smoking. They could inform customers that smoking is allowed inside, kinda like the signs that inform customers that guns are not allowed. Right now, bars are losing some revenue to the folks driving over to Wisconsin to light up and drink a beer.

They did the same thing in Washington a couple years ago. A lot of business owners complained and whined that they will lose business, but in actuality business increased because people who dont smoke were more likely to visit these places now. Its a very strict law, no smoking inside bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, public office buildings, and you must be atleast 25 feet from the door. Now families are going to restaurants and the like and they dont have to worry about cigarette smoke. I like the law its nice not to smell that crap when your eating or out having a good time!

I live in California (i.e. America's Non-Smoking Section) and it's WONDERFUL. You can't smoke ANYWHERE out here that's inside or near the entrance to any building other than your own home. You'll really appreciate it once you're used to it - and it makes it easier to quit and stay a non-smoker since you're not tempted as often. That's an awful "loophole" - a bar is a bar - I'm sure that loophole won't be open much longer.

Restaurants and bars always predict that their business will plummet with a smoking ban. In fact, their business tends to go up. More people are willing to go to non-smoking establishments and families like the ability to take kids to such an atmosphere.

Non-smoking establishments make more money because people will go there, but some of the same people would refuse to go to smoking establishments. And smokers generally don't resent having to smoke outside.

I think it is great to see these bars pulling in all the business cause they still allow smoking. We have to stop the anti smoking scumbags. If you support the ban you HATE DEMOCRACY ARE A NAZI AND A FACIST AND A WORTHLESS SCUMBAG. Bans do decrease business! That stupid SOB up there is wrong wrong stupid ****ing nazi ****! Look here in IL we took a 500 million dollar hit cause of the ban! Thouands of jobs were lost and hundreds of businesses closed. Anyone who says it won't hurt business is a stupid ****!