Taking long puffs Wednesday from a Marlboro Light, Brandon Carter of Bellefontaine enjoyed one of the last cigarettes he will legally smoke in an Ohio bar.  “I think this is ridiculous,” Mr. Carter said of Ohio ’s smoking ban, which went into effect at 12:01 a.m.

today. “It’s not right. We shouldn’t be made to have to go outside when it’s freezing cold or raining out (to smoke a cigarette). We should at least be able to have a shelter with some heat. We’re still people. This is discrimination against smokers.”

    Now that the law is in effect, smokers no longer are allowed to smoke in bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, businesses and numerous other public places in Ohio .  Environmental Health Director Craig Kauffman of the Logan County Health District said the Ohio Department of Health is responsible for enforcing the law and the agency has up to six months to establish how it is going to

enforce the smoking ban.  

    “We’re not going around with a big stick to enforce this,” said Logan County  Health Commissioner Dr . Boyd C. Hoddinott. “There’s a law, but there are no enforcement rules at this time.”  Dr. Hoddinott said the state department of health will delegate

enforcement to county health departments.  “It looks like it’s another unfunded mandate that’s going to be passed down to us (the

health district),” Dr. Hoddinott said. “If we get a complaint that doesn’t get addressed, we’ll probably just talk to the business proprietor. However, everywhere else that it’s been done, there has been 97 to 98 percent compliance.”  

    Last night, bar owners removed ashtrays and posted “No Smoking” signs in their bars along with a phone number to call to report violators.  Individuals violating the ban can be fined up to $100, Mr. Kauffman said, and businesses that do not comply can get fined up to $2,500.

    “This makes me wonder: What’s next?” said Mr. Carter, who smokes about a pack and a half each day. “I can understand

the restaurant thing and banning it from restaurants.  But if you’re a non-smoker, you should accept the fact if you go to a bar, you’ll have to deal with smoke.”

Bars adapt to new law

    Brian Courtney, manager of the 68 Grill, 1141 S. Main St ., agrees with Mr. Carter. As a smoker and the manager of a restaurant and bar, he said, he believes the government has overstepped its bounds.  

    “We went out of our way to have a smoking and a nonsmoking section, each with a bar, in separated parts of the building,” Mr. Courtney said of the business. “Now we feel that was a waste of effort. My real opinion? Having no smoking restaurants doesn’t bother me. However, I think when you take the right to smoke away from bars, you are taking away too many rights. I have no problem with limited smoking, but when you tell me I don’t have a right to smoke, especially in a bar, it’s wrong. It’s just wrong.” 

   He said he thinks the ban will hurt business during the first few weeks or months.  And, he said, it will cost bar owners more in the long run.

   “It’s going to cost you more in labor with having to police the outsides of buildings now,” Mr. Courtney said. “People will be coming in and out with (credit) tabs. I also think it’s going to increase litter with more cigarette butts outside the building.” 

   To combat the elements, Mr. Courtney said he plans to accommodate smokers by building a heated structure outside the business.

    Bill Jullien, owner of T-P Bowling Lanes, 300 E. Lake Ave., said he plans to make the transition to a non-smoking establishment easier by putting cigarette butt receptacles outside the entrances of the business. 

   He said he isn’t sure how the smoking ban will impact business. 

   A non-smoker, Mr. Jullien said he doesn’t feel strongly one way or the other about the ban.

    “I don’t really like it, but the state says I have to do it and I am going to do it,” he said. “I think there are going to be some people who are very upset about it. For others, it might be an incentive to stop smoking. Drinking and smoking go hand in hand and bowling and smoking go hand in hand. … I have had people tell me that now they will come in here because we’ll be nonsmoking.”

    Such people include Judy Oldiges of Bellefontaine and Penny Higgins of West Liberty .  Both women campaignedfor the smoking ban, volunteering time collecting signatures for SmokeFreeOhio, which appeared as state Issue 5 on the Nov. 7 ballot.

    Many supporters of the smoking ban plan to celebrate Ohio ’s first day as a smokefree state today by visiting local restaurants, bars and bowling alleys.

    Mrs. Higgins is a member of the state board of the American Cancer Society and she is the local district director for the organization.

   “My husband and I always avoided going to the bowling alley because of the cigarette smoke,” she said, explaining

they are going bowling Friday night. “It’s a very good feeling that we don’t have to smell it and be around all the smoke.”

    “We are going out to eat (today) for sure, probably at the Homecoming, to celebrate,” said Mrs. Oldiges.  “It’ll be nice to be able to walk in without dealing with smoke. … My husband says, ‘for 69 years I’ve been smelling smoke. It’s my turn now.’”

Exemptions from the law

    Exemptions to the smoking ban law include family businesses comprised entirely of family members, in a home office, said Craig

Kauffman, Logan County Health District environmental health director.

   Private residences are not affected by the law unless it is operated as a child care or adult care facility for revenue. Hotels and nursing homes can have designated smoking rooms if they chose to provide an indoor smoking area separately closed and ventilated from the main population. 

   Retail tobacco stores that were in operation prior to the law do not have to comply, Mr. Kauffman said, and smokers can smoke in outdoor patios physically separated from an enclosed area. 

   Private clubs can be exempt, he said, if they meet all of the following requirements: they don’t have employees; they are not-for-profit; only members of the club are present; no one under the age of 18 is present; and it is located in a structure occupied solely by the club.