Ohio Smoking Ban

March 12, 200718 yr

The study from UK showed that the amount of smokers decreased in Lexington. I am going to assume this was more on the social smoker scene at bars, since most bars do not have outdoor smoking venues or ashtrays. Some of the newer clubs and bars do, but are limited.

For regular smokers, they will just light up in their homes or cars, and if they are that risky, in public buildings.

March 14, 200718 yr

Study: Quick walks may help smokers quit

By MARIA CHENG, AP Medical Writer

LONDON - As little as five minutes of exercise could help smokers quit, says a new study. Research published in the international medical journal Addiction showed that moderate exercise, such as walking, significantly reduced the intensity of smokers' nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

"If we found the same effects in a drug, it would immediately be sold as an aid to help people quit smoking," said Dr. Adrian Taylor, the study's lead author and professor of exercise and health psychology at the University of Exeter.

March 19, 200718 yr

Since this thread has turned into discussion about how to quit, a new oral medication called chantix appears to be working phenomenal based on what I've heard from people close to me who have been taking it. It reduces cravings and if you were to light up while on the drug you wouldn't even like smoking.

March 19, 200718 yr

Were the bars smoky on St. Pat's?

March 19, 200718 yr

Were the bars smoky on St. Pat's?

of all things you're asking me to remember, its the smokiness level?

March 19, 200718 yr

From the 3/15/07 Sun Messenger:

Mayfield: in or out, no smoking, period

Thursday, March 15, 2007

By Francine Suda

MAYFIELD VILLAGE Leave your smokes at home.

This village, a pioneer in anti-smoking legislation, hopes to ban smoking at all its outdoor properties, including softball diamonds and maybe even parking lots.

March 19, 200718 yr

More BS about what a "building" is from the 3/16/07 Newark Advocate:

County government to designate smoking areas

By KENT MALLETT

Advocate Reporter

NEWARK -- Licking County employees will be permitted to smoke without leaving county-owned property, the county commissioners have decided.

The city of Newark Health Department ordered the commissioners to remove the smoking hut adjacent to the rear entrance of the county administration building to comply with the new state law prohibiting smoking near entrances as well as inside public buildings.

March 19, 200718 yr

From the 3/17/07 Dispatch:

Hey, Keith Richards: Beware the smoking ban

Saturday, March 17, 2007

Mark Ferenchik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

A comedian at a Short North bar lighted up a cigarette and invited smokers in the audience to join him onstage.

It’s legal to smoke indoors if you’re part of a performance, Doug Stanhope told the crowd last month at the High Five Bar & Grill on N. High Street.

March 20, 200718 yr

^Giving whole new meaning to "Death of a Salesman."

March 20, 200718 yr

i'm sorry KOOW, that really was a sup-bar pun out of you. I have higher expectations for your posts

March 20, 200718 yr

"Choke-lahoma?"

"The Virginia Slims Monologues?"

"Waiting to Exhale?"

March 20, 200718 yr

that window has closed sir.

next.

March 20, 200718 yr

Whatever, Willie BLOWman.

March 21, 200718 yr

Smoking ban won't be enforced until May

Fine-tuning of rules may help prevent legal challenges

BY JAMES NASH | [email protected]

March 21, 2007

Ohio's tough anti-smoking law won't be enforced next month as planned, state health officials acknowledged yesterday after a legislative adviser said the law could be vulnerable to legal challenges.

The Ohio Department of Health will wait at least three more weeks to submit its rules for enforcing the smoking ban to a legislative panel, a department spokesman said. State health officials had planned to hand off the rules to the Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review on Monday, 10 days after which local health authorities could have begun to enforce the no-smoking rules.

March 23, 200718 yr

It was a major concession to veterans, who have complained that state health officials were ignoring their sacrifices by prohibiting them from lighting up at their private clubs.

The last laugh will be on them when they require respiratory care at a leaky, mold-infested dysfunctional VA clinic.

March 23, 200718 yr

^cleveland has two very nice VA facilities, thank you.

To be honest, I didn't see the reversal on veterans happening in.....let the slow slippery slope begin!

March 27, 200718 yr

From the 3/23/07 Newark Advocate:

Clubs pleased with smoking rule reconsideration

Local veterans organizations hope state alters indoor ban

By LIZA MARTIN

Advocate Reporter

NEWARK -- They fought for their country, and they usually won.

Recently, Ohio veterans waged a different battle, and it looks like they might win this one, too.

The Ohio Department of Health announced Wednesday it is considering the adoption of rules for the statewide smoking ban that would allow smokers to light up at some veterans halls and other private clubs that have only members as employees.

A legislative panel must approve the new rules at its April 16 meeting.

From the 3/23/07 Marion Star:

Smoking ban may be lifted in some private clubs

Draft rules please local veteran club officials

By JOHN JARVIS

The Marion Star

MARION - Smoking will be legal in some private clubs if revised draft enforcement rules announced by the Ohio Department of Health end up in the final rules.

Private clubs that only have members providing services for the club, regardless of whether or not they are paid, would be exempt from the smoking ban under draft rules announced on Wednesday.

From the 3/23/07 Findlay Courier:

Smoking ban change gets cheers, boos

By JOY BROWN

STAFF WRITER

The glass ashtrays were back on the bar and ready for the lunch crowd at the Findlay chapter of Disabled American Veterans Buddy Chapter 43 on Thursday, the day after the Ohio Department of Health announced that veterans halls and other private clubs can be exempt from the new statewide smoking ban.

The health department said clubs that only have members as employees could allow smoking -- as long as there are no non-members or children under 18 present.

From the 3/23/07 Wapakoneta Daily News:

Cigarette-friendly clubs

Ban revisions would help local organizations serve area

By MIKE BURKHOLDER

Assistant Managing Editor

Revised proposals to the statewide smoking ban that would exempt some private clubs would help local organizations keep their doors open and be a service to the

community, members of the veteran’s groups say.

“I would agree the new proposals would benefit us as a club,” said John Downey, adjunct quartermaster for the Wapakoneta Veterans of Foreign War Post 8445. “We are a little different than bars because we are private, our members pay to come here.”

March 27, 200718 yr

From the 3/24/07 Fairborn Daily Herald:

New rules may cut private clubs a smoke break

RAINEY HOWARTH

Staff Writer

A revised draft of the enforcement rules could give private club members the exemption many thought they had when they voted for the indoor smoking ban.

The revised rules, which were filed Wednesday by the Ohio Department of Health, included an exemption for some private clubs if their employees are all members.

March 27, 200718 yr

From the 3/25/07 ABJ:

* GRAPHIC: Smoking complaints

Smoking lingers long after ban

Some businesses choose to ignore law; state to wipe out complaints until enforcement plan is in place

By Tracy Wheeler

Beacon Journal medical writer

Since Ohio's indoor smoking ban took effect Dec. 7, more than 16,000 complaints have been filed with the Ohio Department of Health against businesses, bars and restaurants for ignoring the new law.

Actual enforcement of the law, however, is still more than a month away, as the department tinkers with details of how enforcement will be carried out.

March 28, 200718 yr

From the owner of Kennedy's Broadway Billiards in Lorain, as posted on www.loraincounty.com:

"We voted for a blanket no smoking law. The playing field was to be leveled. All liquor establishments would become non-smoking. They tricked us. The Ohio Department of Health changed the rules last week to exempt private clubs and let them smoke. They based their decision on the fact that veterans complained. I'm a veteran too, and now I'm complaining. There are 19 so called private clubs in Lorain, 4 of which are for veterans organizations and 15 not. In my estimation, this will be the final blow to 33 mom and pop bars in the city which are struggling as it is. We won't be able to compete with all the state sponsored advantages already afforded the clubs.

The new rules are to be passed in two weeks by the joint house and senate JCARR. I could use your help now! Please call your state legislators and the Ohio Health Department and the Governor now to let them know you are unhappy with the negative impact on our community. If not, would the last one to leave Broadway please turn out the lights!

Thanks, Mike Kennedy"

My thoughts:

Lorain has always had numerous private ethnic and social clubs, due to its diverse population. These clubs had their heyday 50+ years ago, when people spoke Polish at the Polish American Citizens Club, Italian at the Italian American Veterans post, etc. Now the nationality clubs are fading away from the scene - some of the closures include the Lorain Slovenian Club, the Ukranian Club, the Young Mens Hungarian Club, Polish Legion of American Veterans, Sons of Italy, the Saxon Club, and the Lorain Leidertafel. [there's a photo thread idea for mrnyc this summer] I have been a member of three of these private clubs over the years and thought they would be exempt from the smoking ban as it was written in the ballot language. I think it's fair to allow smoking in private clubs where one chooses to become a member, and a majority of membership should decide the rule. It may bring some life back into these old clubhouses of Lorain, where you can still get a Bud longneck for $1.50 or less. (Sadly the Genny Cream on tap at the Slovak Club is now over a dollar, it was 90 cents forever)

April 4, 200718 yr

From the 3/30/07 Times-Reporter:

Smoking rules still hazy for private clubs

Some area organizations will allow cigarette smoking; others won't

By KYLE KONDIK, T-R Staff Writer

To illustrate the difficulty of enforcing Ohio’s new indoor smoking ban, Keith Eames of the New Philadelphia Health Department offered the following example:

Based on revised enforcement rules released last week, a not-for-profit club allowing only members to enter – whether they are employees or not – can allow smoking.

April 4, 200718 yr

From the 3/31/07 ABJ:

Smoking law has ripple effect

Longtime beauty shop can't stay as tenant. It is closing doors today

By Jim Carney

Beacon Journal staff writer

With passage of an Ohio smoking ban in November, a chain of events affecting a Bath Township tobacco shop and an Akron beauty salon was set in motion.

The Smoke Inn had been at Montrose Centre on West Market Street for a decade when the law passed.

And LaBella Donna Beauty Salon at 1956 ½ W. Market St. in Akron had been in the same 400-square-foot space for 36 years when voters said yes to the ban.

April 4, 200718 yr

From the 4/1/07 Elyria Chronicle-Telegram:

Where there’s smoke…

Provision allowing smoking in private clubs has some places defying the statewide ban

Shawn Foucher | The Chronicle-Telegram

LORAIN — To his smoking customers, it was a noble gesture. To Mike Kennedy, owner of Kennedy’s Broadway Billiards in Lorain, it was an act of necessary disobedience.

“I put the ashtrays back out last week,” Kennedy said Thursday. “I called up the state guys and told ’em: ‘If you’re going to let the private clubs smoke, I’m just going to let people smoke here until I go out of business.’ At least I’ll make some money before I go.”

After 58 percent of Ohio voters approved a statewide smoking ban last November, Kennedy was an obedient businessman and removed the ashtrays from the bar.

April 4, 200718 yr

From the 4/3/07 Youngstown Vindicator:

Y-town board opposes change to smoking ban

'I'm guessing anything could be made into a private club,' the health commissioner said.

By WILLIAM K. ALCORN

VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER

YOUNGSTOWN — The Youngstown City Health District Board is sending a letter to the Ohio Department of Health urging strict enforcement of Ohio's new indoor smoking ban and opposing exemption of private clubs.

The board voted unanimously to send the letter at its meeting Monday after Health Commissioner Neil Altman said it was "very frustrating" to have the law changed from what the voters approved.

Voters approved a statewide law last November that bans smoking in most public indoor locations, including restaurants, bars and private clubs that have employees.

April 4, 200718 yr

So does anyone get mad when articles refer to "smoker's rights"...

Ok fine go ahead and feel like your rights as a SMOKER are being compromised because of a statewide referendum. Not too many people seemed to be as up in arms when the state passed one of the most strigent BANS ON COMMON LAW MARRIAGES/SAME-SEX PARTNERSHIPS in the country! I guess the voice of the people is wrong when it says "don't smoke in front of my children", but oh so right when it says "I don't want them queers marryin'!" Smoker's rights? How about Human/Taxpayer rights?!

It just bugs me how there are so many people in this state up in arms and have made this a fudamental case about freedom in Ohio. So many people are taking a stand on this issue when everyone just kinda sat back and watched Issue 1 pass a few years ago and then said nothing more about it. I think that it's disgusting that someone's rights as a smoker are consider more important than others' rights to enter legal contracts with other consenting adults and receive benefits for their live-in spouses, same-sex or otherwise. God damn it I hate this state sometimes.

April 6, 200718 yr

From the 4/5/07 (UA) Buchtelite:

After four months, students react to ban

Opinions differ on allowing smoking in bars

By: Stuart Phillips

Posted: 4/5/07

There was a time not too long ago when a bar was a bar. People acknowledged that it was a place of genuine, good-hearted decadence. However, for some reason, people want to turn them into havens of health.

In November, voters passed a ban restricting smoking from both restaurants and bars and it went into effect in December. This action directly took away the liberty a bar owner had to decide if smoking would be allowed in his or her establishments.

"I think it should be up to the individual establishment to decide whether or not to allow smoking, unless it is a taxpayer funded venue," University of Akron student Andrew Miller said. "However, the law is in place and should be followed unless it can be shown to be unfair or wrong."

From the 4/5/07 (OSU) Lantern:

OSU airs idea of smoke-free campus

Mark Silverman

Issue date: 4/5/07 Section: Campus

Ohio State is flirting with the idea of a new policy that would prohibit smoking anywhere on campus.

The Office of Human Resources sent a memo to university officials asking them to explore two options: prohibiting smoking anywhere on university property or continuing its current practice that bans smoking within 25 feet of doors, windows and air intakes.

April 8, 200718 yr

From the 4/7/07 Warren Tribune Chronicle:

Panel is taking look at smoking rules

By BILL RODGERS Tribune Chronicle

Ray Hanzes used to get government-sponsored cigarettes with his rations when he was a Marine serving in the Korean War.

So he was puzzled when Ohio voters approved a smoking ban in November that would remove smoking from public places such as his Newton Falls Veterans of Foreign Wars post, where he serves as commander.

April 8, 200718 yr

From the 4/8/07 Blade:

Bill sets stage for smoke-ban exemption

Senator seeks break for theatrical events

By JIM PROVANCE

BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS - Picture 12 Angry Men without the smoke-filled jury room.

Or A Streetcar Named Desire without a chain-smoking Blanche.

Ohio's ban on smoking in nearly all indoor public places has created a lot of drama in the state, but now a lawmaker wants to create an exemption for drama's sake.

Sen. Robert Schuler (R., Cincinnati) has introduced a bill to allow actors and performers to light up on stage if smoking is essential to the script, despite the fact that smoking is off limits to everyone else in the theater.

April 10, 200718 yr

From the 4/9/07 Toledo Free Press:

LATEST NEWS

Fifth Third Field to ban smoking

By Staff Reports

The Toledo Mud Hens announced April 9 that a new smoking policy will be in effect starting on Opening Day April 13.

According to a news release, the new smoking policy will be as follows:

More:

http://toledofreepress.com/?id=5276

From the 4/10/07 Miami Student:

Ad hoc committee favors smoke-free university

Laura Houser & Megan Weiland

Issue date: 4/10/07 Section: Campus

Based on results obtained from a survey, the ad hoc committee on the smoking policy reported to Miami's university senate Monday that they are in a consensus to make the campus smoke-free.

Miami's already established smoking policy prohibits faculty, staff and students from smoking within 25 feet of all university buildings, including indoor and outdoor athletic facilities, bridges, walkways, parking garages and theaters.

More:

www.miamistudent.net/media/storage/paper776/news/2007/04/10/Campus/Ad.Hoc.Committee.Favors.SmokeFree.University-2831519.shtml]http://media.www.miamistudent.net/media/storage/paper776/news/2007/04/10/Campus/Ad.Hoc.Committee.Favors.SmokeFree.University-2831519.shtml

April 11, 200718 yr

Cleveland to continue free quit-smoking effort

April 10, 2007 | ASSOCIATED PRESS

CLEVELAND - The Cleveland Clinic is extending its three-month pilot program to provide free smoking-cessation services for another three months, the hospital said yesterday.

The clinic's program, which began in January, teamed with the statewide Ohio Tobacco QUITLINE telephone service to make free nicotine-replacement therapy available to all uninsured Cuyahoga County residents.

From the 4/12/07 Salem News:

Salem council butts in on cigarette litter

By LARRY SHIELDS

Salem News staff writer

SALEM — The city will ask the Salem Area Chamber of Commerce for assistance in controlling cigarette butt litter downtown.

Streets, alleys and sidewalks committee Chairman Mary Lou Popa said she wanted receptacles there explaining that since the state ban on smoking in public buildings took effect last December, the sidewalks have become littered.

April 13, 200718 yr

From Dix newspapers, 4/13/07:

Draft of smoking-ban rules moves to final step

Maximum fines for businesses would be $2,500; $100 for individuals.

By MARC KOVAC

VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT

COLUMBUS — A state agency next week could finalize new rules prohibiting smoking in public places, paving the way for enforcement actions against businesses and individuals before the end of the month.

The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review is scheduled to review the final draft of the enforcement rules Monday. The meeting starts at 1:30 p.m. in the Ohio Senate Finance Room.

From the 4/13/07 (OSU) Lantern:

USG says no to campus smoking ban

Alexia Cameron

Issue date: 4/13/07 Section: Campus

If Undergraduate Student Government gets its way, the campuswide smoking ban will not pass.

Of the members present at USG's meeting, only three expressed a desire to completely prohibit smoking on campus. USG President Ryan Fournier was one of the advocates for a complete ban.

"The university is asking so much of everyone to enforce a 25-foot rule. You really have to go all or nothing," Fournier said. "I would seriously support a smoking ban for the entire campus."

April 14, 200718 yr

From the 4/14/07 Blade:

2 court actions filed to bar ban on smoking from taking effect

BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS - Two court actions have been filed to prevent new smoking-ban rules from taking effect even before a legislative panel takes them up on Monday.

The Buckeye Liquor Permit Holders Association and the Ohio Licensed Beverage Associations, whose members are largely bars and restaurants, filed actions this week in Hamilton and Franklin County common pleas courts respectively.

Both argue the Ohio Department of Health overstepped its authority when it proposed a last-minute exemption for some veterans groups and other private clubs, which bars, restaurants, bowling alleys, and others that serve alcohol or food consider to be their competition.

April 15, 200718 yr

Link includes a photo. From the 4/15/07 Blade:

Businesses say state ban just blowing smoke

Charges mount as venues defy law with no bite

By JIM PROVANCE

BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS - The Ohio Department of Health has received some 17,000 complaints about bars, restaurants, and private clubs ignoring the state's new smoking ban, but the most it has been able to do is send the alleged violators letters informing them of the law.

That could change at the end of this month, depending on what a legislative panel decides tomorrow on proposed rules designed to put teeth into what so far has been a law without bite. The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review has moved its

1:30 p.m. meeting from its usual small Statehouse hearing room to the larger Senate Finance Hearing Room.

April 16, 200718 yr

From the 4/16/07 Enquirer:

Smoking ban nears review

BY JON CRAIG | [email protected]

COLUMBUS - The meticulous, months-long hearing process over Ohio's indoor smoking ban could end this afternoon in a little-covered, obscure agency.

The Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review - a branch of the Ohio General Assembly - holds a final public hearing at 1:30 p.m. today at the Statehouse.

JCARR, comprised of 10 state legislators, can only strike down rules, according to committee director William L. Hillis.

So if no legislator moves to invalidate all or part of the anti-smoking rules, the statewide ban can be enforced as early as May 1, according to Kristopher Weiss, a spokesman with the state Health Department. If the committee does strike down a rule, the matter goes to the General Assembly.

April 17, 200718 yr

It's official: stop smoking May 1

BY LIZ LONG | AND JON CRAIG

April 16, 2007

COLUMBUS – Ohio’s indoor smoking ban can be enforced as early as May 1, after a state legislative panel heard final public testimony today.

By not taking any action, the 10-member Joint Committee on Agency Rule Review (JCARR), gave its blessings to the ban that prohibits smoking in any public place or place of employment, as passed by Ohio voters on Nov. 7.

Full article available by clicking the link, above.

April 17, 200718 yr

well this unleveling of the playing field decision is certainly going to affect business in a place like lorain, which more so than bars and restaurants has mostly private ethnic social clubs:

Private, nonprofit clubs exempt from smoking ban

ALEX M. PARKER, Morning Journal Writer

04/17/2007

LORAIN -- Private, nonprofit clubs, such as veterans organizations, will be exempt from the indoor smoking ban approved by Ohio voters last fall, under final rules just ironed out by the Ohio legislature.

Now local bar owners fear they will lose business to veterans halls and other clubs in Lorain.

April 19, 200718 yr

Cancer society sues over smoking ban exemption for private clubs

The Associated Press

Wednesday, April, 18, 2007

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The American Cancer Society of Ohio filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging a portion of the state’s workplace smoking ban that exempts certain military veterans’ halls and other private clubs.

The exemption — announced in March by the Ohio Department of Health — waters down the law and leaves private club employees exposed to secondhand smoke, said cancer society spokeswoman Wendy Simpkins.

The lawsuit was filed in Franklin County Common Pleas Court in Columbus.

It comes less than a week after the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association, a trade group that represents bar owners and other liquor permit holders, filed its own lawsuit in the same court seeking to throw out the exemption but for different reasons — owners of traditional bars and taverns say it gives private clubs an unfair competitive advantage.

Full article available by clicking above link.

April 19, 200718 yr

The ballot language clearly exempted private clubs. What did the American Cancer Society intend private clubs to mean exactly? I cant think of any private clubs that don't have some kind of employees or members doing work there.

April 20, 200718 yr

From the 4/20/07 ABJ:

Ban will go up in smoke in Portage

County's health department says it doesn't have enough manpower for enforcement, needs new levy

By Tracy Wheeler

Beacon Journal medical writer

The statewide ban on public smoking will take effect May 3.

At least it's supposed to.

In Portage County, though, the question is: Who's going to enforce it?

In nearly every Ohio county and city, the job of enforcement will fall to the local health department. But Portage County Health Commissioner DuWayne Porter said his department simply doesn't have the money to do that job.

"We haven't passed a levy since 1955,'' he said. "Our financials and staffing are such that we can't afford an unfunded state program, even for the most important public health program to come along in my career of 30 years.''

April 27, 200718 yr

From the 4/26/07 Enquirer:

Smoking ban law delay sought

Businesses say it violates rights

BY DAN HORN | [email protected]

Bar and restaurant owners asked a judge Wednesday to declare Ohio's smoking ban unconstitutional, because it violates their customers' right to light up.

The businesses sued late last year in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court after Ohio voters approved the ban, which prohibits smoking in enclosed public places or in businesses with employees.

The law is supposed to take effect May 3, but the business owners want Judge Fred Nelson to grant an injunction blocking enforcement until their challenge is decided in court.

They outlined their case for the first time Wednesday, arguing the new law violates privacy and property rights in Ohio's constitution.

"Are you arguing there is a constitutional right to smoke?" Nelson asked.

"I believe you do have a constitutional right to make that choice," said Lou Sirkin, the lawyer for the businesses.

He said property owners have a right to use their property as they see fit, and that right includes allowing customers to smoke a legal product. If others don't want to be around the smoke, Sirkin said, they can go somewhere else.

From the 4/26/07 Fostoria Review Times:

The plan for the ban

By SANDRA WHITTA

staff writer

All businesses will start with a clean slate as enforcement of the state smoking law's finalized rules begins one week from today.

Complaints filed with the Ohio Department of Health against Ohio businesses since the law took effect on Dec. 7, 2006, will be dismissed, Kristopher Weiss, ODH spokesman, said.

In Fostoria's tri-county area, 62 complaints were filed in Hancock County, 53 in Seneca County and 279 in Wood County between Dec. 7, 2006 and April 24, 2007. Of those, a total of 24 complaints were against 11 Fostoria businesses, according to ODH reports.

All will be wiped clean as enforcement of the complaints switches hands. Local health districts will be forwarded complaints beginning on May 3, instead of being handled by the state department.

"We are working to train the local departments right now," Weiss said.

April 28, 200718 yr

From the 4/28/07 News-Herald:

Tobacco Coalition working on smooth transition to ban

By: David W. Jones

[email protected]

04/28/2007

When enforcement of Ohio's indoor smoking ban begins Thursday, it might be a long day for smokers caught between still wanting a drag or trying to quit.

That was among messages given Friday to members of the Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula Tobacco Coalition at the group's fifth annual Legislative Breakfast at the Quail Hollow Resort in Concord Township.

April 29, 200718 yr

From the 4/29/07 Blade:

* PHOTO: Nick & Jimmy’s in Toledo, and other bars allowed customers to smoke because enforcement rules have not gone into effect. ( THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH )

* PHOTO: Delaney’s Lounge in Toledo displays a sign of the times, indicating the establishment accepts donations for legal fees to fight Ohio’s indoor smoking ban at public places. ( THE BLADE/JEREMY WADSWORTH )

OHIO SMOKE-FREE WORKPLACE ACT

Enforcement day nears for public smoking ban

Rules, fines begin Thursday unless courts act

By JOE VARDON

BLADE STAFF WRITER

Brian Duncan wasn’t puffing a cigar while sitting in Delaney’s Lounge in Toledo last week, but he said he frequents the establishment when he wants to enjoy a drink and a smoke.

Those who have similar tastes have been able to go to places such as Delaney’s, even though a majority of Ohio voters on Nov. 7 approved a ban on smoking in bars, restaurants, and most other indoor public places.

At the Bronze Boar, Nick and Jimmy’s, and Daddy Oh’s in Toledo, Quarters Bar and Grill in Perrysburg, and the Village Idiot in Maumee, just to name a few local bars, patrons have been able to smoke since the ban went into effect because its specifics had yet to be ironed out.

From same:

Ohio smoking-ban foes may create legal logjam

Appeals process could take years, many miles

By JIM PROVANCE

BLADE COLUMBUS BUREAU

COLUMBUS - Those planning to go the distance to appeal fines for violating Ohio's smoking ban should be prepared to put a lot of miles on their cars.

Some opponents of the voter-passed law have talked about creating a logjam of appeals in protest, but such battles eventually would lead to courts in Columbus, would take months or potentially years to resolve, and could cost far more than the fines imposed. The latter would be especially true for individual smokers, whose fines would be $100 maximum.

"If you check out Colorado, it cost the state $6,000 for a $200 fine," said Bill Delaney, owner of Delaney's Lounge in Toledo. "If this is the process, we could jam up Franklin County court till hell freezes over. Everybody thinks this is going to work out fine, but people are still smoking yet."

From the 4/29/07 DDN:

Smoking ban to be enforced Thursday

The law took effect Dec. 7, but some restaurants and bars have ignored it; now there will be penalties.

By Tiffany Y. Latta

Staff Writer

Sunday, April 29, 2007

At a Mason bar last week, a man drinking a beer lit a cigarette and blew smoke in the air — and no one said a word.

But at a bar in Lebanon, a bartender said smoking wasn't allowed indoors and later went outside and fired up a cigarette with four others.

Smoking has been banned in restaurants and bars since Dec. 7, and self-enforcement by business owners has been sketchy.

April 30, 200718 yr

geez, depressing -- a simple idea and law and they mucked it up.

lawyers take notice and adjust your hourly rates accordingly. bar owners start printing up your new club's membership cards.

May 1, 200718 yr

Link contains photos. From the 4/30/07 Enquirer:

Smoking ban remains hazy

Enforcement to begin this week, despite questions and resistance

BY JON NEWBERRY | [email protected]

Six months after voters approved it, Ohio intends to begin enforcing a ban that was supposed to virtually eliminate smoking in public buildings throughout the state, including bars and restaurants.

Yet as a new deadline for compliance approaches Thursday, questions and uncertainty remain.

May 1, 200718 yr

From the 5/1/07 Dispatch:

For now, smoking lamp dark at VFW

Tuesday, May 1, 2007 3:33 AM

By Kevin Mayhood and James Nash

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

For at least the next two weeks, the statewide ban on smoking in public will be enforced in private clubs, a Franklin County judge ruled yesterday.

"This won't be the end of it; both sides of the fence are passionate about it," said Robert Funk, adjutant/quartermaster of the Ohio chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

The smoking ban had been altered after some VFW leaders complained that veterans shouldn't be prohibited from smoking in their private clubs. The state Health Department drafted an exemption that would allow smoking in private clubs if the employees also are members.

Read more:

[email protected]

http://www.dispatch.com/dispatch/content/local_news/stories/2007/05/01/smoke.ART_ART_05-01-07_A1_2S6I6LH.html

From the 5/1/07 Lorain Morning Journal:

Private clubs no longer exempt from smoking ban

MATT SUMAN, Morning Journal Writer

05/01/2007

LORAIN -- Beginning Thursday, enforcement of the statewide smoking ban will begin and lighting up in the wrong place could cost a person or building owner. A new court ruling also means no exemption for private club members, at least for the next few weeks.

Yesterday, the Ohio Licensed Beverage Association won a temporary restraining order against a provision of the new law that would have allowed private club members to smoke at the members-only club, according to The Associated Press. Judge David Cain of Franklin County Court of Common Pleas issued the order yesterday and scheduled a hearing for May 14.

http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18282693&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6

From the 5/1/07 (OU) Post:

Officials snuff out smoking

Violators will now be fined

Elyse Ball / Staff Writer / [email protected]

Many Uptown businesses have been smoke-free since Ohio’s smoking ban went into effect in December, but starting Thursday, those business owners who fail to enforce the ban could be subject to state fines.

Although the Ohio Department of Health anticipates an initial onslaught of complaints, the number of complaints is expected to drop off as businesses and employees become more comfortable with the ban, said Mandy Burkett, chief of the department’s indoor environment section.

ODH sent out summaries of the new smoking ban to more than 280,000 Ohio businesses, she said. Following a warning letter for an initial violation, businesses repeatedly cited for failing to enforce the ban could face up to a $2,500 fine.

May 2, 200718 yr

Looking for Balloon Twisting Clowns for this weekend !!

Reply to: [email protected]

Date: 2007-05-01, 3:13PM EDT

Seeking a balloon artist for a partythis weekend... I will provide all details upon your email inquiry !

Must be a clown, would like it if you can twist ballons, or have a few tricks up your sleeves !!!

Please provide your contact info when replyng to address above.

* Location: OH

* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

* Compensation: Send rates

*PostingID: 322421852

May 2, 200718 yr

Looking for Balloon Twisting Clowns for this weekend !!

Reply to: [email protected]

Date: 2007-05-01, 3:13PM EDT

Seeking a balloon artist for a partythis weekend... I will provide all details upon your email inquiry !

Must be a clown, would like it if you can twist ballons, or have a few tricks up your sleeves !!!

Please provide your contact info when replyng to address above.

* Location: OH

* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

* Compensation: Send rates

*PostingID: 322421852

[move] :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf: :wtf:[/move]

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Ohio Smoking Ban

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