This is one of the most absurd smoking regulations I’ve come across yet. In Maryland, bars that can prove financial hardship from the statewide smoking ban can receive an exemption until January 31, 2011. The Crossroads, profiled in this article, is one of the few bars in the state that can allow smoking, and its business is booming… most days:
In fact, the only day that the bar isn’t bustling is on Mondays, when the Crossroads must comply with the smoking ban. The one-day prohibition was enacted at the start of the year, part of the state’s plan to phase out smoking at places with waivers. Next year, such venues must designate two or three nonsmoking days.
[Owner Tim Brandenburg] cringes at the thought of losing another smoking day, and on Mondays he gets a glimpse of what might become of his bar when the waiver expires.
Last Monday afternoon, the Crossroads was as quiet as a morgue. At a time when many people usually pour in after work, only three patrons were present.
On a smoking day, Brandenburg says, his bar can ring up as much as $1,000 in sales. On Monday, receipts totaled $138. [...]
It will be up to [Carroll County Health Officer Larry Leitch] to decide whether the Crossroads must add one or two more nonsmoking days in 2010.
“I’ll have to address that when the time comes up to make the next decision,” Leitch said. “The thing that [Brandenburg] has to realize is that, as of Feb. 1, 2011, he has to be totally smoke-free.”
It’s stupid for legislators and regulators to decide bars’ and restaurants’ smoking policies in the first place; no one knows what patrons want better than the business owners themselves. But this is a whole new level of ridiculous. The question of whether Brandenburg’s bar will be unprofitable two nights a week or three is left entirely in the hands of this random bureaucrat, Larry Leitch. What on Earth is Leitch’s decision supposed to be based on? The bar’s financial situation? Patrons’ health? Whether or not he likes Brandenburg? Whether he happens to be in a good mood from having sex the night before? This is rule by one man’s whim, not by law.
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Jacob Grier is a freelance writer, barista, mixologist, and magician in Portland, OR. He writes, eats, and drinks a lot. His articles have appeared in The Washington Post, Reason Online, The Oregonian, and other publications.
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After over a year of experience here in Chicago, now that the fanfare has worn off and the lobbyists have moved on to other states, it’s clearly obvious that trying to ban smoking in small neighborhood “shot and beer” bars is pretty useless. Many small bars in my area ignore the ban to keep their customers, neighbors, and local police (many are patrons when off duty) satisfied. In areas where real crime is an issue, the problem of undesirables being attracted by groups of people outside the bars and causing disturbances on the PUBLIC street, property that the owner has no control over, far outweighs the issue of people peacefully smoking inside a bar, bothering absolutly no one, All of the complaints are from neighbors of bars that comply. It’s fading into history in many small neighborhood bars. The only places it becomes an issue seems to be in rural areas where local police have little to do except visit local bars and monitor their parking lots.
Most people find smoking offensive. Communities and states have banned smoking not only in bars and restaurants, but also in various places of business and government buildings; even hospitals have joined the bandwagon.