Smokers take it outside

LAKE COUNTY — Take a deep breath Montana; that’s the smell of smoke free state businesses. Today is the first day all enclosed public places and workplaces in Montana must be completely smoke free.

Originally passed by the Montana State Legislature as the Montana Clean Indoor Air Act in 2005, the bill will finally take full effect today. And if bars don’t comply, they’ll be warned, then fined — but with a twist. Instead of random compliance checks, fines will be levied dependent on a customer complaint, a loophole that could theoretically let some local bars to still allow smoking, despite the statewide ban. Some places, like Sportspage Bowl in Polson, implemented a smoking ban a few months prior to the statewide date, hoping to get customers used to the idea of smoking outside.

“We went smoke free on July 1,” Sportspage owner Glenda Woods said. “A lot of the tourism is in July and August, and most people from out of state are already used to a smoking ban. A couple of our bartenders are smokers, and even they wanted it.”

Woods said food business has increased, while she hasn’t seen a noticeable change in the bar sales. The Sportspage offers an outside smoking area with picnic tables, but Woods said they hadn’t decided what they would provide during the winter months.

It’s too early to tell whether the ban will affect bar businesses, but the Lake County Health Department is sure it will improve the health of bar customers and employees, and may even be a stepping stone in helping them to quit the habit. 

“The purpose of the law is to protect workers from second hand smoke,” Lake County Health Department Tobacco Prevention Specialist Diana Schwab said. “These types of laws do promote quitting and help prevent youth from starting to smoke.”

John Semmes, manager of the Lake Bar in Polson, said the Lake has always been smoke free, and no one seems to have much of a problem with it. In three years there, Semmes said about four people have walked out and left because smoking is not allowed.

“There are customers who are smokers that just go outside and smoke if they feel the need, then come back inside,” Semmes said. “I don’t think it’s ever really affected business. I would open a bar smoke free on my own, just because it’s healthier.”

As with any debate, there is another camp that disagrees completely. Walk into the Wolf Den bar in Polson any time before the smoking ban and “on a given night 99 percent of people are smoking,” said Dave Murrin, a Wolf Den patron and Polson resident. He is one of a vocal group that opposes the smoking ban.

“If you don’t smoke, don’t go into a bar,” Murrin said. “People have a choice; if they don’t like it, don’t be around it.”

Other Wolf Den patrons bemoaned the wide reaching tentacles of politicians in Helena.

“What are we, a bunch of kids that need the government to tells us what to do?” Polson resident Kevin Hoover said. “I think it’s pretty sad when the government says you can’t come into the bar and have a cigarette.”

There are some exceptions to the rule, at least on Montana Indian reservations.

“Because this is a state law, it doesn’t apply to tribally owned businesses like the KwaTaqNuk and the Grey Wolf (Casino),” Schwab said.

Time will tell how effective the law will be, but all agree the idea that smoke free businesses are healthier seems undebatable. For more information on the new law, visit www.tobaccofree.mt.gov.